Hungarian Vital Records

837,875 Records

Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Death) · Greater Hungary · 1800–1914

Background

JewishGen.org is transcribing vital records of Hungarian Jewry from a variety of sources, including LDS microfilms and digitized images of records from archives in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. The original data were created by rabbis in each community (or, for small communities, in centralized district registers) as required by the Emperor. These records are handwritten in German, Hebrew, or Hungarian, and generally date between 1800 and 1914.

This combined collection brings together three databases — Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Births — 508,719 records
Deaths — 228,019 records
Marriages — 101,137 records
Important: These are index files, and no attempt was made to replicate all the data in the original registers. Wherever possible, researchers should go to the source record to obtain additional information such as witnesses, notes by the registrar, and other details.
Database Fields

The database includes the following fields:

Name — Surname and given name(s): of the child (Birth Records), of the deceased (Death Records), or of both the bride and groom (Marriage Records)
Date of Birth — Birth date of the child, in format Day-Month-Year
Date of Death — Death date: Day-Month-Year
Date of Marriage — Marriage date of the bride and groom: Day-Month-Year
Age — On Marriage Records, for both the bride and groom
Sex — Gender of the child on Birth Records: “M” for male, “F” for female
Father — Father’s given name. Birth Records: the given name of the child’s father (a note is added in Comments in the rare cases where the child’s surname differs from the father’s). Marriage Records: the given names of the fathers of the bride and groom
Mother — Mother’s given name and maiden name (of both the bride and groom on Marriage Records)
Town Registered / Record Number — Aids in finding the original record on the microfilm or other source. Standardized on the format PPP-NN (PPP = page number within a microfilm or volume, NN = item number on that page). Some older transcriptions use YYYY-NN (year and record number), or simply the record number for small towns
Járás / Megye — The district (járás) and county (megye) of the place of birth or death
Town Information — Birth Records: the town or village where the child was born. Death Records: the district and county of the town where the death was registered. Marriage Records: the town where the marriage took place
Comments — Other useful information. Birth Records: names of witnesses, godparents, mohel or midwife; the parents’ town of birth; the father’s occupation; notes on illegitimacy; an indication if the child died (and date). Death Records: town of birth, cause of death, marital status, age. Marriage Records: names of witnesses, or the bride and/or groom’s town of birth
Source — LDS microfilm number, used to order the microfilm at the LDS Family History Centers, or other source of the record
Research Notes
Notes on Searching the Database
  • In addition to the usual search of surnames and towns, you can use the global text search of all fields to find all entries for a particular county (megye), given name, or LDS microfilm number.
  • If you are searching for a hyphenated town name or county, you must enter only the name before the hyphen or after the hyphen, but not both. At this time the search engine is not capable of handling hyphenated names; JewishGen technicians are working on this problem.
These Are Index Files

It should be understood by all researchers that these are index files, and no attempt was made to replicate all the data in the original registers. Researchers should go to the source record, wherever possible, to obtain additional information such as witnesses, notes by the registrar, and other information.

Contents of the Database

A complete inventory can be accessed by clicking here.

Searching This Database

This collection is searchable via the JewishGen Hungary Database or the JewishGen Unified Search. Beyond the usual surname and town search, the global text search of all fields can find every entry for a particular county (megye), given name, or LDS microfilm number.

Databases like this one are made possible entirely through volunteer effort and generous donors. Your contribution helps fund transcription, research, and preservation of Hungarian Jewish records.

Support the JewishGen Hungarian Research Division

Last updated January 2022.
For questions, or to learn about volunteering, contact the JewishGen Hungarian Research Division.