Sunday, December 16, 2007

Mexico genealogy research using registro civil



Someone who is trying to find family in Mexico recently asked how to access the registro civil in Mexico. The goal for most of my readers is to simply find and be united/reunited with family in Mexico or friends they have lost touch with. Most of my readers aren't really looking to do long term Mexico genealogy research on genealogy web sites or going to genealogy societies and meetings.

But for you readers who are genealogists and who have to find this relative or friend so you can start your Mexico genealogy research, you may have thought about tapping into the registro civil, the government agency that stores the government documents of the residents in their town.

So why would using the registro civil be an issue? It sounds simple. Just call them up or better yet go to their web site, tell them who you want to find, give them your credit card information (there is a charge), sit back and wait for the document to come in the mail. The hard truth is that we can only wish it worked this way, and it doesn't.

Check back next week as we continue to address this issue in Registro civil: Not easy Mexico genealogy research.

Saludos,

Richard Villasana
finding family in Mexico

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Find Relatives In Mexico

There are five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico? Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report and find out what those challenges are.

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PS. Be sure to leave your comments. The more you share with us, the better we can help you find family in Mexico.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - Misspelling Mexican Cities

Another challenge to finding someone living in Mexico is with the spelling of the names of Mexican cities. You’ll need to make sure you are not misspelling the city name as this small mistake will limit your search. It’s important to know with certainty, the city and state of the person you are looking for. One person was trying to find the city of Colipa. However, the name of the city was Copila. Some of the letters were changed around. Maybe it is spelled with an “o” instead of an “a” or it has two “l’s” when it should be a “t”. Be sure that you are clear on the city and the state and their correct spellings.

Let’s say that you have discovered the complete name of the person you want to find and you have verified to the best of your ability the city and state where this person is now living in Mexico. You are now at the door and ready to enter to find this person. Now where do you go with this information? And what do you do if you have tried everything and you feel you have as much information as you will ever have, but it’s not quite enough?

Both situations lead us to the final challenge #5 . . . be sure to read next week's blog.


Do you know there are five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico? Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report.


Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found!


Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - What If They Are Female?



What if the person you are looking for is a female in Mexico? I want you to know up front that it will be more challenging. Most females are going to be living with their father, an uncle or another male relative until they are married. Because of this, women will rarely have accounts, such as utilities, placed in their name. Females are not going to be paying the electricity or water bill or buying property. If the female is married, this may increase the difficulty of finding the person even more. When women marry, they usually drop their maiden name (the second name). They will then retain their father’s last name but they will be addressed by the last name of their husband’s father. This is quite similar to how women change their names when they get married in the U.S.

If you do not know the city and state and do not know who she has married, then the chances of finding her are very slim but not impossible. You can still search for this person by locating her relatives. A point to keep in mind is that your success in finding someone depends on the information you have and where you will be using it.

Next week . . . Getting the correct spelling.

What are the five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico? Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report and we'll tell you!


Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found!


Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Connecting With Someone In Mexico - Sorting Through Your Information



If you've been following these blog posts (and I hope you have), you now know what to do and what you need to find someone living in Mexico.

You may be wondering how to sort through the information that you have. You may have found some great information but you just do not know what to do with it. We’ll start by putting the information into context. You may be able to move ahead with the information you presently have or you may need to organize your information and fill in the gaps.

Let’s say that you talked to all of the relatives that you can think of and you came across a last name. Maybe you do not have the second last name, but you know the city and state where they were born. Here’s how to begin.

There are thirty one states in Mexico. Just as in the United States, or any other country, there are little towns and villages and then there are big cities. If you have someone you believe is living in Mexico City and you only have one surname and it is Martinez, your chances of finding this person are remote to impossible. Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world. Martinez is the fourth most popular Spanish name. There are thousands of people in Mexico City with the surname of Martinez. It would be virtually impossible to find someone with just the surname Martinez. That is why it is so important to have both last names.

On the other hand, if you have only one surname but it’s a name such as Alvarado and they are living in a small town, you could have success in finding them without having more information. Alvarado is not nearly as popular a name as Martinez. If you have a small town, it’s often true that anyone with the same last name is probably a relative. Many times I have located people with the same surname that turned out to be a relative of who I was looking for. So even if you don’t have a complete name, if the person is living in a small town or rural area, you may be able to use your information right now to find this person.

Next week . . . what if the person is a female?

There are five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico? Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report and find out what those challenges are.


Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found!


Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Press Release: Unique Web Site Connects Hispanics to Family in Mexico

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Richard Villasana
Tel: (619) 379-7862
E-mail: rvillasana@FindingRelativesInMexico.com
Website: http://www.FindingRelativesInMexico.com

Unique Web Site Connects Hispanics to Family in Mexico

CHULA VISTA, CA (October 2007) – Where there once was despair and disappointment, there is now help and hope thanks to a unique new Web site specially created to reunite families and friends from north and south of the Border. The Web site, www.FindRelativesInMexico.com is the labor of love of nationally recognized Hispanic businessman Richard Villasana who developed the site because he saw that many Hispanic families had become separated from their families in Mexico. Hispanics were abandoned with no experienced organization able to locate their families in Mexico.

Many foster agencies and child services from around the country have contacted Villasana as well as attorneys for child custody cases when the case involves a parent living in Mexico. His company has helped over 3,000 clients find mothers, birth fathers and other relatives in Mexico.

Villasana is a professional speaker whose recent presentation on Mexico Family History helped kick off Hispanic Heritage Month in Austin, Texas and was a guest speaker at the Latino Film Festival earlier this year in San Diego.

With Hispanic Heritage Month already halfway through (September 16 - October 15), Villasana has seen an increase in web hits of over 300% from people in Mexico coming to his new site. The site is so popular with Hispanic speaking people that Villasana will be launching a Spanish version of the site soon.

One customer claimed, "I was speechless. I dialed one of the numbers you gave me and I was talking to my son's grandmother. I've been looking for his Mexican relatives for three to four years."

Villasana has also written a book titled, The Insider's Guide to Doing Business in Mexico, and several articles including his most recent in CRM Magazine about the U.S. Hispanic market. He has also lectured in the U.S. and Mexico on international marketing and is President of The Mexico Guru. The company provides training and seminars to businesses wanting to increase sales and profits to Mexico.

Villasana is available for interviews and can be reached at (619) 379-7862; or email: rvillasana@FindRelativesInMexico.com; Web site : http://www.FindRelativesInMexico.com

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - A Word About Mexico Phone Numbers

A lot of people have more information than they think they do. You may only have a phone number. I can’t tell you the amount of people who had a phone number and contacted me because the number no longer worked. I was able to help these people by explaining what may have happened to cause the phone number to no longer function.

In late 2001 Mexico changed their entire telephone system to a more standard format much like telephone numbers in the U.S. or most of Europe. All but three cities now have a three-digit area code and a seven digit telephone number. Because of their large populations, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterey now have a unique two digit area code.

So if you have a number for a relative or friend who is living in one of these three cities and that number has seven digits, you will now need the ten digit number. What the Mexican telephone company did is add a “5” to the beginning of the old seven digit numbers. If your number was previously 223-4455, it is now 5223-4455. Let’s put this together. The Mexico country code is 52, the city code for Mexico City is 55. Your number would look like this: 52 (country code) 55 (Mexico City code) 5223-4455 (new eight digit number) or 52-55-5223-4455.

The same process was applied to Guadalajara and Monterey. Guadalajara numbers were transformed to 33 (city code) and another “3” was added to the beginning of the old seven-digit numbers. For Monterrey, numbers were transformed to 81 (city code) and another “8” was added to the beginning of the old seven-digit numbers.

What is relevant for you right now is to organize your notes and focus on finding the two key pieces of information you want to have to ensure you have the best chance of finding the person you are looking for in Mexico. You want to discover the complete name of the person and the city and state where they were living and may still be living. You may have to go back to people you already talked to. Remember that now you know what information you want to discover so you can move to the next step.

Do you know there are five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico? Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report.


Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found!


Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

How Do I Reconnect With Someone In Mexico?

By now you should be armed with plenty of information about the person you are looking for and you are now ready to hit the ground running. This post will show you what to do so you will be able to move forward faster in your search. You could, realistically, be talking to that person within the next couple of weeks.

How To Get Started Finding Someone in Mexico

Start by organizing your work. A great way to stay organized is to take notes while you are talking to people about the person you are looking for. Write down everything you’ve heard because you do not know where this information could lead you. You want to be able to remember it later.

Get organized by focusing on finding the two key pieces of information that were presented in Challenge #2. Think outside the box. Think like a detective. Where did this person go? Retrace their steps. That is how you are going to find the information you need. What else could you use to get started?

Key information on family genealogy can be found in birth records, marriage certificates, and death certificates. If you have someone’s birth certificate, you then have their complete name. You also have the complete name of the person’s parents. You have the city and state where this person was born. This is a great place to start. If you know nothing about this person, you can start your research right there. We get emails all the time from people saying that all they have is a birth certificate. They have no idea how close they are to finding the person they are looking for because they do have that birth certificate.

Marriage licenses work the same way. These will give you information on people who were witnesses including the name of the church and the presiding priest or minister.

How about a death certificate? Obviously not the death certificate of the person you are trying to find, because your focus is on people who are currently alive and living in Mexico, but if you have a death certificate of one of their parents you also now know the city and the state. It is a great starting point and an incredible source of data for doing family genealogy.

Look at documents that you might have gathered in your genealogy research. Look at old post cards. Look at letters. Where are these written from? All of those are possible sources of genealogy information that you can use to find this person.


Learn the five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico. Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report.


Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found!


Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - Get the City and State

Another key piece of information that you need when trying to find someone living in Mexico is to have the city and the state of where they are or where they were living.

Finding out where they did live can be helpful if you do not know where they are living right now. Family genealogist know that having the city and state are two critical pieces of information needed to locate someone and learn more about them. Family genealogy research also includes looking at where a people is from to help identify other relatives who may still be living in the same city.

If someone has lived in Guadalajara and they came to the United States for, say, ten years, there is a very good possibility they may be going back to Guadalajara at some point. Also finding where they did live is very helpful because their family and friends may still be there.

Why do you need to know the city and state? If you tried to go to an Internet search engine site, maybe one that specialized in genealogy research and put in only a person’s name without the city and state you are not going to get any information. Why? Even in the United States you have to tell the site where this person is living. If you do not have that basic information, you are not going to get an answer. It is virtually impossible to locate a person if you do not have the city and the state where they are living.

Next week, we'll organize all our findings.

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Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Expert on 1st 100 years of Mexico Family History


Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your Inbox? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - Through Story Telling

Story telling is an incredible tool to get people to tell you the information you want. It will also give you an idea of who this person was and what they were doing and may lead you to other ideas.

A great way to get information is to get a person to tell you stories using questions like, “So how did you and my father meet?” or “What did he/she like to do during the weekends?” Engaging the people that you talk to in your family and circle of friends in stories is a great way to jog their memory. Sometimes with story telling they remember something they may have otherwise forgotten.

Here is a key. Talk to every relative you have. There is always someone in every family who knows a little bit about everyone. And it does not matter if they are your third cousin or they are four times removed. They could be an ex-husband, an ex-uncle. It does not matter. You would be amazed at how much information other people in the family have about your side of the family. You may think that your immediate family should know everything about the family, but that is not always true. I urge you to go talk to every possible relative.

Maybe they talked to someone from another group, such as a priest or teacher. Go after as many leads as you can. You are going to have to interview several people to get all the facts.

Ths and next weeks post are two key pieces of information that will go far in helping with your search.

Find out what the five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico. Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found!

Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

#3 Want to find family in Mexico? What you need to get started



A challenge that people experience in trying to find someone living in Mexico is just not having enough information or not knowing where to get started gathering information. This post will give you the fundamentals you will need to gather information to find people in Mexico.

You've probably already done a lot of Mexico genealogy research. I’m sure you've tried many ways to find the information you need to find someone in Mexico, from searching the Internet to speaking to friends and family. You may have been searching online for hours and hours. You may have talked to relatives or friends of the person you are searching for, but you just have not gotten the information you need and are not able to find this person living in Mexico.

Let’s start with the fundamentals of what information you should be searching for.

Your first goal should be to have the complete name of the person you are looking for. Let’s use the name Juan Carlos Garcia Gonzalez as an example.

If you have a friend who has a name like Juan Carlos, that is his name. In English we might separate out two names. Someone named Billy Bob may also be called Bob or Billy. However, in Mexico Juan Carlos is this person’s name. It’s not correct to call him Juan or to him Carlos. His name is Juan Carlos. Be aware of this because having the complete and full name is very important in your search and will help you to more quickly locate this person.

The complete name is not only their first name(s) but also both of their last names. In Spanish a person has two last names. The first last name in Spanish is the name of the father (for example: Garcia). Gonzalez is the second last name and this is the equivalent of our mother’s maiden name. By putting the two together and you have a complete name. Doing Mexico genealogy can often be easier because the two last names minimize the chance of accidentally researching someone else's family lineage.

You can also discover this information by talking to every relative this person has. Ask questions such as where did this person come from. Ask how they ended up in the United States. Ask where they went to school or where they vacationed as they were growing up. Different questions can help trigger memories and details that will help you find the information and the person you are looking for.

Saludos,

Mexico family genealogy search
Mexico family genealogy search

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Find Relatives In Mexico

Want to know the Top 3 Keys to Starting Your Mexico Family Genealogy? Go to our Facebook page and click the LIKE button. Then you only have to enter your name and email to get your audio copy of my interview with John Finch, former President of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society. You don't want to miss this information so go to our Facebook page now and get your free audio download.

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Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - Does the Internet Work?

So you've searched the Internet and can't find the person you are looking for in Mexico. The problem with trying to find someone in Mexico by using the Internet is that very little of the information on individuals who are living in Mexico is digitized. Herein lays the problem. The information is not on the Internet. If you did an Internet search for Mexico, you would receive a lot of results, but a closer look at the results reveals that most of them have to do with New Mexico or Mexico, Missouri. The search results are not focused on the Country of Mexico but more on searching for people that live in the United States.

Marie Daly, director of the Research Library at the New England Historic Genealogical Society is quoted in Margaret Moen's How to be a Self-Sufficient Researcher as saying, “I’d say perhaps only 10 percent of the genealogical information out there is on the Web. But when people do genealogy research, they think that’s 100 percent, and they make a big error that way. Not everything is on the Web. And some of the things that are on the Web are erroneous.”

Even though you may spend a lot of time looking for this information, it may be in the wrong direction. If you have spent over an hour searching the Internet, stop. Why would I say this? Because most people after an hour have tapped their knowledge of how to search online. There is a science to searching online. After an hour most people have used up all of their resources. They have used up all of their knowledge on how to look for information. At that point most people are pretty much just surfing around, looking and hoping to find new information.

People may feel that if they keep searching, they will find that one site that has the information they are looking for. There is no one magic web site to help you locate someone living in Mexico. It is just not out there and this includes family genealogy sites.

If you are frustrated because you have spent a lot of time looking for someone, have tried free genealogy sites and nothing you have done has worked, you are finally in the right place. In the next few blogs, I am going to share with you information on what to do and how to do it. So don’t give up.

Take the first step to uncovering the five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico. Subscribe to get our FREE Special Report.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found

Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - The #1 Challenge

Are you frustrated because you have spent too much time looking for someone in Mexico and nothing you have done works? You’re not alone. Hours of research only ending in frustration is the #1 challenge when trying to find someone living in Mexico or trying to start your Mexico family genealogy research.

Breaking through the #1 Frustration Challenge

One of the most interesting challenges that I have come across in my research is frustration. People may feel as though there may be no hope in finding the person they are looking for. Maybe they are frustrated because they don’t know or speak the Spanish language. This can be especially upsetting for people who are doing their Mexican family genealogy and researching to find a mother or father living in Mexico.

Some of our clients have said their biggest problem is they do not speak Spanish or have never been to Mexico and have no idea where to start looking. Some tell us they have names and some information, but have not had any luck at all finding anybody. They feel lost and have given up on their Mexico family genealogy research. They are possibly frustrated because they may have spent hours on the Internet and have come up with nothing. This includes free family genealogy web sites.

Let’s talk about that for a minute. There's a good reason why a person doing family genealogy research for someone in Mexico has not found any information. Let’s start with the Internet. For most people, the Internet is an easy way to find people. Let’s face it, if you are trying to find someone in the United States, all you need to do is put in their name, city, state, and maybe their zip code.

There are many online search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or the Internet White Pages. If someone has any kind of web presence such as: owning a web site; have published articles; been in a newspaper; or even just have a residential listing that is online, they can easily be found through an online search just by plugging their information into a search engine. There is a lot of information on people who are living in the United States and there are many ways to look for them and it is very easy to find them--if they are living in the United States.

Next week . . . Does the Internet work for finding people living in Mexico?

We'll share with you the top five challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico? Subscribe now and get our FREE Special Report.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found

Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Friday, August 17, 2007

PS. to "Nicknames Can Hurt You" article

I was reading through my blogs and this article caught my attention. With the large number of people contacting my company and using our information, we are always picking up better ideas to help people just like you.

First I recommend you read the article "Nicknames Can Hurt You". At one point I commented against using nicknames. Well, I'm going to change my position a little. People who are posting family information, especially to family genealogy web sites, should be listing the formal name of the person they are looking for. But they may also want to add a side note and mention that they believe the person had a nickname. I have noticed on a few records that people back in the late 1800s and early 1900s did sometimes list their nickname. One name might read Jose "Nacho" Rodriguez.

Patricia Diane Godinez, a 30 year veteran of Hispanic family genealogy research at the Bonita Family History Center, commented that the first 100 years of research can be the hardest. She was referring to those who want to start their family genealogy but because of divorce or other reasons have lost contact with their relatives in Mexico. For these people, any one piece of information could hold the key to their making contact with their Mexican relatives or friends.

I really started thinking about this when my wife was talking about some friends the other day. I was half listening as a husband might do from time to time but then she mentioned this one person by their nickname. I'm not even sure what his formal name is. I only know him as "Nacho". And if you mention "Nacho" around town, given the crowd, everyone knows who "Nacho" is.

So even though I tell clients to list formal names when posting on family genealogy web sites, I also now encourage people to make a comment and list the nickname. It's always possible that someone may have a record referring to a relative with the same nickname. If you're doing family genealogy research, you will want to verify all of this information with documents. But use all that you have, and you may find that person sooner than you expected.

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert
Family & Friends Found


Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Finding Someone In Mexico - Are Genealogy Sites The Right Place to Look?

Who is this person you are trying to find? Could they be a relative or a parent? Possibly a friend or maybe someone they met on vacation? You may be looking for this person because you want to learn about your Mexico family history or maybe because you are into family genealogy. You may be searching for medical reasons. We are hearing more and more how our relatives can affect us physically, how our genetics affect us. Many people now want to know all about their family’s health history so they will know what diseases or medical problems they may face as they get older or so that they can provide this family history to their doctor. Family medical history is rapidly becoming an important reason for people wanting to learn about their relatives.

Most people looking for someone in another country or looking for someone in their family think about genealogy first. Genealogy is a study of our family and our relatives. But here is the catch; most of the time genealogy deals with people who are deceased such as our great grandparents or people who came to the country hundreds of years ago.

Here is a quick example. Let’s say someone wants to do genealogy research on their Mexican Family History, but they do not know who their father, uncle, or current relatives are. It could be very challenging to discover more about their family history until they find out more about their living relatives.

If someone has been looking at genealogy sites, they are probably looking in the wrong place. Genealogy sites are there mainly with information to help users find people who are deceased. For privacy reasons, the majority of genealogy societies worldwide are prohibited from putting personal information online until that person has been deceased at least 71 years. If someone is trying to find a person who is living, then genealogy sites might help but only if they know who their great-great-grandparents were. Then the person has to work forward from there.

In most cases, this is not what people are looking for. What they want to do is find someone who is alive today and living in Mexico. They want or need to find their living relative. They may want to find a friend. This is the point where people want and need help finding someone living in Mexico.

Next week . . . overcoming the frustrations of finding someone living in Mexico.

We've uncovered the five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico. Get Our FREE Special Report.

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found

Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

How To Get Started Finding Someone In Mexico

Are you looking for or want to find someone who is living in Mexico? Do you need help getting started on the right path for your Mexico family genealogy research? Do you want to find that person as soon as possible? This, and the next several blogs, will discuss the challenges and solutions for finding someone in Mexico.

How to Get Started Finding Someone Living in Mexico

First, we'll discuss the five biggest challenges people face when trying to locate someone in Mexico or beginning their Mexico family genealogy research. These five key challenges are what hold people back from successfully being able to find someone. The good news is, throughout these next blog posts, we will break down these challenges and explain the solutions to finding someone in Mexico. These blogs will get you to the door so you are ready to go through to achieve your desire: finding someone in Mexico. We will also save you time, frustration, anguish and confusion.

The five biggest challenges are:

1) Frustration in Searching
2) Having No Information
3) How to Get Started
4) Sorting Through the Information
5) Knowing Where to Go Next

Next week, we will focus on and identify two key goals to finding someone in Mexico. For some people starting their Mexico family genealogy, they may first have to find relatives who are living in Mexico. When you have the two key pieces of information, you will be ready to find the individual you are looking for.

Find out more about the five top challenges stopping people from finding someone living in Mexico. Your first step is to subscribe now and get our FREE Special Report.


Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Family & Friends Found

Want to have revealing information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Providing the right information for family genealogy research

Many emails asking for help have a lot of information showing that the person has clearly spent quality time researching to find someone presently living in Mexico. Often people are trying to get their Mexico family genealogy started and need to find a living relative. Over the next few blogs I'm going to talk about a few pieces of information that are frequently left out. I mention this because if you are going to several sources asking for assistance such as family genealogy web sites, you want to provide as much helpful information as possible.

One of the errors people make is not providing the name of the person they are looking for. I receive emails where the person says "I'm looking for someone." Someone is a hard person to find. It works much better if people will provide the person's full name up front. If there's an issue of trust, then don't approach strangers for assistance. I think, however, that some people are trying to be polite or not pushy so they don't include the person's complete name.

If you're going to email someone, put the vital information out there. If you are posting a message especially on a family genealogy web site, again put the information out there. You have no idea who might come across that web page. It could be another family member or someone who happens to have the one vital clue you need to find the person you are looking for.

So don't hold back. You don't have to tell every detail of the person's life but make sure you include the really important information, their complete name, city and state where you think they are or were living in Mexico.

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert

Want to have information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Searching all of Mexico for someone

I sometimes receive email with the simple request to find someone "in Mexico". The blunt answer to this request is, "It's not going to happen." In the U.S. we have the luxury of being able to access numerous telephone web sites, enter a last name of someone we want to find and get a list of everyone with that last name living in the U.S. No, actually that's not true either. In fact, most web sites, including family genealogy web sites, require a city and state before they will function and produce any results.

This same technology applies to searching internationally including searching for someone in Mexico. And Mexico is not a small country with a few inhabitants where you can find just one book or directory containing all residential listings. Mexico has a population of over 107,000,000 people. It is three times the size of Texas or more than the size of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas combined. It's a big place with lots of people.

So when someone asks to find the Garcia family in Mexico, they are making a wish that will go unfulfilled. This is where family genealogy research is needed to find clues and facts to narrow the search to a point where it's possible or probable that the person or persons can be located.

This blog and the ezine you can subscribe to (see below) focus exclusively on helping you find someone who is living in Mexico. This information is critical to those who want to do their Mexico family genealogy but first have to reconnect with a relative presently living in Mexico. You have to do your part, though, and provide facts such as the city and state where you want to search.

Don't give up. If your Mexico family genealogy research has stalled, hang in there. There are always new ideas and methods being created to increase the possibility of finding someone. However, in almost all cases, you're going to have to specify an area smaller than an entire country.

Good luck.

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert

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Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Starting Your Mexico Genealogy Search - Nicknames Can Hurt You



People send me the name of someone they are trying to find in Mexico. Sometimes I find the name is actually a nickname. Something to keep in mind is that with databases and listings, names are always in a formal format. Nicknames are not used. If you use a nickname, this decreases tremendously your chances of receiving any helpful feedback.

If you are doing a family genealogy search, you don't want to be using nicknames. It's sometimes confusing enough with misspelling on important documents such as birth and death certificates. You don't want to confuse people who could possibly help you with your family genealogy search by using nicknames instead of the person's proper name.

This also applies to cities. Sometimes people will ask for help, but they will reference the name the locals have for a city. It's very difficult to locate a city using a name known mostly to the indigenous people of a Mexican village.

When trying to find someone whether in the U.S., Mexico or abroad, always use the person's and the city's formal name. This will help ensure you get the help you are looking for.

Saludos,

Richard Villasana
Richard Villasana

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Find Relatives In Mexico

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Friday, March 9, 2007

Want to find family in Mexico? Don't exclude potential relatives



A client had asked me to locate a few relatives for their Mexico genealogy search. The last name was Hernandez Garcia. After I send the client the results, they asked why I would include listings of people with the last names Hernandez Garcia. The client felt they had provided all the names of the immediate family members so there was no reason to identify anyone else with the same last names.

In his book, "Finding Your History Roots", Dr. George Ryskamp, a family genealogy expert, explains that one of the key principals to locating someone is to work on family groups. When looking for someone in Mexico or doing a Mexico genealogy search, you also want to identify those people who have the greatest probability of being a relative of the person you want to find. You have no way of knowing if such an individual who could be a second cousin or distant relative has the information you want unless you add them to your list and contact them.

Anyone who is in the same city and has the same last names is a probable relative. Excluding someone from your search simply because you feel you have the entire list assumes your list is complete. Most of us have heard the problem with assumptions. Even if the person is in a neighboring city, if they had the same last names, I would definitely include them in my search to find someone in Mexico.

When you are trying to find family in Mexico, be sure to include anyone who has the same last names as the person you want to find. This individual is a quality candidate and a potential relative and should definitely be part of your search. Don't overlook any possible leads. That could be the person holding the key to your Mexico genealogy search.

Saludos,

Richard Villasana
Richard Villasana

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Find Relatives In Mexico

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

Include the facts in your story

I often receive emails with stories of how someone met a friend in Mexico. The stories are excellent. Some stories are from visitors as far away as New Zealand telling of meeting a Mexican student and their adventures together as they crossed Mexico. Others are about how the person stayed with a family and the fabulous hospitality they enjoyed while in Mexico.

These stories are incredible and should be recorded so others will get a sense of what was happening in the person's life when they were in Mexico. These are especially useful when doing family genealogy research.

However, when you are trying to find someone in Mexico, the best approach is to stay with the facts. They may be dry and impersonal, but you want to give people facts they can work with. Knowing the person's complete name, city and state is the essential information you want to provide so you can get the best help possible. This includes free family genealogy web sites.

Knowing how you met someone or how funny they were makes for great reading, and I enjoy these stories because they are written with so much heart and feeling. And yet it's the most critical information that is often overlooked such as date of birth or the names of the parents.

So keep sending those stories and also remember to include the person's complete name, city and state. Do this and you may find your friend or relative faster than you might imagine.

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert

Want to have information on finding someone in Mexico and Hispanic family genealogy research come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Information you should provide when asking for help

I just saw a message on a genealogy site where someone was asking for information on their relatives in Mexico. The girl provided the first names and both the last names of her relatives. The critical piece of information that was missing was the name of the city and state where her relatives are supposed to have lived.

Whenever you send an email or leave a message on a forum asking for help to find someone in Mexico, you always want to provide the city and state. This will narrow down any searches tremendously.

If you have the name of a city and state for the person you are searching, but you have questions, check my recent blogs on Knowing the Mexican States. If you still have questions, send me an email.

Good luck on your search.

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert

Want to have information on finding someone in Mexico come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

#3 Misspellings can hurt your search to find a person in Mexico

One of the most common problems I see from people wanting to find a person in Mexico, even family, are misspelled names. It only takes one wrong letter to bring your search to a halt.

The most commonly misspelled words are the names of Mexican cities. Even if you speak Spanish, how can you know if you have the correct spelling? Here is a great tip. Go to a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. Type in the city name you have into their search field and wait for the results. If the search engine doesn't recognize the city name, it will usually offer you another spelling for the word.

In the case of Yahoo, I did a search for Hermosillo misspelling it as hermasilo. Yahoo came back asking, "Did you mean: Hermosillo?" with the correct spelling.

Give this a try and see if this helps get your search moving forward again. It's possible for you to find someone in Mexico, but you want to check that you are working with the right spelling of a person's last names, the city and state. If you are doing Mexico genealogy, you really want to pay attention to the spelling of names; otherwise, you could end up searching in the wrong city for your ancestors.

Good luck on your search. Hasta pronto!

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert

Want to have information on finding someone in Mexico and Hispanic family genealogy research come directly to your In box? Subscribe now at Find Relatives In Mexico.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Knowing the Mexican states #4

OK. I promise this is the last word on the subject of Mexican states...at least for the next day or two. But seriously, I had two situations that truly reflect the confusion that exists with the names of cities and states.

The first was an inquiry I responded to. The girl wrote she was trying to find someone in Jilote, Veracruz. I explained there is no such city. There is a city named Jilotepec in Veracruz and recommended she check with the person who told her the city name was Jilote.

This exchange shows how one small item can stop you from moving forward and finding the person you are looking for or stop your family genealogy research. The girl wrote back she was aware Jilote is a slang term for Jilotepec. However, it's always best to use the proper city name if you're searching online or asking for help.

The other reason for comment is there can be cities in the same state where the difference in name is only one or two letters. I sometimes do a double take because I'll see two names that look exactly alike at first glance.

Another event occurred Saturday night that demonstrated so well the confusion in the U.S. on how to properly list a Mexican city and state. The program, 48 Hours Mystery, opened with a scene from a city in Mexico. The caption read, "Ajijic, Mexico". I just happened to be watching the show with a friend from Guadalajara who immediately said, "Hey, that's in Jalisco! There's no Ajijic, Mexico!!"

Guadalajara is in the state of Jalisco, and my friend knows the town, Ajijic. The proper form for the city is Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.

So if you are or have had challenges with the name of a city and state in Mexico, take heart. Not even CBS and 48 Hours seem to know how to properly list an address. They may claim creative license, but when you are trying to locate someone in Mexico or do your Mexico family genealogy, that creativity can slow you down or stop your search altogether. Now you know what to look for.

Good luck on your search.

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert

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Saturday, January 6, 2007

Knowing the Mexican states #3

Let me address another common misunderstanding about the names of Mexican states. Mexico is the name of the country. I may hear a "duh" but stay with me for a moment. One of the thirty-one states is also named Mexico. So how can you know the difference?

Most Mexican documents and addresses will use the form Edo. de Mexico meaning State of Mexico when referring to the state itself. You may also see the complete name, Estado de Mexico, and the less common state abbreviation, Edomex. If you were trying to find someone living in the city of Acambay in the State of Mexico, the proper form could be any of the following:

Acambay, Estado de Mexico
Acambay, Edo. de Mexico
Acambay, Edomex

I wish I could tell you this is the final word about Mexico and the State of Mexico, but it's not. Some Mexican publications such as Guia Roji's Mexican atlas and Mexico telephone books refer to Edo. de Mexico as simply Mexico.

Good luck in your search.

Richard Villasana
Mexico Family History Expert

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Friday, January 5, 2007

#2 Know the Mexican states to find family in Mexico



From the numerous emails I receive, it's apparent there are general misunderstandings about the Mexican states, the capitals and what makes a proper address. It's important to know about the states if you want to find people in Mexico.

Most capital cities have the same name as the state. For instance, the capital of the state of Puebla is Puebla. This is properly written as Puebla, Puebla. (There are state abbreviations, but I'll save that for another time.)

So what does it mean if you have an address with Puebla, Mexico? That's a good question. An educated guess is the address is/should be Puebla, Puebla Mexico. But when it comes to finding someone in Mexico and especially if you are going to pay for specialized services or resources, you really want to be certain what the proper address is before you start spending your money.

If possible, ask the person who gave you the address to verify the information. Maybe they left out a vital piece of information such as giving you both the city and state name. In some cases, the person may not know there is a difference and was simply passing on the address as they received it.

This may appear to be a minor issue, but it's not. I just received an email asking for help. The city and state the person gave me is Puebla, Edo. de Mexico. There is no city named Puebla in Edo. de Mexico so it's very likely the correct city and state is Puebla, Puebla. If this person hadn't asked for expert advice, he may have continued searching for months thinking Puebla, Edo. de Mexico was a good address. It can be the small things that stop you from finding a person in Mexico.

If at all possible, you have to verify your information is correct. This is one of the reasons why finding family in Mexico, a mother, birth father may require the services of experts who know the ins and outs of addresses and so much more.

Good luck on your search.


Saludos,

Richard Villasana
Richard Villasana

Richard Villasana
The Mexico Guru
Find Relatives In Mexico

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