Virginia, Birth Certificates - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The collection consists of an index and images of Department of Health birth certificates located at the Virginia State Library for the years 1912 to 1913. Certificate images courtesy of Ancestry.com.

Record Content
Birth records may include the following genealogical information:


 * Birth date
 * Birth place
 * Parents' names (usually includes the mother’s maiden name)
 * Sex
 * Residence or address of parents
 * 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
 * Identifying information such as an approximate birth date, the birth place or names of the parents

Search the Collection
To search the collection: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "Place" ⇒Select the appropriate "Record Type and Year Range" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images 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.

Using the Information
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.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * 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.
 * 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.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Websites
Archives

Related Wiki Articles
Virginia Vital Records

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. 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. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Image citation: