How to Find Iowa Birth Records

Finding United States Births Iowa Births

Finding Iowa Birth Records

Iowa was created in 1846 from Iowa Territory. Statewide registration of births began in July 1, 1880 in Iowa and was generally complied with by 1924. The counties have copies of these records.

Next Step: When did the birth occur?	Choose a time period to search for your ancestor's birth record: Births before 1880 Births from 1880 thru Present I don't know when the birth is

Learn more about U.S. Birth Records

    Births before 1880

Before 1880, very few 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	Church Records Census Military Records

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 Births from 1880 thru Present

In 1880, Iowa was created a state from Iowa Territory. Iowa began to register vital records during the 1870s, but most county records began in 1880, when a state law took effect requiring counties to record births. Statewide registration of births began July 1, 1880. County registrars do not have birth records for the years 1921 to 1941. These must be ordered from the Iowa Department of Public Health.

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

Includes Index and Digital Images
Try 1st:	Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935 at FamilySearch.org	Index to the birth records created by the counties of Iowa. When completed it will contain records for all of the 99 counties in the state. This collection is 80% complete.
Try 2nd:	Iowa, Births and Christenings Index, 1857-1947 at Ancestry.com	This database is an index extracted from more than 1.7 million birth, baptism, and christening records from Iowa.
Can't find your ancestor in the index?		Tips for searching indexes
No birth record for your ancestor?		Other records with birth information

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Obtain the Certificate

With an exact date (from your records or the index above), you can order a copy of the birth record for a fee from the county of birth or the Iowa Department of Public Health.

If you do not know the exact date or place of birth:
For a fee, the Iowa Department of Public Health will do a search. The fee is non-refundable.

Restrictions:
To obtain a copy of the birth certificate, you must:  

• State your relationship to the individual on the record
• The reason you want the information
• Include the person named on the certificate
• Include names of children and grandchildren of the person on the certificate
• Include names of siblings on the certificate
• Anyone who has legal interest in the certificate
• Additional proof of entitlement may be required.

All applications for certified copies of vital record events must be in writing and completely identify the record, as well as satisfactorily establish entitlement to the record being requested. Certified copies of birth, death, or marriage certificates may be obtained from the state office of vital records by telephone, in-person, or through a postal service.

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

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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

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