Virginia Birth Records

Enter a first and/or last name to search Virginia birth records. This website was created to provide genealogists with access to the Virginia birth records from a single place. Additional information on how to obtain Virginia birth certificates is available below.

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Virginia birth records

Birth records contain information about a person's birth, including the date of birth, place of birth, sometimes the names of the mother and father, and even the physician who attended the birth. Birth certificates issued by state and local governments will often include the place of residence, and the mother's maiden name.

This webpage gives you access to all of the online databases containing Virginia birth records, Virginia birth ceritificates, Virginia birth notices, Virginia birth indexes, and other related Virginia genealogy records.

Birth records have long been used to help with genealogy research. They are considered to be "primary source" records, because the information is recorded by an eye witness, at the time the birth takes place. The Internet has allowed people to store birth records into various online archives. This has brought access to online birth records much more easier for genealogy researchers.

Newspapers frequently publish notices of births, and in addition to birth certificates, are a popular source of research by genealogists. Newspapers typically do not announce the names of the newborn, but list the sex of the child, the names of the parents, the place and date of birth.

On this page you will find the most comprehensive databases containing birth records of Virginia. We also suggest searching for "Virginia birth records" using Google.com, which will yield all such databases.

Search the Virginia Birth Records Database

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How to Obtain Virginia Birth Certificates

Virginia registration of births, deaths, and marriages began on a county level in 1853 and continued until 1896. Many counties abandoned registration during the Civil War, or recorded only a small percentage of events. Except in some independent cities, records were not kept between 1896 and 14 June 1912, when statewide registration of vital statistics began. Early records, 1853–96, have been microfilmed and are available at The Library of Virginia and the FHL. Marriage bonds and licensing were in place from the 1600s in Virginia, though are sporadic and fragmented. They are usually found among the county levels of records, and are often published.

For birth and death records from 1913-present and marriages from 1936-present, write:

Virginia Department of Health
Office of Vital Records
James Madison Building
P.O. Box 1000
Richmond, VA 23208
Tel: 804-786-6228 or 804-786-6201

For prior records, write to the clerk of the county in question.

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