Washington Birth Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes records created in King County, Washington during 1941 and 1942 for people who applied for delayed birth certificates. Delayed certificates can be issued for people whose birth was not recorded at the time of the event. The records were created in the 1940s but the actual births occurred earlier.

Births were recorded for public health purposes. Birth certificates were also issued to individuals as legal documents. In cases where an individual’s birth had not been recorded, it was not uncommon for that individual to apply for a delayed birth registration since the certificate was needed to receive government benefits.

Individuals who were born prior to 1907, or who did not have a birth certificate, may have applied for a delayed birth certificate at a superior court or at the State Department of Health. Washington began keeping delayed birth records in 1907. Many unrecorded births were finally registered during World War II or as people applied for Social Security.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records: • 2

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person
 * The location or date of the event

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.

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

 * Add the new information to your records
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find other records such as baptism, marriage, and death records
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in census records
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family
 * Often witnesses or attendees were family members
 * Use the parents' birthplaces for immigration or naturalization information

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

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching a nearby locality
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of Washington.
 * Washington Guided Research
 * Washington Record Finder
 * Washington Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Research: 1850-1907 | 1907-Present

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

FamilySearch Catalog

 * King County delayed births, 1941-1943
 * King County, birth, marriage and death returns, 1901-1944
 * Washington Bureau of Vital Statistics. Index to delayed birth records, 1900-1980 : Includes births for earlier years
 * The Washington State genealogist : journal of the Washington State Genealogical Society Olympia, Washington : Washington State Genealogical Society, 2006 FS Library 979.7 D25ws

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * Washington Historical Records Survey, Division of Community Service Programs, Work Projects Administration. Guide to public vital statistics records in Washington. Seattle, Washington :, 1941

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.