South Dakota, Department of Health, Birth and Marriage Indexes - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States South Dakota

What is in the Collection?
This collection is a database of births from 1843 to 1914 and marriages from 1950 to 2014 provided by the South Dakota Department of Health.

Statewide registration of vital statistics began in 1905 and was generally complied with by 1932. Delayed birth records date from the early 1900's. Pre-1905 records exist for some South Dakota counties and are located in the office of the registrar of deeds in each county.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of South Dakota marriages, click here.

You may use the birth and marriage information from this index to obtain the original certificate for a fee from State of South Dakota Department of Health. Original records may contain more information than the index. Only informational copies are available unless you are an individual listed on the record, a spouse, child, parent, guardian, grandparent, sibling, authorized or designated agent, or have a personal or property right to the Certified Copy of the record.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
This database of Births may include the following:
 * Name of the child
 * Gender
 * Names of the parents
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace

This database of Marriages  usually includes the following for both bride and groom:
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Name, including bride's maiden name
 * Age
 * Estimated birth year
 * Residence place

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of birth
 * The approximate date of marriage.
 * The place where your ancestor was born.
 * The place where the marriage occurred.
 * The names of the child's parents.
 * The name of the intended spouse.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s birth or marriage record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Add this new information to your records for each family. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead to other records about your ancestors. Couples were usually married in the locality where one or both parties lived. Search records from that locality for other information about the family.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Try searching for the parents' marriage record in the same locality as your ancestor's birth place. A marriage record can provide more information about your family, especially the mother's maiden name.
 * The estimated birth date of the groom and bride may help you to find birth records and parents' names.
 * The residence listed may help you find family in census records, land and probate records, marriages of siblings, and more family birth records.
 * Continue to search the index to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have been born, married and/or died in the same place or nearby.
 * Sometimes several individuals of the same name may exist in the records. To differentiate, note all information from the record including names of parents or spouse, ages, and residence.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they were born or married, then try searching the records of a nearby locality.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index.
 * Marriage was often times both a religious and a civil contract. Search for records created by both jurisdictions because they may provide different information.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Try alternative search methods, such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box), leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name.
 * If the bride and groom were from different localities try searching the records of both places for the marriage record. It was common for a couple to be married in the bride’s home town.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):