Over the past few decades, thanks to volunteers, librarians and archivists, a great number of indexes to marriage collections have been provided for free online. These searchable indexes provide specific marriage license, bond, and certificate information, and sometimes scanned images of the actual marriage documents themselves. These free online collections have hundreds of millions of records in them in total.
There are a great number of online and offline collections that may include marriage information that are not included in the lists below. These different types can be found in 27 Ways to Find Ancestor Marriage Information.
The lists below are specific marriage indexes and record collections that are available for free online for the state of Iowa.
Note: Some of the 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, please 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.
(Updated June 2022)
- Allamakee County, Marriage Indexes
- Appanoose County, Marriage Indexes
- Appanoose County, Marriages
- Benton County Marriage Records, 1851-1936; Index, 1852-1950
- Black Hawk County Vital Records Indexes
- Black Hawk County, Marriage Indexes
- Boone County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Boone County, Marriage Indexes
- Bremer County Vital Records Indexes
- Buena Vista County, Marriage Indexes
- Calhoun County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Calhoun County, Marriages
- Carroll County Marriage Applications and Licenses, 1855-1868
- Cass County, Marriage Indexes
- Cass County, Marriages
- Cedar County, Marriage Indexes
- Cedar County, Marriages
- Cerro Gordo County, Marriage Indexes
- Cherokee County Marriages
- Cherokee County Marriages: Early Marriages 1866-1880
- Clayton County Marriage Indexes
- Clayton County, Marriage Indexes
- Clayton County, Marriages
- Clinton County Births, Marriages, and Deaths
- Clinton County, Marriage Indexes
- Clinton County, Marriages
- Crawford County Marriages
- Dallas County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Dallas County, Marriage Indexes
- Davis County Births, Marriages and Deaths
- Davis County, Marriage Indexes
- Davis County, Marriages
- Decatur County Vital Records
- Delaware County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Des Moines County, Burlington Index
- Des Moines County, Marriage Indexes
- Des Moines County, Marriages
- Dubuque County Birth, Baptism, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Dubuque County, Marriages
- Emmet County, Marriages
- Floyd County, Marriages
- Fremont County, Marriage Indexes
- Greene County, Marriage Indexes
- Guthrie County, Marriages
- Hamilton County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Hamilton County, Marriages
- Hamilton County, Newspaper clippings, 1849-1937
- Hancock County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Hancock County Vitals
- Hardin County, Marriage Indexes
- Henry County, Marriage Indexes
- Henry County, Marriages
- Historical Society – Vital Records Indexes
- Ida County, Marriages
- Iowa City News Index
- Iowa County Births, Marriages, and Deaths
- Iowa County, Marriages
- Iowa Marriage and cemetery Records, 1945
- Iowa Marriage Records, 1938-1941
- Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992
- Iowa Marriages, ca. 1844-1900
- Iowa, Church and Civil Marriages, 1837-1989
- Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934
- Jackson County Vital Records
- Jackson County, Marriages
- Jasper County Births, Marriages, and Deaths
- Jefferson County Marriages
- Jefferson County, Marriage Indexes
- Jefferson County, Marriages
- Johnson County Marriage Indexes
- Johnson County Register of Marriages to 1880
- Johnson County, Marriages
- Jones County Vital Records
- Jones County, Marriages
- Keokuk County, Marriages
- Lee County Vital Records
- Lee County, Marriages
- Linn County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Linn County, Marriage Indexes
- Linn County, Marriages
- Louisa County, Marriage Indexes
- Louisa County, Marriages
- Lyon County, Marriage Indexes
- Madison County Marriage Index
- Madison County, Marriage Indexes
- Mahaska County, Marriages
- Marion County, Marriage Indexes
- Marion County, Marriages
- Marshall County, Marriages
- Miscellaneous BMD Records by County
- Mitchell County, Marriage Indexes
- Monona County, Marriages
- Monroe County Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages from newspaper clippings, 1898-2015
- Monroe County, Index of Births, Deaths & Marriages from newspaper clippings, 1898-2015
- Monroe County, Marriages
- Mount Pleasant Newspaper clippings, 1836-1966
- Muscatine – Musser Public Library Birth, Marriage and Death Index
- Muscatine County Marriages
- Muscatine County, Marriage Indexes
- Muscatine County, Marriages
- O’Brien County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Osceola County, Marriage Indexes
- Page County, Marriage Indexes
- Plymouth County, Marriages
- Pocahontas County, Marriage Indexes
- Polk County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Polk County Marriage Certificates, 1846-1849
- Polk County, Marriage Applications, 1886-1889
- Polk County, Marriages
- Pottawatamie County Births, Marriages, and Deaths Indexes
- Pottawattamie County, Marriage Indexes
- Pottawattamie County, Marriages
- Poweshiek County, Marriages
- Scott County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Scott County Local Index
- Scott County, Marriages
- Shelby County, Coroner’s Records, 1929-1944
- Sioux County Marriage Indexes
- Spirit Lake, Birth, Marriage and Obituary notices
- Story County Births, Marriages and Deaths
- Story County Marriages
- Tama County, Marriage Indexes
- Tama County, Marriages
- Taylor County, Marriages
- Union County Marriage Records
- United States Marriages, 1733-1990
- United States, Freedmen’s Bureau Marriages, 1861-1872
- Van Buren County, Marriages
- Vital Records of Counties in Iowa
- Wapello County, Marriages
- Warren County Marriage Indexes
- Washington County, Marriage Indexes
- Washington County, Marriages
- Webster County, Marriages
- Winneshiek County, Marriage Indexes
- Winneshiek County, Marriages
- Woodbury County Marriages
- Worth County, Marriage Indexes
- Worth County, Marriages
- Wright County, Marriage Indexes
For all Free Iowa Links, click on the category of interest:
Newspapers
Yearbooks
Births
Marriages
Deaths
BMD Records
Alumni Records
Cemetery Records
Church Records
Coroner Records
Criminal Records
Digital Archives
Directories
Divorce Records
Immigration Records
Institutional Records
Military Records
Mortuary Records
Naturalizations
Obituaries
Photos
Probate and Wills
Research Toolkit
School Records
Tax Records
Voter Records