Vital records, as their name suggests, are connected with central life events: birth, marriage, and death. Maintained by civil authorities, they are prime sources of genealogical information; but, unfortunately, official vital records are available only for relatively recent periods. These records, despite their recent creation in the United States, are critically important in genealogical research, often supplying details on family members well back into the nineteenth century. The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, by Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking.
Louisiana Vital Records Registry
PO Box 60630
New Orleans, LA 70160
(504) 568-5152 recording
Fax: (504) 568-5391
Make check or money order payable to Vital Records. Include phone number(s) and SASE in request.
3851 Essen Lane
PO Box 94125
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125
(225) 922-1208
If no record is on file, a search fee equivalent to the cost of one copy of the record will be charged.
Ancestry.com Louisiana State Database
A large collection of databases of births, deaths, marriages, census, obituaries, directories, estate records, and service records. Get 14 Days Free Access!!!
Birth Card $9.00 Since July 1914 Order Form
Birth Certificate $15.00
Death $5.00
From Vital Records Registry
Records for City of New Orleans are available since 1892.
- Louisiana Death Records
You can search the Louisiana Death Records Index Database and order certified copies of death certificates for deaths that occurred in Louisiana more than 50 years from the end of the current calendar year. Certified copies of death certificates are delivered by mail for $5. - 1831 Orleans Parish Death Index
$5.00 1804-1946 Order Form
Orleans Marriage Certificate $5.00 Order FormFrom Vital Records Registry
- Orleans Parish Marriage Records
You can search the Orleans Parish Marriage Records Index Database and order certified copies of marriage licenses for marriages that took place in Orleans Parish more than 50 years from the end of the current calendar year. Certified copies of marriage licenses are delivered by mail for $5.
Birth $5.00 1790-1897 Order Form
City of New Orleans only from the Louisiana State Archives
- Louisiana Birth Records
You can search the Louisiana Birth Records Index Database and order certified copies of birth certificates for births that occurred in Louisiana more than 100 years from the end of the current calendar year. The only birth records that are currently available at the Archives prior to 1911 are from Orleans Parish. Birth records were not required statewide by law until 1918. Certified copies of birth certificates are delivered by mail for $5. - 1821 – 1827 Orleans Parish Birth Index
Marriage $5.00 1870-1946 Order Form
Orleans Parish records only from Vital Records Registry or the Louisiana State Archives. For other parishes, certified copies are available from the Clerk of the Court in the parish where the license was issued.
- Louisiana Marriages to 1850
This database of Louisiana marriages to 1850 contains over 29,000 names. Each entry includes groom, bride, marriage date, county, and state. Every name is indexed so you can search for one name, or two names that are linked. The marriage date is usually the date of marriage as given in the original entry. However, when no marriage date is given (e.g., the “marriage return” was not provided to the record keeper), the date of the license is used. In a few cases, a marriage will be listed twice, but in two different counties. This most often happened when a couple obtained a license in one county, but were actually married in another. (Free Database)
Divorce
Divorce records are available from Clerk of Court in parish where divorce was granted. Fees vary. Call Civil District Court, (504) 592-9100 .