Soundex Birth Certificate Index

Digital Archives

About the Collection

These are phonetic (Soundex) indices to birth certificates used to locate the records. The indices were compiled by the Works Projects Administration in the 1930s. Arrangement is by Soundex code number.

Searching for the Soundex code provides quick access to the pages with the mostly likely matches.

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Ask us for assistance looking up names from 1915 to 1924. We are protecting names, dates of birth, and places of birth for those less than 100 years old.

Bureau of Vital Statistics Soundex birth certificate index

Series 81437

These are phonetic (Soundex) indices to birth certificates used to locate the records. The indices were compiled by the Works Projects Administration in the 1930s. Arrangement is by Soundex code number. Within an individual code number, volumes are indexed by the father's first given name. The information includes the child's name, the mother's maiden name, the child's sex and birth date, the county of birth, the file number, the cross index name, and the father's name. Indices cover three 10-year time periods: 1904-1914, 1915-1924, and 1925-1934. Within each time period are four separate volumes (A-E, F-L, M-R, S-Z).