Public Birth Records
How To Find Free Public Birth Records
Public birth records list the full birth name, date of birth and birth parents of the baby being born. Finding the public birth record of a person gives you a lot of information about that person, their life and family. Learning this information might help you research the ancestry of your family if you want to learn about your family history, the genealogical parents if you’re adopted or the birth information of a loved one you think might not be sharing the real story of their origins.
So whether you want to know who your biological parent is, you want to study the genealogy of your family or you want to play amateur private investigator, here’s how you can access the public birth records in the U.S.
Vital Records Sites
Most county courthouses have their own websites these days. If so, visit the “vital statistics” portion of those websites to look up birth records. You’ll need a full name of the person in question, for sure. Otherwise, vital information like date of birth, place of birth, living address or social security number would be nice to have.
Since some of these might be available only through looking at the birth certificate, use the information you have. Before you begin your search, ask friends and family members of any information you think might help you find the birth certificate.
If a county courthouse is in some outlying area and it doesn’t have a website, but you know the person whose birthdate information was born in that county, you’ll have to go in person to the courthouse. When you arrive on site, ask for the county records clerk or the vital statistics division of the county records keepers. That won’t be necessary most of the time, unless the county hasn’t transferred all their older information into their birth records database, or you don’t trust that database.
Generally speaking, it’s better to search for birth information online, if possible. That’s especially true in your going to Cook County, Illinois to look up Chicago births or Los Angeles or Orange County, California to find L.A. births. Some of the largest counties in the nation have populations of 3 to 10 million people.
Most Populous County in the U.S.
Below is a list of the largest counties in the United States, according to population. It’s best to perform your search of these counties’ vital statistics databases on the Internet, instead of spending time at the county courthouse going through county birth records.
I’ve given the name of the county, the county seat, the state the county is found and a rough population estimate.
- Los Angeles County – California – Los Angeles – 9.8 million
- Cook County – Illinois – Chicago – 5.3 million
- Harris County – Texas – Houston – 4.0 million
- Maricopa County – Arizona – Phoenix – 3.9 million
- Orange County – California – Santa Ana – 3.0 million
- San Diego County – California – San Diego – 3 million
- Kings County – New York – Brooklyn – 2.55 million
- Dallas County – Texas – Dallas – 2.4 million
- Miami-Dade County – Florida – Miami – 2.4 million
- Queens County – New York – Kews Gardens, Queens – 2.3 million
Public Information Websites
There are plenty of vital records sites on the Internet that can help you, if you haven’t had any luck with the county public birth records. Keep in mind that you might have to pay for this information, unless you are going to a government website. Public birth records on .gov sites are the next step, before you have to go the paying route.
Many government websites offer free public information, because of various freedom of information acts on the Federal and state levels. BRB Publications has the “BRB Free Resource Center” with a nice list of government websites you can use to search for public information. You’ll find military records, criminal records, unclaimed funds and even some birth records information sites.
Genealogy Websites
Keep a record of any information you find. The more information you have, the better your searches will be and the more likely the trail will lead to other useful information. Consider each piece of birth record information to be like another path you might take to get to your final destination.
Don’t pay for a subscription to a paid genealogy website or public information site until you have expended all other avenues. Generally speaking, if you’re searching for public information, you shouldn’t need to pay. The only exception is when you are searching for birth records of people who lived a long time ago.
Also, remember that free websites are often only technically free. Many have a limited search option so they can call themselves free, while the really useful “advanced searches” cost you money in the form of a subscription. Know that going in and be prepared to make a decision on how much the information is worth to you.
Related Posts
How To Find a Person’s Date of Birth
How To Find Your Birth Parents
How To Look Up Adoption Records
About the Public Records Act
How To Search Census Records Online
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Birth Records, Public Records, Vital Records. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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