Birth Records
Guide to locating birth records, whether church or civil, for ancestry, family history, and genealogy research.
What Are Birth Records?
Birth records are a primary source used in family history research. Finding them is an important research goal.
- What can you find in birth records? In addition to the basic information of names of the child and parents, date, and place of the birth, birth records can give important details about the parents’ residence, birth places, occupations, the mother’s maiden name, and in some cases grandparents’ names. Other relatives may show up as witnesses.
- Where are birth records kept? Records were kept on a national, state or province, county, town or church parish level, which varies by place and time period.
- More recent birth records are typically found in government records, called "vital records or civil registration". The government records tend to be kept more recently, perhaps beginning in the 1800s and 1900s. In the more western states of the U.S., states did not begin keeping records until the 20th century.
- Birth records are also found in church records, as part of the christening or baptism record created in religions that practiced infant baptism. In countries with a state church, the government often mandated that the church keep these records for many years before the government took over.
- How do you find birth records? Many birth records have been made available online. Other records require written requests to a government registry office, a church, or archives where the records have been stored for safekeeping. In some cases, it may be necessary to hire a professional researcher to visit a parish or archive.
- What are privacy restrictions? Records often have privacy restrictions, making them available only to the named child and parents during a period of 75 to 100 years after the birth. Often privacy is waived for genealogical purposes when proof of a close relationship and death of the involved parties can be proven.
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One recommended research approach is to locate available birth records for each ancestor and their children. Choose one of the many helps in the FamilySearch Research Wiki, listed below, to get started!!! |
Using the FamilySearch Research Wiki to Find Birth Records
The Wiki helps researchers acquire birth records with articles for each locality covering:
- Links to online birth records collections.
- Information on where records are created and/or stored with addresses and instructions for making written requests.
- Letter-writing guides for requesting records in foreign languages.
- Vocabulary lists of terms usually found in records written in foreign languages, making them easier to translate.
Finding Online Records
Guided Research
On each U.S. state and country page, you will find a link to a "Guided Research" article, which also gives instructions and links to birth records collections.
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Online Genealogical Records Pages
On the main page for each U.S. State page and country page, a blue button leads to a listing of online record collections. The first listings on an Online Genealogy Records page will be links for birth, marriage, and death records. These collections follow the publishing organizations rights of privacy regulations.
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main page to link to the Online Genealogy Records page.
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notice that birth records are the first collections listed and linked.
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- Also, all the available Online Genealogy Records pages are linked at Online Genealogy Records by Location.
How-to-Articles
Each U.S.state also has a specific article providing details covering "How To Find Birth Records". Find the link for that article in the "Getting Started" section of the main page.
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in the "Getting Started" section of each U.S. state main page.
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to any online records that are available for each range of years. It will also give information on writing for records.
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- Also, links to all the "How To" articles for every state can be found at the Wiki category "How-To Articles".
Sending For Birth Records
Ordering Records Online
Some countries offer services online for ordering copies of birth records. Many offer online copies of application forms to use in requesting records. Information on fees are also given.
- Where to Write for Vital Records in the United States
- Members of the Vital Statistics Council for Canada listing of website addresses with instructions and forms.
- Order a birth, death, marriage or civil partnership certificate for England
- Certificates and copies for Scotland
- Ordering life event certificates for Northern Ireland
- How to obtain an Australian birth, marriage or death certificate
- Order a birth certificate: New Zealand
For other countries, see the "Civil Registration" Wiki article for instructions. Links to Civil Registration articles for each country.
Writing Letters to Request Birth Records
In some cases, online application forms are not provided. Particularly, when looking for church records, you will need to compose a letter. If a form is not available, the Wiki article, Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy, will show how to compose a letter to request a record.
Vital Records/Civil Registration and Church Records Wiki Articles
Each U.S. state and country page has full articles written about finding Vital Records/Civil Registration or Church Records. If you have not found the birth record online, these articles provide details on dates of availability, archived records, records found at lower jurisdictions, and writing for records. These articles will help more with finding birth records not currently online.
Sidebar Links: Vital Records/Civil Registration and Church Records Articles
Each country or U.S. state page has a main Wiki page with a sidebar on the right side. In this sidebar, you will find links to articles about Church Records and Vital Records or Civil Registration. These articles will give specific information on the records for that locality and how to access them.
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marriage, and death records are called "Civil Registration".
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Category Links to Vital Records/Civil Registration and Church Records Articles
Another way to jump quickly to articles for different states and countries is to find them in category pages. These categories have direct links to Vital Records/Civil Registration and Church Records articles for each country and U.S.State:
- U.S. States Church Records
- Category:Church Records by Country
- Category: United States Vital Records
- Category:Civil Registration
Additional Helps for Non-English Birth Records
Letter-Writing Guides for Other Languages
To aid you in writing letters to request copies of birth records, the Wiki provides several "Letter-Writing Guides". Links are found under "Research Tools" on country main pages. They provide translations into foreign languages for typical phrases you would want to use in letters.
- Quick links to letter-writing guides for a wide variety of languages can be found at Category: Letter Writing Guides.
Before composing a letter, read the "Civil Registration" Wiki article for the country to discern whether the country has online services for ordering records, printing applications, and information on fees. Links to Civil Registration articles for each country.
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on each country main page under "Research Tools".
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when contacting an office, archive, church, or professional researcher.
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Reading Non-English Birth Records
Genealogical Word Lists You do not have to be fluent in a foreign language in order to successfully read birth records. Only a limited vocabulary is used in these records. "Genealogical Word Lists", online lessons, and other helps are available to help you become proficient in reading these records. These are listed on each country main page under "Research Tools".
- Also, links to all the Word Lists available are found at Word List.
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are listed on each country main page under "Research Tools".
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and provide a mini-dictionary of other common words.
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