Utah, Birth Certificates - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
The collection covers the years 1903 to 1910.

Record Description
The collection consists of birth certificates acquired from the Utah State Archives. The records are arranged numerically by box and folder and then by year, county, and month.

Record Content
Birth entries include the following genealogical information:


 * Birth date
 * Birth place
 * Parents' names (usually includes the mother’s maiden name)
 * Sex
 * Residence or address of parents

May also include the following:


 * Parents' birth dates
 * Parents' birth places
 * Parents' ages
 * Parents' occupation
 * Race
 * Attending physician or midwife

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * Child's name
 * Approximate birth date
 * Birth place
 * Names of parents

Compare the information in the birth record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

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.

For example:


 * 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.

Keep in mind:


 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

Record History
Registration of births prior to 1905 is irregular. In 1905 state registration of births and deaths began and was generally complied with by 1917.

Why the Record Was Created
Births were recorded to better serve public health needs.

Record Reliability
The information in birth records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.

Related Wiki Articles

 * Utah Vital Records
 * Utah Births and Christenings (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Related Websites
Utah State Archives and Records Service - A division within the Dept. of Administrative Services that manages records created by state and local governmental entities in Utah, and provides access to historical government records.

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection

 * United States. Bureau of the Census. 12th census, 1900, digital images, From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: September 29, 2006), Arizona Territory, Maricopa, Township 1, East Gila, Salt River Base and Meridian; sheet 9B, line 71.
 * Mexico, Distrito Federal, Catholic Church Records, 1886-1933, digital images, from FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org: April 22, 2010), Baptism of Adolfo Fernandez Jimenez, 1 Feb. 1910, San Pedro Apóstol, Cuahimalpa, Distrito Federal, Mexico, film number 0227023.

Sources of information for This Collection
"Utah, Birth Certificates, 1903-1910 ." FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org). Utah State Archives. Salt Lake City, Utah. FHL digital images, 1,495 digital folders. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.