In recent years, there has been an increased interest in obtaining birth records. These vital records include the most important details about an individuals' birth. Details such as the persons name, date the individual was born on, place of birth, fathers name and mothers' maiden name are included. These certificates provide a mine of information about ancestors and long lost relatives. In other cases, people want to find a replacement certificate of their own birth record because they may have lost or misplaced their own original document.

With so many people searching for family history information, many are unsure about where to begin. The good news is there's a vast amount of resources available, and it's never been easier to obtain a birth record. You can easily start your search in a number of ways. You can order birth records by phone, email, over the Internet or by calling in person to the appropriate vital records office.

State Vital Records Office - Each US state maintains thousands of birth details. Vital records offices for each state are normally located in one of the major cities of that particular state. For example, the Texas office is located in Austin and the California office is in Sacramento. In most cases, you can write to these state offices or call in person to obtain a birth record for a specified fee. Vital records maintained by these offices date back to a certain date. This date is different for each state and depends on when the state office began to store vital records for its citizens. Certificates prior to this date may be available from local vital records offices in the county where the individual was born.

County Recorders and County Clerk Offices - In most states, records are maintained by local offices in the county where the birth occurred. County recorders or County Clerk offices store these records, and you can obtain these records by writing to these offices or calling in person. These offices also charge an administration fee when they issue these certificates. County recorders often store older records than state offices which may be required by people interested in genealogy, and hoping to build their family tree.

Ordering and searching online - Finding birth records is a time consuming task. It can take even more time if you are tracing your family tree, where you will be searching for more than one record. However, the convenience of the Internet has resulted in the development of websites dedicated to helping you find and order birth records online. These online vital records websites charge a small fee to use their search facility of millions of vital records.

Genealogy has become extremely popular, thanks to family history tv shows where celebrities have traced their family tree. These celebrities have found long lost relatives they never knew they had. With a range of ways to search for these details, its' never been easier to find birth records.