GuidedResearch:Why Can't I Find the Record - Florida Births

This page will give you additional guidance and resources to find birth information for your ancestor. Use this page after first completing the birth section of the Florida Guided Research page.

How to Request the Record When It's Not Online
Statewide registration for births started in 1899. General compliance year occurred by 1920. To learn more about record limitations and restrictions, see the article How to Find Florida Birth Records. To order birth records after 1899, contact:


 * Florida Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics Attn: Vital Records Section P.O. Box 210 Jacksonville, FL 32231-0042 Phone: (904) 359-6900 Website

NOTE: Birth certificates may only be ordered by the person on the certificate or the parent (see Restrictions for more details).

Additional Records with Birth Information
Substitute records may contain information about more than one event and are used when records for an event are not available. Records that are used to substitute for birth events may not have been created at the time of the birth. The accuracy of the record is contingent upon when the information was recorded. Search for information in multiple substitute records to confirm the accuracy of these records.

Tips for finding births
Successfully finding birth records in online databases depends on a few key points. Try the following search suggestions:
 * Spelling variations. Your ancestor's name may be misspelled. Search with spelling variations for the first and last name of your ancestor.
 * Search parents. Search for the parents, if known, as the child's first name may not be on the birth record.
 * Search given name. Search by given name (leave out the last name) with the approximate date of birth.
 * Add information. For common names, add more information to narrow the search such as approximate birth date or parent's names if known.
 * Date range. Expand the date range of the search by 5 years.
 * Search state. Search using the state name only instead of by county.

Known Record Gaps

 * 1899 Statewide Registration.
 * 1920 Compliance to Statewide Registration


 * Birth records begin in 1865 but registration was inconsistent.

Records Published by FamilySearch Collection coverage tables show the places and time periods of original records published by FamilySearch. For any FamilySearch collections you did not find your ancestor in, check the coverage table for gaps in the online collection. If the time period or location your ancestor lived in is missing from the collection, it may require searches in records found at original repository or finding substitute records for the event.
 * Florida Births and Christenings, Coverage Table (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Records Destroyed The following counties had record loss. Click on the county for more information.