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 1667 the “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:
Variation
bv
used for
c
used for
ct
used for
es
used for
i
used for
o
used for
os
used for
sç
used for
t
used for
y
used for
y
used for
z
used for
v
ss
t
é
j
ou
ô
s
tt
I
ill
s
Example
février
spelled
aussi
spelled
faites
spelled
témoins
spelled
jour
spelled
tournier
spelled
nôtre
spelled
savoir
spelled
cette
spelled
hier
spelled
filleul
spelled
baptize
spelled
febvrier
auci
faictes
tesmoins
iour
tornier
nostre
sçavoir
sçavoir
hyer
fyeul
baptize
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 décennales are 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.
http://www.francegenweb.org/~archives/archivesgenweb/
Sources
Paris registers
Civil registration
Civil registration
Time period covered
1539 – 1792
1792 - 1915
1912 - 2012
Location of registers
Departmental Archives
Departmental Archives
Mairie (City Hall)
Abbreviations
Les sigles généalogiques
° ou o
Naissance
ö
Né et baptisé
(°)
Naissance illégitime
b
Baptisé
°+
Mort-né
P
Père
M
Mère
p
Parrain
m
Marraine
fs
Fils
fa
Fille
(x)
Fiançailles
x
Mariage
x2, x3
Remariages : 2e mariage...
Cm
Contrat de mariage
not.
Notaire
+
(+)
obs.
inc.
vf
vve
ttt
desc.
s.p.
s.a.
s.a.a.
s.a.p.r.
rel. cat.
rel. prot.
rel. ort.
rel. isr.
Décès
inhumation
Obsèques
Incinéré
Veuf
Veuve
Testament
Descendance
Sans postérité
Sans alliance
Sans alliance actuelle
Sans alliance, mais avec postérité reconnue
Religion catholique
Religion protestante
Religion orthodoxe
Religion israélite
-x-
union illégitime
rel. mus.
Religion musulmane
)(
t
N
Divorce
témoin
Inconnue
c
!1800
av. ou <
Cité le
cité en 1800
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 ecclésiastiques AE
archives hospitalières AH
archives municipales AM
archives communales AC
bibliothèque Nationale BN
bibliothèque bibl.
fonds (d'archives) fds

Registres de catholicité RC
For help with French handwriting:
 Records onlineBYU handwriting FHFRA 73 - France: Reading French Handwriting
 Handwriting Manuel http://script.byu.edu/french/fr/bienvenue.aspx
 Reading French Records (3 lessons) https://www.familysearch.org/learn/researchcourses
 Paléographie http://fr.geneawiki.com/index.php/Pal%c3%a9ographie
 Handwriting course online by Stéphane Poullau http://www.stephanepouyllau.org/ (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
https://www.acte-etat-civil.fr/DemandeActe/Accueil.do
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