Utah, Salt Lake County Birth Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Utah Salt Lake County

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of a name index and images to Salt Lake County Birth records from 1890 to 1915. The records are arranged in volumes chronologically.

Before 1908, entries were made in registers that were divided into columns and rows. Beginning in 1908, entries were made on printed certificates, with four per page. Separate books were kept for Salt Lake City and the rest of the county, although many county entries were recorded in the city books and vice versa. It is not known if these are duplicate entries.

Salt Lake County began registering births in 1890. Separate books for kept for deaths in Salt Lake City and for the rest of the county. Beginning in 1905, the Utah State Board of Health required county Board of Health registrars to record all births occurring in their county. Physicians, midwives, and birthing facilities were all responsible to supply this information. County officials sent certificates each month to the state registrar at the Department of Vital Statistics.

What Can these RecordsTell Me?
Birth records of Salt Lake County contain some or all of the following information, depending on the time period:


 * Child's name and gender
 * Child's date and place of birth
 * Race or nativity
 * Father's name and age
 * Father’s birthplace and occupation
 * Mother's maiden name and age
 * Mother’s birthplace and occupation
 * Parents' residence
 * Whether a single or multiple birth
 * Birth order of child
 * Number of children born to this mother who are still living

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search you need to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate year of birth.
 * The place where the birth occurred.
 * The name of the child's parents.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as marriage, census, church, land and death records..
 * Use the occupations to find employment or military records.
 * Use the information to establish a migration pattern and find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Utah, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Utah Archives and Libraries.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):