Free Online California Birth Records and Indexes

The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is
August 2024)
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One of the main goals for genealogists is finding birth, baptism, and/or christening information about their ancestors.  

Over the past few decades, thanks to volunteers, librarians, and archivists, many indexes to birth and baptism collections have been provided for free online. These searchable indexes provide specific birth, baptism, or christening information, and sometimes scanned images of the actual birth documents. These free online collections have millions of records in them in total.

There are a great number of online and offline collections that may include birth information that is not included in the lists below. These different types can be found in 32 Ways to Find Ancestor Birth Information

If you are interested in baptism indexes that may include the birth date as well as baptism information, make sure to check out Church Records.

The lists below are specific birth, baptism, and christening indexes and record collections that are available for free online for the state.

Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.

Note: I have included links to Free Ancestry records and indexes. You do not need a subscription but do need an Ancestry account. Without a subscription, you can view indexes. If there is an image associated with a record, in most cases you will need a subscription, but the index does include very usable information.

California Birth Records

For all Free California Collection Links in 24 Genealogy Categories, go to the By Location Page, click on California, and then click on the category of interest.

Good Luck and Happy Hunting!

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