How to Estimate United States Birth Information

Finding U.S. Birth Records Estimating Birth Dates and Places

Where and When was the Person Born?
You first need to be aware of where the family lived and what some of the records were recorded about the family.


 * Census records: Locate a census for the person.


 * Choose a year when you know where the person lived.

For instance, William Hardesty was listed as age 15, born in West Virginia. This means we would look for him born in about 1915 in West Virginia.


 * Death records may have birth information to help narrow down your search.
 * Family Records Many family records have information about the birth. This article will take you through how to gather family records and what type of records are available.

Guessing the Date?

 * In America men usually married at about age 25, women at about age 21. This may need to be adjusted slightly for different cultures.
 * On average, the first child is born one year after the parent’s marriage.
 * Children are usually born about every two years.

Guessing the Place?
Look up each family member in all:


 * Censuses
 * Directories
 * Tax lists
 * Land records

Find siblings places of births.