Reading French Church & Civil Records

PARISH REGISTERS – registres paroissiaux
  • 1539 Edict of Villers-Cotterêts by François I. The Catholic Church begins recording births, very few of the earliest records have survived; most parish registers start in the 17th century. The baptism was usually performed the day of the birth or the day after. The records were now written in French instead of Latin. The Council of Trent in 1563 required the recording of the parents and godparent’s name. In 1667the “Code Louis”required the mother’s full name and signature of father . Also required was a duplicate record, which was deposited at the end of the year with the Greffe de Bailliage (Clerk of the court).

After 1736, the actual birth date was recorded. In France the woman keeps her maiden name throughout her life. Church records were kept by the local parish priest.

  • Baptisms begin in 1539, marriages in 1563 and burials in 1579
  • Consanguinity – The Council of Trent prohibited marriage between close relatives, a dispensation could be obtained from the bishops of the dioceses up to the fourth degree, first cousins had to get a dispensation from Rome.
  • Calendars: Several calendar systems affected the French registers.
  • Julian Calendar
  • Gregorian Calendar–In 1582, Pope Gregory XII revised the Julian calendar to compensate for a 10 day discrepancy. In France the Gregorian calendar began on December 10, 1582 and was used until the French Revolution.
  • The French Republican Calendar was used by Napoleon until 31 December 1805 when France returned to the Gregorian calendar again. On the 22nd of September, the first assembly of legislators proclaimed the French Republic and instituted a new calendar, consisting of twelve months of thirty days each. Five complimentary were added at the end of the year, six days were added every fourth year.
  • Gregorian Calendar
  • Spelling

Spelling rules were not fixed in earlier centuries. In French the following spelling variations are common:

VariationExample

bvused forvfévrier spelled febvrier

cused forssaussi spelled auci

ctused fortfaitesspelledfaictes

esused forétémoins spelledtesmoins

iused forjjourspellediour

oused foroutournierspelledtornier

osused forônôtrespellednostre

sçused forssavoirspelledsçavoir

tused forttcettespelledsçavoir

yused forIhierspelled hyer

yused forillfilleulspelledfyeul

zused forsbaptizespelledbaptize

CIVIL REGISTRATION - registres d’etat civil

  • 1792 Civil Registration began after the French Revolution. These records are very complete and provide: maiden name of the mother, names of the parents of the brides and grooms, ages and residence of witnesses etc. If parents are deceased date and place of death is given.
  • The priests continued to keep church records, the civil authorities kept their own records of births, marriages and deaths.
  • A law passed in 1798 (year VI of the French Republic)which required citizens to be married at the canton seat (chief-lieu de canton) instead of the local town (commune). This law was abolished in 1800 when couples were again allowed to marry in their local town. For this reason, marriages for the years VII and VIII (1798-1800) are usually missing from town records.
  • Margin entries (mentions marginales) From 1897, the birth records include what are called 'margin entries' which state subsequent events of the individual :

From 1897 - marriages
From 1939 - divorces
From 1945 - deaths
From 1958 - legal separations

  • Tables décennalesare alphabetical indexes to the births, marriages and deaths every ten years. Some civil records have indexes at the end of each year.
  • The last hundred years of civil registration in France are confidential except for direct line ancestors.

Many of the Departments have digitized their records and put the records online.

Sources / Time period covered / Location of registers
Paris registers / 1539 – 1792 / Departmental Archives
Civil registration / 1792 - 1915 / Departmental Archives
Civil registration / 1912 - 2012 / Mairie (City Hall)

Abbreviations

Les sigles généalogiques

° ou o / Naissance / + / Décès
ö / Né et baptisé / (+) / inhumation
( ° ) / Naissance illégitime / obs. / Obsèques
b / Baptisé / inc. / Incinéré
° + / Mort-né / vf / Veuf
P / Père / vve / Veuve
M / Mère / ttt / Testament
p / Parrain / desc. / Descendance
m / Marraine / s.p. / Sans postérité
fs / Fils / s.a. / Sans alliance
fa / Fille / s.a.a. / Sans alliance actuelle
(x) / Fiançailles / s.a.p.r. / Sans alliance, mais avec postérité reconnue
x / Mariage / rel. cat. / Religion catholique
x2, x3 / Remariages : 2e mariage... / rel. prot. / Religion protestante
Cm / Contrat de mariage / rel. ort. / Religion orthodoxe
not. / Notaire / rel. isr. / Religion israélite
-x- / union illégitime / rel. mus. / Religion musulmane
) ( / Divorce / c / Cité le
t / témoin / !1800 / cité en 1800
N / Inconnue / av. ou < / Avant
? / Douteux / ap ou > / Après
Sg / Signature / /1750 / Avant 1750
Sx / Sexe / 1700/ / Après 1700
Psse / Paroisse / ca / du latin circa, environ
  • archives nationales AN
  • archives départementales AD
  • archives ecclésiastiquesAE
  • archives hospitalières AH
  • archives municipales AM
  • archives communales AC
  • bibliothèque Nationale BN
  • bibliothèquebibl.
  • fonds (d'archives) fds
  • Registres de catholicité RC

For help with French handwriting:

  • Records onlineBYU handwriting FHFRA 73 - France: Reading French Handwriting
  • Handwriting Manuel
  • Reading French Records (3 lessons)
  • Paléographie
  • Handwriting course online by Stéphane Poullau (13 lessons)
  • Apprendre à lire les Archives, Gérard D’Arundel de Condé, Edition Christian, Paris, 1993

Order civil records online for the last 100 years if you are a direct descendant

You can request a birth, marriage or death record online for someone who was born in France or in one of the oversee departments, it will then be mailed to you

  1. Find your town and department
  2. Accept the conditions of service
  3. Choose the record type and state your relationship to the person
  4. Provide address, email