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

Record Description
This collection consists of birth and marriage indexes from 1843 to 2014 provided by the South Dakota Department of Health.

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

Record Content
Birth records may include the following:


 * Name of the child
 * Gender
 * Names of the parents
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace

Marriage records usually include the following:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Groom's name
 * Bride's name including her maiden name
 * Names of the officiator and witnesses
 * Names of the parents or guardians of the bride and groom
 * Groom's place of birth
 * Bride's place of birth
 * Residences of the bride and groom
 * Bride and Groom's age
 * Bride and Groom's race
 * Marital status of the bride and groom

How to Use the Record
To begin your search you will need to know


 * The name of your ancestor
 * Other identifying information such as the birth date and place

Search the Collection
To search the collection 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.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example use the birth or marriage date and place to search for census, church and land records

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * 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.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name.

Related Websites

 * South Dakota Birth Records
 * South Dakota Marriage Records

Related Wiki Articles

 * South Dakota Genealogy
 * South Dakota Vital Records

Citations for 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):