In late February 2020, Ancestry.com added three new collections of New York City vital record indexes. These new indexes are separate entities from the already-existing indexes on the website - this means there are now multiple New York City vital record indexes on Ancestry.com.
The new indexes are particularly exciting because their entries contain very detailed information. Other indexes contain little more than the name, date of event, and certificate number - but as you will see below, entries in these new collections have extracted far more information from each certificate.
Researchers can conveniently query all NYC vital record indexes at once from the New York City Department of Records search page on Ancestry.com.
Upon our first review, it seems like there are some gaps in coverage for these new records, so researchers should note that these record sets are not yet fully complete.
More Than Indexes
While these collections are titled as indexes, entries contain far more information than what is usually found in a vital records index.
As an example, compare this entry for Frederick Wertz (d. 1911) in the New York City death index that has been on Ancestry.com for a number of years:
This is a useful index entry - I can easily order the certificate from New York City.
However, compare the above to an entry for the same certificate in the new index:
That's a lot more information!
It's still a good idea to order the full certificate from New York City, but it looks like almost all fields of the certificate have been added to entries in this database. Not only can I learn a lot more instantly, but this information helps me confirm that this is the individual I'm looking for, so I can be confident that I'm ordering the correct certificate.
New Records
New York City Birth Certificate Index, 1866-1909
Ancestry.com has added a new index to New York City birth certificates that cover the following years:
- Bronx: 1898 - 1909
- Brooklyn: 1866 - 1909
- Manhattan: 1866 -1904
- Queens: 1898 - 1909
- Richmond: 1898 - 1909
This record set provides more information than other vital record indexes - records typically include:
- Name
- Birthdate
- Birthplace (including street address)
- Names, birthplaces, and occupations of parents
- Certificate number
The certificate number can be used to easily obtain a copy of the full certificate.
Researchers should note this is a new record set that exists separately from Ancestry.com's other NYC birth index, which is titled New York, New York, Extracted Birth Index, 1878-1909. That index contains less information per entry and was prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group. We recommend using both in conjunction for optimal results.
There are other New York City birth indexes available around the web as well - see our New York Vital Records Guide for links to all.
New York City Marriage License Index, 1908-1910, 1938-1940
Ancestry.com has added a new index to New York City Marriage Licenses, covering a few small periods for the borough of Manhattan - more records for other boroughs may be added to this collection in the future.
Despite the narrow coverage, the records contained in this index are uniquely detailed - they contain more information than other NYC vital record indexes. Researchers will often find the following information on both spouses from just the index entry:
- Birthdate
- Birthplace
- Occupation
- Street address of residence
- Names and birthplaces of both parents
- Witness names
- Certificate number
Researchers can easily order a copy of the full record with the information found in the index.
Researchers should note this collection exists separately from Ancestry.com's other New York City marriage index, titled New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937. That index was prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group and covers all five boroughs and many more years than the new record set.
There are other New York City marriage indexes available to search on the web - see our New York Vital Records Guide for the full list.
New York City Death Certificate Index, 1862 - 1948
Ancestry.com has added a new index to New York City Death Certificates - the following boroughs are covered (more records will be added in the future):
- Bronx: 1898 - 1948
- Brooklyn: 1862 - 1948
- Manhattan: 1866-1867, 1870-1875, 1934-1948
- Queens: 1898 - 1948
- Richmond: 1898 - 1948
Like the other new vital record indexes on Ancestry.com, the entries in this index contain are uniquely detailed for an index. In addition to basic information about the death, researchers can typically find the following information just from the index entry alone:
- Birthdate
- Birthplace
- Years in US (for immigrants)
- Residential street address at time of death
- Cause of death
- Burial date and location
- Occupation
- Names and birthplaces of parents
Researchers can easily obtain the full death certificate with the information in this index. This new collection exists separately from Ancestry.coms's other New York City death index, which is titled New York, New York, Extracted Death Index, 1862-1948. That index was prepared by the Italian Genealogical Group and the German Genealogy Group, and the entries do not contain as much detail.
We recommend researchers use both indexes in tandem for optimal results - it's also a good idea to consult our Guide to New York Birth, Marriage, and Death Records for links to additional death indexes from around the web.
More Genealogy Reading
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Finding Birth, Marriage, and Death Records in New York State
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Where to Find New York's State Census Records Online
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How to Get Free Access to Select Ancestry.com New York Records
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Researching Irish ancestors in New York State
-
7 resources to get you started with genetic genealogy
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Surprising facts about immigration to New York
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