Although it's tempting to jump straight to birth records, experts recommend looking in death and marriage records first because birth records are generally the hardest to find. In many cases, only churches recorded births (with a baby's christening or baptism date). Later, health departments started keeping birth and death records.

Birth records are confidential in most states, and are available only to the person whose certificate it is and to that person's descendants. You may be asked to prove that you are the next of kin or a direct descendant.