Birth records definition
Author: US Birth Certificates Team
Birth records are record of births that are kept under governmental authority. A birth record is an essential vital record for any individual. For many centuries births and deaths were documented in church records, not government ones.
Birth records are currently recorded by each state and they generally have the following birth information:
- Child’s name
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Place of birth
- Names of the parents
It should be noted that access to birth records is restricted by state law. However, any person can obtain a copy of a birth record that is more than 100 years old.
Read more: How to search public records