Skip to Main Content
FamilySearch
Sign Up

Puerto Rico, Civil Registration, 1805-2002

Births, marriages, deaths, indexes and other records created by civil registration offices in Puerto Rico. Some records may date prior to 1885 as a few municipalities began civil registration before that date. Some of these records have been indexed and are searchable as part of this collection. Additional indexed records will be published as they become available.

Browse the Wiki
Browse All 4,581,756 Images

Start your search

Puerto Rico, Civil Registration

Source: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Puerto_Rico,_Civil_Registration_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records

What is in This Collection?

This collection contains civil records from 1805 to 2001 from the 78 municipalities (municipios) in Puerto Rico. The older records are handwritten in a narrative style, and the newer ones are handwritten in formatted records.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Computer Aided Indexing (CAI)

Some or all of the indexed records for this collection were created using Computer Aided Indexing (CAI) from records digitized by FamilySearch or its partners. For more information on CAI see FamilySearch Computer Aided Indexing.

Reading These Records

These records are written in Spanish. For help reading them see:

FamilySearch Learning Center videos:

If you speak Spanish, the following free online lesson may be helpful to learn how to use the information in these records:

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Puerto Rico, Civil Registration,1805-2001.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information is usually found in these records:

Birth

  • Date, time and place of birth
  • Child’s name and gender
  • Legitimacy of child
  • Parents’ names and ages
  • Parents’ marital status, occupation, residence and origin
  • Names of paternal grandparents
  • Names of maternal grandparents
  • Date and place of registration

Marriage

  • Date and place of marriage
  • Groom's name and age of
  • Groom’s marital status, occupation, residence, and origin
  • Bride’s name and age
  • Bride’s marital status, occupation, residence, and origin
  • Names of parents
  • Names of the person giving consent (usually bride’s father)
  • Names of witnesses

Death

  • Name and age of deceased (keep in mind that death records for women may be filed under their married name)
  • Marital status, residence, and origin of deceased
  • Date and place of death
  • Date and place of medical certificate
  • Informant’s age, marital status, occupation, residence, and origin
  • Names of parents and their origin
  • Names of grandparents, if known
  • Date and place of burial

Collection Content

The civil registration records in Puerto Rico are an excellent source for genealogical research after 1885. Important genealogical data can be found in these records; see below. The data may even help to find information about an earlier generation.

Sample Images

  • 1927 Birth Record

    1927 Birth Record

  • 1927 Marriage Record Page 1

    1927 Marriage Record Page 1

  • 1927 Marriage Record Page 2

    1927 Marriage Record Page 2

  • 1927 Death Record

    1927 Death Record

Collection Details

Record Type: Vital
5,071,864 Records
20,048,177 Personas
4,581,756 Images

Language

Spanish

Location of Original Records

Puerto Rico Departamento de Salud and Iglesia Catolica (Puerto Rico Department of Health and Catholic churches), Toa Alta

Cite This Collection

"Puerto Rico, Registro Civil, 1805-2002." Database with images. FamilySearch. https://FamilySearch.org : 16 September 2025. Citing Pureto Rico Departamento de Salud and Igesia Catolica (Puerto Rico Deparment of Health and Catholic churches), Toa Alta.

Related Collections

Collections from FamilySearch

View All

Internet Collections

View All