Brazil Record Finder

Brazil Wiki Topics
Beginning Research
Research Strategies Record Finder Finding Town of Origin Online Learning
Record Types
Cemeteries Census Church Directories Church Records Civil Registration Colonial Records Compiled Genealogies Court Records Emigration & Immigration Compiled Genealogies Jewish Records	Heraldry Land & Property Military Records Nobility Notarial Records Online Records Periodicals Probate Records Religious Records Slavery & Bondage Taxation
Brazil Background
Biography Church History Encyclopedias & Dictionaries Gazetteers Historical Geography History Languages	Maps Occupations Naming Customs Portuguese Genealogical Word List Social Life & Customs
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Moderator
The FamilySearch moderator for Brazil is Giuseppe Martinengo

Brazil

Record Finder

Record Finder Table for Brazil

The following Record Finder table assists researchers in determining record types that may list the information they are looking for.

Order of Records

The typically most reliable sources are listed at the top of the list. However, depending on the time period of the record and location, multiple records in the list may need to be searched to achieve the objective. Alternative records are listed as well in case traditional records do not provide the desired information.

List of Topics

This Record Finder table links to the Brazil topic Wiki pages, containing databases and other information about accessing the records.

Vital Events

Searching for:	Best Records to Search:	Alternative Records:
Birth date and place	Church Records Civil Registration
Marriage place and date	Church Records Civil Registration	Notarial Records
Death date, place, and burial	Church Records Civil Registration	Notarial Records

Maiden Names and Family Members

Searching for:	Best Records to Search:	Alternative Records:
Maiden name	Church Records Civil Registration
Parents, children, spouses, and other family members	Church Records Civil Registration	Census
Living relatives	Genealogies Societies	Directories

Immigration and Country of Origin

Searching for:	Best Records to Search:	Alternative Records:
Immigration date	Emigration and Immigration	Societies
Country and town of origin	Emigration and Immigration

Residences and Locations

Searching for:	Best Records to Search:	Alternative Records:
Residence	Census	Notarial Records

Personal Details and Affiliations

Searching for:	Best Records to Search:	Alternative Records:
Nobility	Nobility	Periodicals
Occupation	Church Records Civil Registration	Census
Religion	Church Records Civil Registration	History
Social activities	Social Life and Customs Societies	History
Physical description	Military Records

Reading the Records

Vocabulary	Portuguese Genealogical Word List
Handwriting
Naming patterns	Naming patterns
Writing for records

States of Brazil

The topic articles listed above give general background, record contents details, and research methods. More specific help is available in topic articles for each state of Brazil, including links to actual records.

Many of Brazil's records are kept at the state and local level and may include civil registrations, censuses, inventories and wills, land records, notarial records, and military records to name a few. States are also divided into counties, and the cities and towns 'municipios' are in the counties, it is possible that a city, especially the larger ones such as Recife and São Paulo , may have a number of counties in them since a state like São Paulo can have over 200 counties.

• Acre
• Alagoas
• Amapá
• Amazonas
• Bahia
• Ceará
• Distrito Federal Includes Brasília
• Espírito Santo
• Goiás
• Maranhão
• Mato Grosso
• Mato Grosso do Sul
• Minas Gerais
• Para
• Paraiba
• Parana
• Pernambuco
• Piaui
• Rio de Janeiro
• Rio Grande do Norte
• Rio Grande do Sul
• Rondonia
• Roraima
• Santa Catarina
• São Paulo Includes the City
• Sergipe
• Tocantins

Birth dates	Civil Registration, Church Records	Emigration and Immigration
Cities or parishes of foreign birth	Civil Registration, Church Records	Emigration and Immigration, Schools, Military Records
Deaths	Civil Registration, Church Records	Cemeteries, Newspapers
Ethnicity	Civil Registration, Church Records	Emigration and Immigration, Societies
Immigration dates	Emigration and Immigration	Census, Biography, Naturalization and Citizenship
Living relatives	Directories	Newspapers, Biography, Court Records
Maiden names	Civil Registration, Church Records	Cemeteries, Military Records
Marriages	Civil Registration, Church Records	Census
Occupations	Civil Registration, Church Records	Census, Directories
Parents, children, and other family members	Civil Registration, Church Records	Emigration and Immigration, Census, Probate, Genealogy
Physical descriptions	Emigration and Immigration	Military Records
Places of residence	Civil Registration, Church Records	Census, Biography
Religions	Church Records	History
Social activities	Social Life and Customs	Biography, History, Genealogy