Containing over 43 million records, the ScotlandsPeople database is one of the world’s largest resources of genealogical information and one of the largest single information resources on the Web. They provide a fully searchable index of Scottish births from 1553-1907, marriages from 1553 to 1932 and deaths from 1855 to 1957. In addition, indexed census data is available from 1841 to 1901. To respect privacy of living people, internet access has been limited to birth records over 100 years old, marriage records over 75 years, and death records over 50 years. Birth and Death indexes up to 2006 now released [Jan 2008]

From the results of an index search made on the site you may view, save and print images of many of the original documents, and order extracts of any register entries of interest. Such requests are forwarded automatically to New Register House, and the requested extracts are mailed to you (airmail in the case of overseas orders).

The following new features now available online

The addition of search filters offers customers the ability to search through and filter their Previous Searches, Viewed Images and Timeline. A Mother’s Maiden Surname field has been added to the statutory deaths search form. This should, however, be used with caution. A reference has now been added to each image for ease of recognition. Images of Old Parish Register (OPR) records are now publicly available online for the very first time. These comprise the records of births & baptisms and banns & marriages kept by individual parishes of the Established Church of Scotland, before the introduction of civil registration in 1855. The earliest records available date from 1553. In addition, a major OPR index update has been deployed with over nine million entries updated and linked to the associated images. Customers can now search the Old Parish Register records by county as well as parish, offering greater search flexibility.

The GROS are in the process of adding mother's maiden surname to the pre-1974 index, starting with the earlier entries. (Occasionally you may find it recorded in later index entries, but this is due to individual record updates). Important: The availability and treatment of the mothers maiden surname is dependant on the year(s) searched:

1. Searches 1855-1957 (records more than 50 years old)
If you enter a mother's maiden surname and this information has not yet been indexed, the record will not be found. To ensure that all entries where the mother's maiden surname has not yet been captured in the index are returned, please check the Include Unrecorded Mother's Maiden Surname box. Be aware that this may greatly increase the number of possible matches.