Census records
Last updated
4 July 2025
Estimated reading time
1 minute
Census information is useful for family history research because it covers the whole of Scotland. It can confirm details or provide further information on people such as names, ages, or occupations. This will help you build a more detailed picture of your ancestors.
Census data from 2001 is available on Scotland's Census. You can access census records from 1841 to 1921 on the Scotland's People website, for a fee. Some free census data is also available at FreeCEN.
We hold many of the indexes to the census for 1841 to 1911 published by local family history societies in Scotland. You can find details of these in our main catalogue.
Related resources
Government and official eResources
Online resources for official records on law, trade, diplomacy, and governance from 1509 to the present day.
