How to Find Kentucky Birth Records

How to Find United States Birth Records Kentucky Births

Statewide registration of births began in 1911 in Kentucky with general compliance by 1917.

Next Step: When did the birth occur?	Choose a time period to search for your ancestor's birth record: Births before 1852 Births from 1852 thru 1910 Births after 1910 I don't know when the birth is

Learn more about U.S. Birth Records

Births before 1852

Before 1852, no births were recorded by the county or state. You must search substitute records to locate your ancestor’s birth date and place.

Records that give birth information:
Death Records Cemetery Records Newspapers Bible Records	Church Records Census Military Records Tax Records

Return to top: Choose another birth year

Births from 1852 thru 1910

In 1852, Kentucky passed a law requiring counties to record births. This law was repealed in 1862. Registration was again attempted from 1874 to 1879 and sporadically from 1892 to 1910. If you cannot locate your ancestor in the databases below, try searching for birth information in other records.

For births that exist during the time period, try the following databases.

Includes Index and Digital Images
Try 1st:
	Kentucky, Births, 1852-1910	Ancestry subscription - $; includes digital images
Try 2nd:
	Kentucky, Births, 1839-1960	FamilySearch - Free; incomplete index, no images
Can't find your ancestor in the index?		Tips for searching indexes
No birth record for your ancestor?		Other records with birth information

Obtain the Record

If you do not have an Ancestry subscription, with approximate birth years and places (counties or cities), you can locate birth records from 1852-1910 yourself on microfilms available through the Family History Library (films 1533971-1533979 and films 174932-174943), Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort (films 994027-994058), Filson Club, Louisville (film 929.3 K37v, 32 reels), and other Kentucky repositories.

There are no restrictions on these records.

Return to top: Choose another birth year

Births after 1910

Statewide registration of births began in 1911 in Kentucky.

For births that exist during the time period, try the following databases.

Includes Index
Try 1st:
	Kentucky Births, 1911-1999	FamilyTreeLegends - Free; index only
Try 2nd:
	Kentucky Births, 1911-2007	Archives subscription - $; index only
Try 3rd:
	Kentucky Births, 1911-1999	Ancestry subscription - $; index only
Can't find your ancestor in the index?		Tips for searching indexes
No birth record for your ancestor?		Other records with birth information

Obtain the Certificate

With full names, dates and places (cities or counties) of an event, you can order a copy of the birth certificate for a fee from the the Virginia Division of Vital Records (PDF file).

Restrictions for persons born within the last 100 years:
To obtain a copy of the birth certificate for those born within the last 100 years, you must be:

• The person on the certificate
• The parent or grandparent of the person on the certificate
• The spouse of the person on the certificate
• The child of the person on the certificate
• The sibling of the person on the certificate
• The legal guardian of the person on the certificate
• Anyone who has legal interest in the certificate

NOTE: A copy of the birth certificate cannot be obtained by anyone except those listed above until 100 years have passed from the date of the birth.

If you do not want to order the birth record, there are other records with birth information you can search.

Return to top: Choose another birth year

Related Wiki Articles

• Learn more about U.S. Birth Records
• United States Record Selection Table
• U.S. Vital Records Overview
• United States Vital Records
• Locating United States Vital Records
• United States Death Records
• United States Marriage Records