Summary of Births in the United States by State

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Birth Records by State
The local health departments of a few large cities began recording births the mid-1800s. Early records are usually incomplete. Many counties in the East and Midwest were recording births by the late 1800's. Each state eventually developed its own laws and created a statewide registration system. Unfortunately, these records do not exist until the early 1900's in most states. Local offices did not always comply immediately with the registration laws. Within 20 years after registration laws were enacted, most states were recording at least 90 percent of the births and deaths. To learn more about the creation of civil records and the regional differences go to the United States Civil Records page. For more information about birth records in the United States go to the United States Birth Records page.

Look for more detailed information in the Wiki under each State by clicking on the link for Vital Records.

Arizona
Arizona Births through 1932 searchable online at the Arizona Department of Health Services web site.

California
California Births 1905-1995 searchable online at Ancestry.com for a fee.

Illinois
Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1922 is free at FamilySearch Record Search. It is not yet complete.

Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 75 years or older is at Genealogy Online, Historical Cook County Illinois Vital Records, Cook County Clerk. Using the index is free, but there is a fee for the records.

Indiana
Indiana Births, 1880-1920 searchable online at Ancestry.com for a fee.

Kentucky
Kentucky Birth Index, 1911-1999 searchable online at Ancestry.com for a fee.

Massachusetts
Vital Records of Massachusetts to 1850 at Google Books many these books are searchable free online at Google Books.

Vital Records of Massachusetts to 1850 at Ancestry.com many of these books are searchable at Ancestry.com

Michigan
Michigan Birth Records 1867-1902 available to search free online at FamilySearch Record Search.

Minnesota
Minnesota Birth Certificates, 1900-1934, searchable online at the Minnesota Historical Society. Using the index is free, but there is a fee for the records.

Minnesota Birth Index, 1935-2002, searchable online at Ancestry.com for a fee.

Missouri
Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910, searchable online at Ancestry.com for a fee.

Missouri Birth &amp; Death Records Database, Pre-1910, searchable free online at the Missouri State Archives web site.

New York
Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, &amp; Death Announcements, 1851-2003, searchable at Ancestry.com for a fee.

New York City Births, 1891-1902, searchable at Ancestry.com for a fee.

Utah
Utah State Archives has some indexes available to search online for some counties.

Utah Births, 1895-1905 available to search online at Ancestry.com. This database is comprised of Utah birth registers from Beaver, Carbon, Davis, Emery, Grand, Iron, Kane, Piute, Rich, Uintah, and Weber (excluding the city of Ogden) Counties from the years 1898-1905.

West Virginia
West Virginia Births 1853-1930 available to search free online at FamilySearch Record Search.

Raleigh County, West Virginia Birth Records, 1853-75 available to search online at Ancestry.com