Not all persons who entered the United States at New Orleans, or elsewhere, appear on the available passenger lists from 1813-1945. Some lists were lost. Some ship captains probably did not record all passengers on the lists for one reason or another. Indexers do not always spell names correctly, often because the original version of the name was illegible. Since no index is 100% accurate, the only way to be certain whether or not a name is in the actual record is to search the record itself.

There are several additional sources for immigration information on passengers arriving at New Orleans:

 

Some naturalization records provide information on place and/or date of arrival.

 

Voter registration records usually give some information on time of arrival in the city and also usually provide exact reference to naturalization records.

 

The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Incorrect information was occasionally given, or mistakes may have been made when the clerk guessed at the spelling of foreign names. These indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.