Utah, Salt Lake County Birth Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection consists of a name index and images of Salt Lake County Birth records from 1890 to 1915. The records are arranged in volumes chronologically.

Before 1908, entries were made in registers that were divided into columns and rows. Beginning in 1908, entries were made on printed certificates, with four per page. Separate books were kept for Salt Lake City and the rest of the county, although many county entries were recorded in the city books and vice versa. It is not known if these are duplicate entries.

While the state of Utah did not require births be registered until 1905, Salt Lake County started much earlier. Early years record as little as 20% of the births; later years closer to 80% of the births.;

Salt Lake County began registering births in 1890. Separate books for kept for deaths in Salt Lake City and for the rest of the county. Beginning in 1905, the Utah State Board of Health required county Board of Health registrars to record all births occurring in their county. Physicians, midwives, and birthing facilities were all responsible to supply this information. County officials sent certificates each month to the state registrar at the Department of Vital Statistics.

Births were recorded for public health purposes. Birth certificates were also issued to individuals as legal documents. In cases where an individual’s birth had not been recorded, it was not uncommon for that individual to apply for a delayed birth registration since the certificate was needed to receive certain government benefits.

Record Content
Birth records of Salt Lake County contain some or all of the following information, depending on the time period:


 * Child's name and gender
 * Child's date and place of birth
 * Race or nativity
 * Father's name and age
 * Father’s birthplace and occupation
 * Mother's maiden name and age
 * Mother’s birthplace and occupation
 * Parents' residence
 * Whether a single or multiple birth
 * Birth order of child
 * Number of children born to this mother who are still living

How to Use the Record
To begin your search you need to know:
 * Name of your ancestor
 * Other identifying information such as birth date, birth place and parents' names.

Search the Collection
To search the collection fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

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

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s birth record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the birth date along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * The father’s occupation can lead you to other types of records such as employment records or military records.
 * The parents’ birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile birth entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby.
 * The information in birth records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites
Salt Lake Valley Health Department

Related Wiki Articles

 * Utah
 * Utah Vital Records
 * Salt Lake County, Utah

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

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Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):