How to Find Birth Records in New York

Birth records come in handy when you are looking to register for a passport, driver’s license, enroll in school or find more information on your ancestors. As such, each state in the United State has rules and regulation that govern access to these birth records. This article will look at ways on how to find birth records in New York.

New York, located in the northeastern part of the United States, has a population around 20,2 million. As alarming as this number might be, it is possible to find birth records that took place in the state since births began being registered in the state.

New York state began registering births around 1847 after it passed a law that needed doctors and midwives to report to the local school trustees on births, deaths and marriages. This law was soon abandoned and not observed as a result of its complex nature. Only a few communities were able to report births after 1850. The New York City Municipal Archives is currently the one keeping these records.

There were no birth records that were registered by either the state of New York or New York City before 1847. However, there are sources you can try for a search such as:

New York Births and Christening (1640 – 1962).

New York Church and Civil Births and Baptisms (1704 – 1962).

New York Baptisms 1660 – 1862).

There are no birth records for towns that make what is present day New York City after the failure of the 1847 law. You will need to consider using other      records that give birth information if you are looking for birth records of Manhattan (1850 – 1852), Brooklyn and Kings County towns ((before 1866), Queens and Richmond towns (1881).

New York Birth Records After 1850

The state of New York did not record any birth between 1850 and 1880. However, there are cities like Buffalo, Yonkers and Albany began birth registrations around the 1870s.

In 1881, New York requested its village, town and city clerks to start registering births. These records were then stored by the State Department of Health.

There are microfiche indexes to birth records that you can find from the New York Archives plus nine other sources where you can search the indexes. You can find these other nine sources listed on the website of the State Archives.

When it comes ordering these records, you can try ordering from the village/ town/ city where the birth took place. Another source would be the New York Department of Health State Office. Some records may come a fee from here and may not to be accessible to everyone.

Ordering from village/ town/ city may come at a less cost and even be quicker than an ordering from the state. The advantage of ordering records from the state is that they offer a search of 1 – 3 years for records that you are unsure of and may increase the number of years at a cost.

Birth records orders from state make take up to eight months to be processed.

New York Birth Records Restrictions

There are restrictions imposed on birth records that are less than 75 years in New York. They are basically made available to immediate family members or individuals who are direct descendants who are able to provide evidence of their relationship. If the person is dead, they should be able to provide proof of death.

Individuals who have permission to certified copies of birth certificates that are less than 75 years in New York must be:

• The individual named on the birth certificate and born in New York.
• A parent of the individual named on the birth certificate (requesting parent’s name must be on birth certificate).
• Spouse, child, or other individual by order of a New York State Court.

New York also offers uncertified copies of birth certificates that are less than 75 years to direct descendants with:

• Evidence that they are descendants of the person on the birth certificate that they want.
• Evidence that the person whose birth certificate they are after is dead.

A typical New York birth certificate will have the following details:

• Registrant’s first and last name
• Registrant’s place of birth
• Registrant’s date and time of birth
• Registrant’s sex/gender marker(PDF)
• Mother/parent’s first and last name
• Father/parent’s first and last name

Ordering Birth Certificates in New York

Birth certificates can be ordered in person, by mail and online in New York. Due to the Covid pandemic, ordaining of birth certificates in New York has been put on hold until further notice. You can however order them through mail. These take four to six weeks to process.

To order the birth record, you will need to first complete the Birth Certificate Application. You should also include a self-addressed stamped envelope and the necessary fees with your order. The address to mail to is located at the top left side of the application

Online birth certificate ordering very fast as well as convenient. VitalChek is the New York endorsed third party vendor that you can use.

These ideas on how to find birth records in New York can help you find just about any birth record you are looking for in New York, as long as it was recorded.