The present invention relates to a method of automatically recognizing fingerprints, consisting in establishing a database by digitizing images of fingerprints of individuals, by detecting the corresponding minutiae, by selecting the most discriminating minutiae, by storing the characteristic parameters of these minutiae, then, in the step for recognizing prints of a given individual, in digitizing the fingerprints of this individual, in detecting the minutiae of these fingerprints, in storing their characteristic parameters, in comparing these parameters with those stored in the database, and it is characterized in that, on establishing the database and on taking prints of said given individual, for each print in the database and of the individual concerned, at least the spectra of the selected minutiae are stored as characteristic parameters of the minutiae, and in that, after comparison of the characteristic parameters of the prints of the individual with the corresponding parameters of the prints in the database, a score is deduced for each of the duly performed comparisons, and the decision is made.