Massachusetts, USA, Geburtsindex, 1860-1970

General collection information

This collection contains birth indexes for individuals born between 1860 and 1970 in Massachusetts. Vital records from Massachusetts are unique because they are considered public records and are legally accessible to all. The collection is organized by birth year and last name.

You may encounter gaps in this collection. Not all towns immediately complied with the 1841 law, which mandated state registration. You may also encounter restricted records during your search. While most of the Massachusetts birth records are open to the public, records pertaining to adopted children or those born out of wedlock are considered restricted. Restricted records are available 100 years after the record was created.

Using the collection

Records in the collection may include the following information:

If you encounter a record that includes an asterisk (*), it indicates the birth record contains an amendment. The reference numbers associated with these files will direct you to the amended certificate, not the original birth record.

If you can't find a record, you may be able to find it recorded in other places. If you know your family member's religious affiliation, try searching local church records. Many churches recorded the baptisms of new babies and often included their birth dates. Also, consider checking your family's bible if you have one. Many families recorded births themselves by handwriting family trees in their bible. Checking local newspapers for birth announcements may also be a good place to research.

Please note that home births were common during most of this period. Births were reported to the county clerk by a family member and dates may be approximate.

These records are not birth certificates; however, they can be very useful tools when seeking to obtain birth certificates as they were transcribed from original medical records. Birth certificates are usually kept by the county where the birth occurred. These records are an excellent starting point as they contain the child's birthplace, birth year, and reference numbers for the original birth record. If you want an official copy of a certificate, they can be purchased at VitalChek.

Collection in context

Massachusetts began registering births on a state-wide level in 1841. Although Massachusetts has the earliest state-wide registration of vital records, births were recorded at the municipal level prior to 1841. Not all towns immediately complied with state-wide registration. Records dating from 1930 to the present day are held by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Earlier records are held by the Massachusetts State Archives. Vital records held by the state archives are being transferred to the Registry of Vital Records every five years. For records after 1950, records may not be complete or may not be present at all for years.

Bibliography

Library of Congress. "Vital Records." Last Modified March 2, 2023. https://guides.loc.gov/massachusetts-local-history-genealogy/vital-records.

Massachusetts Document Retrieval. "Massachusetts Vital Records." Last Modified January 4, 2023. https://www.mass-doc.com/vitals_research.htm.

Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. "Researching Vital Records at the Massachusetts Archives." Last Modified December 15, 2021. https://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcvitalrecords/vitalrecordsidx.htm.

Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. "Vital Records (1841-1910) Contents" Last Modified July 8, 2022. https://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arcsrch/vitalrecordssearchcontents.html.

University of Massachusetts Amherst. "Genealogy." Last Modified October 11, 2021. https://guides.library.umass.edu/c.php?g=672399&p=4735607.