South Dakota, Department of Health, Birth and Marriage Indexes - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States South Dakota

What is in the Collection?
This collection is a database of births from 1843 to 1914 and marriages from 1950 to 2016 provided by the South Dakota Department of Health.

Statewide registration of vital statistics began in 1905 and was generally complied with by 1932. Delayed birth records date from the early 1900's. Pre-1905 records exist for some South Dakota counties and are located in the office of the registrar of deeds in each county.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of South Dakota marriages, click here.

You may use the birth and marriage information from this index to obtain the original certificate for a fee from State of South Dakota Department of Health. Original records may contain more information than the index. Only informational copies are available unless you are an individual listed on the record, a spouse, child, parent, guardian, grandparent, sibling, authorized or designated agent, or have a personal or property right to the Certified Copy of the record.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
This database of Births may include the following:
 * Name of the child
 * Gender
 * Names of the parents
 * Birth date
 * Birthplace

This database of Marriages  usually includes the following for both bride and groom:
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Name, including bride's maiden name
 * Age
 * Estimated birth year
 * Residence place

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of birth
 * The approximate date of marriage.
 * The place where your ancestor was born.
 * The place where the marriage occurred.
 * The names of the child's parents.
 * The name of the intended spouse.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of South Dakota, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the South Dakota Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):