How Do You Find Out Where Someone Was Born?

Guian Bolisay/CC-BY-SA 2.0

To find out the exact location where someone was born, it is necessary to locate their birth record. A birth record contains the city and state of birth and the name of the facility, if any, in which someone was born. Birth records are public, meaning that anyone with the proper information can access them.

Some key pieces of information necessary for locating a birth record include the name, date of birth, date of death, if applicable, and the approximate location of where the person lived. If this information is not immediately available, it can be attained. It is helpful to know the names the person’s parents as listed on the birth certificate. There are several resources for finding this information. The National Archives recommends checking previous census information. Census records provide valuable information, such as state and year of birth. Death records, if the person is no longer living, and obituaries are a good way of finding out vital information about people, such as when they were born, when they died, where they were born and where they died. Marriage records are also a good resource for tracking down people’s information. In addition to who they married, marriage records reflect an individual’s age at the time of marriage and where they were married. This may provide valuable clues as to where they were born.