Latin American Research

Individuals use both maternal and paternal surnames. The paternal surname traditionally comes first

When a woman marries she keeps her full name. She may add her husband’s paternal surname

• Look for a name following de, de la or del

• Example Mary Jones Smith de Brian:

  • Jones is her mother’s surname

  • Smith is her father’s surname

  • Brian is her husband’s paternal surname

Women traditionally kept their maiden names when they married. Children took on both the father’s and mother’s surnames, in that order

• This allows a researcher to be able to predict what the parent’s surnames are

• Hint: Search by the paternal surname first (the first surname)

The Mexican Civil Registration Office (Registro Civil) keeps vital records of births, marriages and deaths since July, 1859

Prior to the restoration of the Mexican republic in 1867 compliance was slow. Therefore, check both civil registration and parish records for these years

These records can be found through the Family History Library or Family History Centers

Catholic Records

• Need to know Parish and Diocese

• These records have not been widely microfilmed. In order to obtain these records, you will need to write or visit the parish or diocese

Boundaries frequently shifted in Mexico. Read about Mexican territorial boundaries here

You can read about changes to Catholic parishes and dioceses here

Hint: Look at the original records. In many cases, not all of the information is indexed

• Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library

• FamilySearch Has a large collection of records, but many have not been indexed. Visit here for a list of Mexican specific records

  • Mexico 1930 Census

    • The Mexican 1930 census is one of the first mandatory accountings of individuals

    • It includes names, ages, gender, birthplace, address, marital status, nationality, religion, occupation, real estate holdings, literacy, any physical or mental defects, and any Indian language spoken

  • Border Crossings into U.S

  • Argentina 1869 and 1895

• Hemeroteca Nacional digital de Mexico – newspaper collection

• Hispanic Genealogy Society of New York