North Carolina, Birth Index - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes a birth index from the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh for the years 1800 to 2000, primarily from the 1900s when this information began to be collected. The index is provided by Ancestry.com.

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

Birth
 * Child’s name
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace
 * Parent’s names
 * Reference ID - Certificate Number

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

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 in the birth index, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

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

 * Add any new information to your records
 * 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 other types of records such as employment or 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
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities
 * Consult the North Carolina Record Finder to find other records

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

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

FamilySearch Catalog

 * Center for Health Statistics. Vital Records Unit. birth certificates, 1913-1922

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * North Carolina Historical Records Survey, Service Division, Work Projects Administration. Guide to vital statistics records in North Carolina. Raleigh, North Carolina : Historical Records Survey (North Carolina), 1942

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.