Vital Records

Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses (or marriage certificates), and death certificates. In some jurisdictions, vital records may also include records of civil unions or domestic partnerships.

A search engine to discover records.

The links below are provided for those users who want direct access to individual state and territory information. To use this valuable tool, you must first determine the state or area where the birth, death, marriage, or divorce occurred, then click on that state or area.

Search indexed vital records online or browse actual digitized images of certificates of birth, death and marriage online. This listing directs you to vital records online for the United States, organized by state. The majority of these online vital records can be accessed for free. Those that require a fee to search or view are clearly indicated.

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The practice of recording vital statistics developed slowly in the United States. Early birth, marriage and death information was sometimes recorded in brief entries in register books until the twentieth century, when it became more common to create certificates.

A selection of links to websites helpful for locating birth, death, and marriage records.

Find free United States birth records, marriage records, and death records online.

Vital records (births, deaths, marriages, and divorces) mark the milestones of our lives and are the foundation of family history research. Vital records, usually kept by a civic authority, can give you a more complete picture of your ancestor, help you distinguish between two people with the same name, and help you find links to a new generation.

Vital records most commonly refer to records such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses and divorce decrees, wills and the like. These records are created by local authorities, and with possible exceptions for events overseas, in the military, or in D.C.