Historical birth records

Birth records

Registers

Birth Registers - Seattle only (1890-1907)

These records are organized chronologically. Records from 1890-1891 have self contained indexes. Records from 1891-1907 have no included indexes. All of these records can be accessed using the Birth Indexes (below). Entries from 1890-1891 include date of birth, sex of the child, name and birthplace of both parents, residence of the parents, attending physician and remarks. Entries from 1891-1907 include name of the child, date of birth, place of birth, sex, race, whether a live or stillbirth, the name, age, race and birthplace of both parents, as well as the occupation of the father and number of births of the mother. King County Archives holds the original volumes as well as digitized copies. Identical digitized and microfilmed copies are also available at Puget Sound Regional Archives.

Birth Registers - county wide (1891-1907)

These records are organized by first letter of the last name, and then chronologically. Entries contain the same type of information as the Seattle Birth Registers (above). King County Archives holds the original volumes as well as digitized copies. Identical digitized and microfilmed copies are also available at Puget Sound Regional Archives.

King County birth registers are indexed and available on the Washington State Digital Archives online platform.

Certificates

Birth Certificates - Southeast King County only (1913-1951)

These certificates are limited to districts in southeast King County, in districts containing Black Diamond and Enumclaw. The records are organized by district and then chronologically.

Indexes

Birth Indexes - Seattle only (1890-1907)

These alphabetical index entries contain individual's name, birth date, mother's maiden name (surname only) and birth certificate number.

Birth Indexes (1907-1952, 1954-1966)

These alphabetical index entries contain the individual's name (often with no first name), birth date, mother's maiden name (surname only) and birth certificate number. It's not clear if these indexes cover all of King County. Some years may only index births in the city of Seattle.

Returns

Birth Returns - county wide (1891-1907)

The birth returns are the original records/certificates that were used to create the above county birth registers. They generally contain the same information, but since they are the original document they may be more accurate and may contain more information. Birth returns generally include the name of the child (although this is often blank), the date of birth, place of birth, sex, whether alive or dead, whether legitimate or illegitimate, name of mother, mother's age, mother's race, number of children born to mother, father's name, father's age, father's race, father's occupation, father's place of birth, and name of attending physician or midwife. Birth returns sometimes have corresponding Affidavits of Correction in situations where an affidavit was later submitted correcting an error on the return (which was almost always providing the name of the child that was missing from the original return). Records of stillbirths are recorded as birth returns. In situations where there are multiple births (twins or triplets), there is usually only one birth return record.

Returns are indexed by King County Birth Registers, which are available on the Washington State Digital Archives online platform.

Additional resources

Washington State Birth Registers (1891-1907) and Washington State Birth Index (1907-1929) are available online through Ancestry Library Edition, a digital platform that may be available at your local public library.

Delayed Birth Certificate Files (1941-1942) indexed and available online at FamilySearch.org. The originals are held by Puget Sound Regional Archives.