New York, New York City Births - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of an index to birth records from New York City including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Richmond boroughs. The collection covers the years 1846 to 1909.

This collection consists of manuscript material, still and moving images, ledger volumes, vital records, maps, blueprints, and sound recordings.

The collection includes vital records, census, and city directories to help patrons working on family history.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Birth
 * Name of child
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace
 * Gender
 * Names of parents
 * Age of parents
 * Birthplace of parents
 * Registration date and place
 * Occupation of parents is sometimes listed

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the child
 * The approximate date of birth
 * The parent's names

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s birth record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the birth date along with the place of birth to find the family in census records
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records
 * The father’s occupation can lead you to employment or other types of records such as military records
 * The parents' birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents
 * If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile birth entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents
 * Continue to search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities
 * Search the records of nearby military units
 * Consult the New York Record Finder to find other records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of New York.
 * New York Guided Research
 * New York Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step New York Research, 1880-Present

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * New York Department of Health, Births reported in the city of New York, 1881-1965
 * New York City Municipal Archives, Geographical birth index, 1880-1917 Arranged by address of birth
 * Manhattan birth certificates, 1866-1897; birth index cards, 1866- 1897
 * New York Department of Health, Richmond certificate and record of birth, 1898-1909
 * New York Department of Health, Borough of the Bronx certificate and record of birth, 1898-1909
 * Index to birth certificates, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.