Enter a name to search for Tennessee birth certificates. This website was created to provide genealogists with access to Tennessee birth certificates.. Additional information on how to obtain Tennessee birth certificates is available below.
Return to Birth Certificates home page.
Birth certificates contain information about a person's birth, including the date of birth, place of birth, sometimes the names of the mother and father, and even the physician who attended the birth. Birth certificates issued by state and local governments will often include the place of residence, and the mother's maiden name.
Birth certificates can be used to establish a person's date and place of birth. Most birth certificates provide the mother's maiden name. Birth certificates are often required to obtain other documents, licenses or to prove eligibility.
This webpage gives you access to all of the online databases containing Tennessee birth records, Tennessee birth ceritificates, Tennessee birth notices, Tennessee birth indexes, and other related Tennessee genealogy records.
Birth records have long been used to help with genealogy research. They are considered to be "primary source" records, because the information is recorded by an eye witness, at the time the birth takes place. The Internet has allowed people to store birth records into various online archives. This has brought access to online birth records much more easier for genealogy researchers.
Newspapers frequently publish notices of births, and in addition to birth certificates, are a popular source of research by genealogists. Newspapers typically do not announce the names of the newborn, but list the sex of the child, the names of the parents, the place and date of birth.
On this page you will find the most comprehensive databases containing birth records of Tennessee. We also suggest searching for "Tennessee birth records" using Google.com, which will yield all such databases.
Search Tennessee Birth Certificates
How to Obtain Tennessee Birth Certificates
Statewide registration of births and deaths began in 1914, with general compliance achieved by the early 1920s. Some earlier attempts were also made at recording these events, though they are fragmented. Marriages have been recorded on a county basis since as early as 1778, though many counties are incomplete or missing until as late as the 1850s.
For births and deaths between 1 July 1908 and 30 June 1912, and after 1 January 1914; and for marriages after 1945, write:
Tennessee Vital Records
Central Services Building
421 5th Avenue,
North Nashville, TN 37247State office has birth records for entire State since January 1914, for Nashville since June 1881, for Knoxville since July 1881, and for Chattanooga since January 1882. Birth enumeration records by school district are available for July 1908 through June 1912.
Personal check or money order should be made payable to Tennessee Vital Records. Cost for long form is $12.00 and short form is $7.00. Additional copies of the same birth, marriage, or divorce record, requested at the same time, are $4.00 each. To verify current fees, the telephone number is (615) 741-1763. Information on how to obtain certified copies is also available via the internet at http://www2.state.tn.us/health/vr/index.htm.
Birth records more than 100 years old are maintained by Tennessee Library and Archives:
Tennessee Library and Archives
Archive Division
Nashville, TN 37243-0312.
For prior records, write to the clerk of the county in question.
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CityDirectoryRecords.com - Enter a surname into their city directories search engine to find persons living in a city during the late 1800's and early 1900's
