Italian Birth Records: How To Uncover Your Italian Ancestry

Looking to obtain copies of Italian birth records. Following is a list of places which you need to visit or contact.

Italian State Archives “Archivi di Stato”

Aside from a few exceptions, each Italian province has its own Archivio di Stato (State Archive). This is usually located in the province’s capital city. For example, the Archivio di Stato di Como (the province) is in Como (the city). Additionally, there are 34 sub-branches called “Sezioni”, located in smaller towns, each with its own local record collection. The Ministry of Culture in Rome oversees all 137 repositories.

The few exceptions hinted above are Aosta, Crotone, Lecco, Lodi, Monza e Brianza, Sud Sardegna. Because of their small size or recent birth, these provinces do not not have their own archives. Another exception is the recently born province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. You will have to travel to the nearby province of Bari, as the Archivio di Stato di Bari still manages a “Sezione” for Barletta and one for Trani, while there is no “Sezione” for Andria.

Collections

The enormous wealth of historical material consists of pre- and post-unification documents dating back as far as the Middle Ages. Those of greatest value for genealogical purposes are civil registration records, military service records, archives of private families and notary papers.

Civil registration records

Because Italy does not have a central record-keeping system, the local registrar’s office (Ufficio Anagrafe) in each town or city records all vital events. It then sends a copy to the district courts (Tribunali) which uses the information for the government’s own needs (e.g. military draft). After 40 years, when the information is obsolete, local State Archives take charge of these records.

Church records

In some cases, mostly in Southern Italy, church records confiscated during the revolt of 1860 can also be found at State Archives.

Research

The State Archives will respond to your letters and emails within 30 days, giving you only general advice. Only you, or someone delegated for this purpose can carry out actual research. This is due to limited funds, time and personnel.

Before you visit an archive, you first need to determine if and where the records you are seeking are available. This post will help you narrow down the possible locations and check their holdings. For example, if you know the region is Sicily, by typing the letters “Sicil” in the search box you will get all 14 archives located in Sicily. If you know the province (for example, Frosinone), by typing the letters “fro” you will get the two archives located in the province of Frosinone. At this point, to see if the resulting archive actually holds the documents, click on the “Holdings” link. This will load the dedicate Antenati webpage, showing the archive’s holdings.

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