Netherlands Civil Registration

Burgelijke Stand / Civil Registration

On 6 January 1811 the French Imperial (Napoleon) decree served notice that by 1 March 1811 all births, marriages and deaths had to be recorded by the civil authorities of each municipality. In some southern areas Napoleon had already conquered, this recording had started earlier. After this date all individuals who lived in the Netherlands are recorded. They cover the entire population and have one year and 10 year indexes. Civil registration records are the most important source for genealogical research in the Netherlands and are easily accessible.

Geboorten / Births

The following information will usually be found in a birth entry:

• The name of the child.
• The birth date of the child.
• The birth place of the child.
• The name of the child's parents.
• The names, ages, occupations, and residences of the witnesses.
• The relationships of the witnesses to the child, if any.
• The residence of the parents.
• The age and occupation of the parents.
• It will never say if the child is legitimate or illegitimate.

If a child was born out of wedlock it will just not mention a father, even if he is known. If the child's parents do later marry and acknowlegde the child as theirs, it will mention this in the margin. At that time the last name of the child will also change from the mother's last name to the father's last name.

The following 5 steps will guide you in finding your ancestor in the Netherlands’ civil registration records.

Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's birth record.

To find the birth records available at the library, look in the Family History Library Catalog. Go to What to Do Next, select the Family History Library Catalog, and click on the tab for Town Records to see if your ancestor's town is listed.

When looking for your ancestor's birth record, remember:

• Birth records are arranged chronologically.
• Birth records were kept by the civil registration office in the municipality where your ancestor lived.
• Yearly indexes and 10-year indexes to the birth records exist.

If you don't know which municipality your ancestor lived in, see the Netherlands gazetteer Van Goor's aardrijkskundig woordenboek van Nederland. Instructions for using this gazetteer are found in How to use the Netherlands Gazetteer.

Step 2. Find the entry for your ancestor.

Use the index first. Look for the last name, and then look for the given name. Record the date of registration and entry number. Next locate the entry. If you do not know the names of your ancestor's parents, you may have to check further to make sure you find the correct entry:

• Find the entries for all the children with the same given name and last name as your ancestor. Start with the year when you think your ancestor was born. Then check the entries for five years before and five years after. You may find several entries for children with the same name but with different parents.
• Eliminate the entries that contradict what you know about your ancestor. Check death records to see if any of the children died before your ancestor did. Check marriage records to see if any of the children married someone other than your ancestor's spouse (but remember that your ancestor may have married more than once).
• Try to make sure the birth entry is of your direct line ancestor. Because names are so common, you must be sure you have the correct entry.

Step 3. Find the entries for each brother and sister of your ancestor.

Once you have the entry for your ancestor, find the entries for your ancestor's brothers and sisters:

• Search the birth records for entries of your ancestor's brothers and sisters.
• Search local death records or the birth records from surrounding municipalities, especially if there are gaps of 3 or more years between the births of siblings. Gaps of 3 or more years may indicate there was another child.
• To make sure you have found entries of all the family members, search death records and birth records of surrounding municipalities for any additional children.
• Search for children born before the parents' marriage. Children may have been born under the mother's maiden name. Sometimes the father's name is not given.

Step 4. Copy the information, and document your sources.

If you can, photocopy the record, put them on a disc or on your flashdrive/thumbdrive. If you can't, be sure to copy all the information in the entry, including:

• All the people listed and their relationships to each other. (Remember, witnesses are often relatives.)
• All the dates in the entry and the events they pertain to. (Sometimes corrections to a birth record were added in the entry's margin.)
• All the localities in the entry and who was from the places listed.

On the copy, document where the information came from. List:

• The type of source (a paper certificate, a microform, a book, an Internet site, and so forth).
• All reference numbers for the source. Carefully record any microfilm, book, or certificate numbers or the name and Internet address of the site you used.

Step 5. Analyze the information you obtain from the birth record.

To effectively use the information from the birth record, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is this the birth entry of my direct line ancestor? Because names are so common, you must be sure you have the correct record.
• Did the civil registrar identify both parents, and is the mother's maiden name given?
• Did more than 3 years pass since the birth of the last child? If so, another child may have been born in a neighboring municipality.
• Did you search 5 years without finding any earlier birth entries of children? If you find no other entries, then begin looking for the parents' marriage record.

Huwelijken / Marriage

What You Are Looking For

The following information will usually be found in a marriage entry:

• The names of your ancestors.
• The date of your ancestors' marriage.
• The names of your ancestors' parents and their residence and occupation, if living.
• The names of the witnesses, their ages, occupations, residence, and relationship to the bride or groom, if any.
• The date of your ancestors' birth (usually their age at the time of marriage).
• The place of your ancestors' birth (or where they were residing when married).
• The occupation of the groom.
• Whether the bride and groom were single or widowed before the marriage.

These 5 steps will guide you in finding your ancestor in the Netherlands civil registration records.

Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's marriage record.

To find the marriage records available at the library, look in the Family History Library Catalog. Go to the Family History Library Catalog, and click on the tab for Town Records to see if your ancestor's town is listed. If you can't find it listed you can search in Wikipedia and search for the town. If it states that it is a municipality, it means that it has its own governmental records, if it states that it is a village in ..... (name of city) then you need to look for records in that city.

When looking for your ancestor's marriage record, remember:

• Marriage records are arranged chronologically.
• Marriage records were kept by the civil registration office in the municipality where your ancestor lived.
• Yearly indexes and 10-year indexes to the marriage records exist.

Step 2. Find the entry for your ancestor.

Use the index first. Look for the last name, and then look for the given name. Record the date of marriage and entry number. Next locate the entry. For more help in finding the record entry, see Tip 1. Tip 1. How do I find the entry of my ancestor? In some indexes, only the first letter of the surname is in alphabetical order. The index may only contain grooms' names. A brides index may be separate or not exist.

For help in reading the record entry, see Tip 2. Tip 2. What if I can't read the record? Civil registration records are written in Dutch. The language used in the record may also be in French during the time Napoleon occupied the country.

Step 3. Copy the information, and document your sources.

If you can, photocopy the record or download it on a disc or flashdrive/thumbdrive. If you can't, be sure to copy all the information in the entry, including:

• All the people listed and their relationships to each other. (Remember, witnesses are often relatives.)
• All the dates in the entry and the events they pertain to.
• All the localities in the entry and who was from the places listed.

On the copy, document where the information came from. List:

• The type of source (a paper certificate, a microform, a book, an Internet site, and so forth).
• All reference numbers for the source. Carefully record any microfilm, book, or certificate numbers or the name and Internet address of the site you used.