Delaware State Birth Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection "Delaware, State Birth Records, 1861-1922" consists of an index and images to birth records. Some images have one record, and others have two records. It is arranged in alphabetical order.

Birth records were turned into the State by county clerks from 1861 until statewide registration began to be enforced. Returns and birth certificates were recorded on pre-printed forms. Statewide birth records were collected by the State sporadically from 1861, with the majority of the State collection beginning after 1920.

Statewide registration of births began in 1861, was discontinued in 1863 and resumed in 1881 when physicians and midwives were required to register births with the county Recorder of Deeds. By 1901 returns and certificates began to be reported to the State Board of Health, but that process was not generally complied with until 1921. In 1913 the Bureau of Vital Statistics was created as an agency of the State Board of Health. It houses some birth records but others have been transferred to the State Archives. Records housed at the Delaware Bureau of Vital Statistics are restricted to those with an interest or a need to prove ownership rights.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
 * Child’s full name
 * Date and place of child's birth
 * Child's gender and race
 * Whether living or stillborn
 * Father's name, age, occupation and place of birth
 * Mother's maiden name, age and place of birth
 * Child's place of order in family
 * Parents place of residence

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

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 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?

 * Consult the Delaware Research Tips and Strategies and its Record Finder to search other records
 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Search the related collection Delaware, Vital Records - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities

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

Related Family History Library Holdings

 * Birth records (certificates and returns) 1861-1913
 * Delaware birth records, prior 1913 (1861-1912) - 1923
 * Delaware, birth certificates, 1921-1929; birth index cards, 1913-1930, 1860-1930

Related FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

 * Delaware Births and Christenings, 1710-1896

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.

Delaware registros estatales de nacimiento (Registros históricos de FamilySearch)