FamilySearch expanded Santa Catarina and São Paulo records: how to search the August 2026 collections

FamilySearch's August 2026 update included three expansions that are especially useful for people researching families in Santa Catarina and São Paulo: Santa Catarina Civil Registration, 1850–1999; São Paulo Catholic Church Records, 1640–2013; and São Paulo Civil Registration, 1925–2023. The most important point is what “expanded” means: these collections already existed and received additional indexed records; they are not three databases created from scratch.

In the monthly report, FamilySearch counted 251 additional indexed records for Santa Catarina civil registration, 235 for São Paulo Catholic records, and 443 for São Paulo civil registration. These figures represent the additions reported in that update, not the total size of each collection or the number of images available.

What was expanded in August 2026

The source for the additions is FamilySearch's official August 2026 historical-records update. FamilySearch itself labels all three entries as Expanded Collection.

Do not treat the title date range as continuous coverage

The years in a collection title are an overall range, not a promise that every municipality, civil registration office, or parish is covered for every year. Coverage can vary by location, record book, and image availability. A collection can also contain images that have not yet been indexed or only a portion of its records may be searchable by name.

This matters when interpreting the August update: the report states how many indexed records were added, but it does not identify which municipalities, registration offices, or parishes received each new record. You therefore cannot conclude from the monthly report alone that a specific town gained new coverage.

How to search the Santa Catarina collection

The Santa Catarina Civil Registration, 1850–1999 collection includes births, marriages, deaths, and indexes from multiple civil registration offices across the state. For a more efficient search, open the collection directly instead of beginning with a global search across all FamilySearch records.

1. Start with name and place. Enter the person's name and, if known, the municipality. Use a date range instead of a single year when the date is uncertain.
2. Filter by event. Birth, marriage, and death can lead to different records for the same person and reveal relatives that help confirm identity.
3. Search for relatives. Birth records may list parents and grandparents; marriages can include parents, places of origin, and witnesses; death records may include parents, spouse, residence, and burial place.
4. If the index does not solve it, change methods. The collection offers full-text search as well as image browsing. This is especially helpful when a name was indexed with an unexpected spelling or when an image has not yet entered the traditional index.

How to search São Paulo Catholic records

The São Paulo Catholic Church Records, 1640–2013 collection brings together documents from different parishes and dioceses. It is particularly valuable for periods before civil registration became established and for cross-checking baptism, marriage, and death information.

In baptisms, search not only for the person but also for parents and godparents. In marriages, examine birthplace, residence, parents' names, and witnesses. In death records, details such as spouse, origin, parents, and burial can distinguish people with the same name. The collection page also allows image browsing and provides a full-text search entry point.

If the family moved between municipalities, try both the parish where the event occurred and nearby locations. In older records, surname spellings, place names, and abbreviations can vary substantially, so an overly exact search may hide the correct document.

How to search São Paulo civil registration

For the São Paulo Civil Registration, 1925–2023 collection, FamilySearch states that some records have already been indexed and that additional images and indexed records may be published as they become available. The fastest approach is to begin with name and event fields and then narrow the results by place and date range.

The title spans 1925–2023, but this does not mean every municipality has every record type for every year in that period. If a name search fails, do not rule out the document's existence: the gap may reflect partial coverage, incomplete indexing, a spelling variation, or an image that must be found through another route.

When a name search finds nothing

• Remove excessive filters. Start with fewer fields and add place, date, or relatives gradually.
• Widen the date range. Try several years before and after the estimated event, especially for delayed registrations or dates passed down orally.
• Vary the name. Test surnames without accents, older spellings, married names, and different combinations of given names.
• Search for a relative. Parents, spouse, children, godparents, or witnesses may lead to the same family group.
• Filter by the correct collection. FamilySearch lets you filter results by collection so records from other states or document types do not get mixed in.
• Explore images. Explore Historical Images lets you locate sets by title, place, date, and event; collections may be fully or partially unindexed.

How to use full-text search without getting lost

When full-text search is available, it can find words in a document transcription even when the traditional genealogical index does not return the expected result. On the verified Santa Catarina and São Paulo Catholic record pages, FamilySearch currently provides this search mode.

• Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase, such as a full compound name.
• Use + to require a term and - to exclude an unwanted term.
• Use ? to replace one character and * to test variations from the same word root.

After finding a candidate, inspect the original image and its context. Transcription and indexing help locate the record, but the image may contain additional information or clarify an uncertain reading.

How to tell whether the August expansion helps your research

You cannot answer that just by looking at the figures 251, 235, and 443. The monthly report does not list the sublocations of the added records. The practical test is to open the appropriate collection, search the municipality or parish and relevant time period, and inspect image groups when necessary.

FamilySearch also lets you locate specific collections and sort the list by Last Updated. For researchers who monitor frequent additions, that path helps identify sets that changed recently, but you still need to open the collection and evaluate coverage for the specific family you are researching.

A workflow that keeps you out of the wrong record set

1. Define the state, municipality or parish, event type, and approximate year.
2. Choose one of the three collections by document type: Santa Catarina civil, São Paulo Catholic, or São Paulo civil.
3. Run an indexed search with only a few fields and refine the results.
4. When available, try full-text search for difficult names and terms.
5. If there is still no result, browse images by place and period.
6. When you find the record, inspect the original image and note the registration office or parish, book, page, date, and other source details shown.

This workflow makes use of the August update without turning the monthly report into something it is not. The expansion confirms that the collections continue to receive records, but the genealogical question is only resolved when you search the correct set and verify coverage for the relevant place and period.

Official sources

• FamilySearch — New Historical Records August 2026
• FamilySearch — Brazil, Santa Catarina, Civil Registration, 1850–1999
• FamilySearch — Brazil, São Paulo, Catholic Church Records, 1640–2013
• FamilySearch — Brazil, São Paulo, Civil Registration, 1925–2023
• FamilySearch Help — Find and search specific historical record collections