Vital Records in Genealogy Research: Birth Certificates
By Mary Beth Newbill | Southern History Department, Central Library
Birth certificates are a genealogist’s dream come true. It’s one record that tells you when and where someone was born and who their parents were (including their mother’s maiden name!). What’s not to love? Unfortunately, the old adage applies: if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. While birth certificates are amazing sources for genealogists, they can be difficult to locate or may not exist at all. Let’s look at how you can use birth certificates to further your research and how to locate and obtain them.
Birth certificates are a genealogist’s dream come true. It’s one record that tells you when and where someone was born and who their parents were (including their mother’s maiden name!). What’s not to love? Unfortunately, the old adage applies: if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. While birth certificates are amazing sources for genealogists, they can be difficult to locate or may not exist at all. Let’s look at how you can use birth certificates to further your research and how to locate and obtain them.
Birth certificates, at a minimum, will tell you the full name of the individual, the full names of their mother and father, and when and where the birth occurred. The information provided about a person’s parents may be the best part of a birth certificate. By learning the names of the parents, you’ve automatically taken your research back another generation. If the birth certificate includes the mother’s maiden name (and it should), that’s the key to tracing her line if this was not previously known to you. Additional information could include the parents’ occupations (depending on the date, this might only be asked of the father), if the mother had had any previous children, the parents’ ages, and maybe their place of birth. That’s lot of information on one document. Basically, every line on a birth certificate can provide you with answers to your questions or valuable clues that can further your research.
Birth certificates are recorded at the state level. Most states began requiring them in the late 19th or early 20th centuries. There is a lot of variation because each state decided individually when to start keeping such records. Even after a state passed a law requiring the registration of births, it may have taken 10-15 years for medical providers and others to become fully compliant. Don’t be surprised if you can’t locate a birth certificate for an ancestor who was born shortly after their state started requiring them.
Another stumbling block is that each state decides how long the records are to be kept private and who is allowed access to them. I’ll use Alabama as an example. Registration of births began in Alabama in 1908. State law says that birth records are confidential for 125 years (AL Code § 22-9A-21 (2016)). That’s a long time! This means that unless it’s been 125 years since the date of birth (which, of course, it hasn’t been), access to the record is restricted to the person named on the certificate, their immediate family (parents, children, siblings, and spouses) or their legal representative. Due to these confidentiality laws, it is very unusual to find birth certificates online at sites like Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org.
As I’ve already mentioned, each state has different dates and restrictions on their birth certificates. The CDC has a handy reference guide on how to request vital records from each state. When in doubt, you can usually find the information you need by visiting the website for the public health department in the state where the birth occurred.
Next week, we’ll look at other sources for birth information including the sometimes confusing concept of a delayed birth certificate.
Follow the links below for more information about using U.S. birth certificates for genealogy research.
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