Puerto Rican Genealogy

Here are a few tips to keep in mind while searching for Puerto Rican ancestors.

Puerto Rico became a US Territory in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. US Armed Forces began inhabiting the island during this period and you can find these service members listed in the 1900 US census.

In 1910, all residents of Puerto Rico began appearing in the US Census and you can find these records in Ancestry, HeritageQuest or FamilySearch. Keep in mind that Puerto Rican census records will be in Spanish.

Puerto Ricans born on or after April 25, 1898 were granted US Citizenship in 1917. Puerto Ricans born before 1898 may have naturalized and those records would be available at NARA.

The Spanish government in some Puerto Rican municipalities kept civil registrations of births, marriages, and deaths. Civil registration for the entire territory began in 1885 and these records contain a lot of important genealogical information. You can find Puerto Rican civil registration collections on Ancestry and FamilySearch.

When researching vital records before 1885, use Catholic Church records. FamilySearch has a collection of Puerto Rican Catholic Church records dating back to 1645.

For more information on Puerto Rican genealogy, visit the FamilySearch Research Wiki or watch one of FamilySearch's free webinars.

How to Research Hispanic Ancestors When You Don't Speak Spanish

Do you want to research your Hispanic ancestors but do not speak Spanish? There's an article on the
GenealogyBank Blog about how to get started doing research in Spanish.

You will also want to consult the Spanish Genealogical Word List on the FamilySearch Wiki. And don't forget to take advantage of Google Translate.

Buena suerte!

Books for National Hispanic Heritage Month

Discover some of our great print resources for Hispanic research in the Genealogy & Local History Room:

Hispanic American Genealogical Sourcebook
Discover basic genealogical records for Hispanic Americans, the major archives and organizations devoted to Hispanic research and understand the history of Hispanic emigration.

Finding Your Hispanic Roots
Learn about basic research techniques, records, and sources for all major Hispanic countries.

Hispanic Surnames and Family History
An exhaustive collection of Spanish surnames in Latin America and the US with resources for finding family history research for those names.

Census Records for Latin America and the Hispanic United States
A survey of census collections for Latin America and the Hispanic US. Explains where to find them and what information is included in each census. Extremely helpful for Spanish colonial records!

National Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15-October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Start finding your Hispanic ancestors with this class from FamilySearch: US Hispanic Immigrants: Finding Their Place of Origin.

You can find more online courses in Spanish on FamilySearch. They have courses specifically for Latinoamérica as well as classes that cover the basics for all of Spain, Latin America, and Mexico.

Mexican Genealogy

Celebrate your Mexican American heritage this Cinco de Mayo! Here are some websites to help you find your Mexican ancestors.

Hispanic Genealogy Blog The blog doesn't get updated incredibly frequently but you can still find plenty of great links and information on the site.

HISPAGEN, Asociación de Genealogía Hispana Hispanic genealogy organization with articles and genealogy indexes.

The Genealogy of Mexico An older website but still useful with genealogies of some of the first Europeans in Mexico.

Mexico Genealogy Forum A forum to discuss Mexican genealogy with other researchers.

Also search the National Archives of Mexico and the National Archives of Spain. The Spanish Archives have passenger lists from Spain to Latin America 1500s-1700s.

Many of these sites are in Spanish but you can always translate them with Google Translate.