Ancestry And Immigration To Argentina

Between the years of 1821 and 1932,  6,405,000 immigrants of mainly European ancestry arrived on the shores of Argentina.  During this period Argentina was ranked second highest in immigration statistics only to that of the United States, which was first in the world with five times more immigrants than Argentina. Between 1857 and 1958, 46% of immigrants were from Italy, 33% from Spain, and the remaining 21% from France, Germany, England and Ireland. America isn't the only melting pot!

My grandfather was born in Saracena, Italy in 1892 and emigrated to the United States twenty years or so later.  I knew he had family that remained in Italy, but also had a brother that emigrated to Argentina around the same time as my grandfather.  Armed with this information, of course the first thing I did upon settling in at our hotel in Buenos Aires was to open the telephone book and look for Tolisano, my last name. There were eleven of them!!  I was so excited, but what was I going to do, call them?  Getting beyond buenos dias would be a real challenge!  But it was information I didn't have before and it gave me something to go on.  It may help you get started as well.  The Argentina white pages are in Spanish, but it's easy enough to find what you're looking for:

        A quien busca?  =  Who are you looking for?
        Apellido (minimo 3 letras)  =  Surname (minimum 3 letters)
        Donde lo busca?  =  Where are you looking?
        Provincia  =  District (choose from the drop down list)
        Buscar  =  Search

If your results come up as No se Encontraron Registros, then no searches under the name and district given have been found.  Try another district. If you find a relative you'd like to speak to, the country code for dialing Argentina is '54'.  The address of your search is also given if you prefer to write to them.  My husband's last name is Parry, of Welsh ancestry, and although we didn't find the name in Buenos Aires, we did locate a type of information center with nothing but telephone books in Puerto Madryn in the region of Chubut in Patagonia, where many Welsh immigrants reside. Lo and behold we found four Parry's there.  This all occurred while we were in Argentina, using actual telephone books while going from region to region. It is simpler to use the internet for ancestry information ,  but perhaps not as enjoyable!

Did you know that one of the largest ancestry databases in the world is free to use?  It is compiled and maintained by the Mormon Church, but you are under no obligation nor do you have to be affiliated with the church to use the search database available on their website.

Posting a message in a forum is another great resource to use while searching for ancestors.  You can also read through old messages to see if someone has already begun a search for your family tree.

Ancestry Services In Argentina

IMMIGRATION RECORDS
Centro de Estudios Migratorios Latinoamericanos
Avenida Independencia 20
1099 Capital Federal
Argentina

VITAL RECORDS
Archivo del Registro Nacional del Estado Civil y Capacidad de Las Personas
Jean Jaures 970
1215 Capital Federal
Argentina

SOCIETIES
Academia Americana de Genealogía
French 2262, Piso 4
1125 Buenos Aires
Argentina

Centro de Estudios Genealógicos de Córdoba
Pasaje Chicoana 330
5000 Córdoba
Argentina

Instituto Argentino de Ciencias Genealógicas
Calle Balcarce 1064
1064 Buenos Aires
Argentina

Additional Information

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