Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1922

General collection information

This collection contains records of births that occurred in Oregon between 1842 and 1922. The birth information was recorded on pre-printed forms. Most records are typed, but older records may have been hand-written. All records are in English and images of the original documents are available. Birth records from Oregon are accessible to the public 100 years after the birth.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

Birth records can be used to discover or confirm information about your ancestor at the time of their birth. Birth records also help to build family trees by identifying parents’ birth dates and places and mothers’ maiden names.

Collection in context

The records in this collection were created by officials working for the state of Oregon. Many of the records were produced by the Oregon State Board of Health Division of Vital Statistics. The original documents are primary historical sources that are housed by the Oregon State Archive.

Oregon became a state in 1859, and the state government started registering births in 1903. Records dated before 1903 may have been filed with the county or the municipality where the birth occurred.

Bibliography

Ancestry.com. “Birth Certificates: a Cornerstone for Family History Research.” Accessed January 3, 2023. https://www.ancestry.com/c/family-history-learning-hub/birth-certificates.

Oregon Secretary of State. “About Vital Records.” Accessed January 3, 2023. https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/aids-vitalrecords.aspx.

Updates:
5 Nov 2021: Added 93,936 new records.
10 Apr 2023: Added 179,511 new records.
18 Sep 2023: Expanded content through 1922 and added 94,165 new records