Quick answer: Which New York City office holds a birth, marriage or death certificate depends on the year the event happened and the borough where it happened, not where the family lived. Births through 1909 and deaths through 1950 are at the NYC Municipal Archives, and later ones are at the NYC Health Department. Marriages through 1949 are at the Municipal Archives, and later ones are at the City Clerk. Brooklyn records start in 1866 for births and marriages, and I can run the lookup if you get stuck.
Last checked against official New York City pages in November 2026. Cutoff years have moved before, so confirm them on the agency page before you order.
Which office holds which years
New York City keeps its own vital records, separate from New York State. Use the year of the event and the borough where it happened. For Brooklyn, that is Kings County.
| Record | Years | Where it is held |
|---|---|---|
| Birth | Through 1909 (Brooklyn from 1866) | NYC Municipal Archives |
| Birth | 1910 to the present | NYC Health Department, Office of Vital Records |
| Marriage certificate (Health Department record) | 1866 to 1937 in Brooklyn | NYC Municipal Archives |
| Marriage license (City Clerk record) | 1908 to 1949 | NYC Municipal Archives |
| Marriage license | 1950 to the present | NYC City Clerk |
| Death | Through 1950 (Brooklyn from 1857, with a few earlier years) | NYC Municipal Archives |
| Death | 1951 to the present | NYC Health Department, Office of Vital Records |
Two cautions. First, the death cutoff is recent: the Archives only recently took in the 1949 and 1950 death certificates, so older guides that say “1948” or “1949” are out of date. Second, about a quarter of births before 1910 were never reported to the city, so a missing record may mean there never was one.
Brooklyn before 1898
Brooklyn was its own city until January 1, 1898, when it joined New York City as a borough. Its civil records from 1866 are filed with the city’s historical records under “Kings,” so you do not look for a separate Brooklyn archive. Before 1866 there was no consistent civil registration, so you turn to church registers, the state census and city directories. Some towns that Brooklyn absorbed in the 1880s and 1890s kept their own marriage and death books, including Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots and New Utrecht, so an 1890 event in one of them may sit under the town name. The death records guide covers this in more detail.
Step by step: finding and requesting a certificate
- Pin down the year and the borough of the event. A Brooklyn family member who was born or died in a Manhattan hospital has a Manhattan record. Marriages may have been licensed in a different borough from where the couple lived.
- Pick the office from the table above. Records at or before the cutoff go to the Municipal Archives. Later ones go to the Health Department or the City Clerk.
- Search the free indexes to get the certificate number. A copy is filed by borough, year and number, and the numbers start over every year, so you need all three. The German Genealogy Group has free NYC birth (1855–1909) and death (1862–1948) indexes and also searches by sound-alike surname. The Italian Genealogical Group’s database page now points visitors to the German Genealogy Group’s. For marriages after 1949, Reclaim the Records runs a free NYC marriage license index for 1950–2017. FamilySearch also has indexes of the Archives’ birth, marriage and death records. Write down the borough, year and number exactly.
- Check who may order it. Older records at the Archives are historical records. For newer ones, see the next section.
- Order the right kind of copy. A plain certified copy is fine for family history. For dual citizenship, an apostille or other foreign use, ask for a Letter of Exemplification when you order. Fees were $15 per copy at the Health Department and $18 per certificate at the Archives when I checked in November 2026.
- If nothing turns up, widen the search before giving up. Try spelling variants, the next year, the neighboring boroughs, and a different record type. See New York church records, the New York State census and Brooklyn’s cemetery guides such as Green-Wood.
Who can order recent records
- Births from 1910. The Health Department issues a birth certificate to the person named on it or a parent. For someone who has died, it also issues one to a spouse, child, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandchild, great-grandchild, grandniece or grandnephew who is at least 18, proves the death and relationship, and sends a notarized application by mail.
- Deaths from 1951. The Health Department issues death certificates to entitled parties: spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, and a few others, with a more limited copy for nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and great-grandchildren. Anyone else has to document a legal right.
- Marriages from 1950. Records under 50 years old go to a spouse, someone with notarized written permission, an attorney who needs the record as evidence, a person with both spouses’ original death certificates, or someone with a proper legal purpose. Records over 50 years old are open to the public.
Read the current agency page before you apply: NYC Health Department, City Clerk marriage records and the Municipal Archives holdings list.
Common problems
- Wrong borough. The record is filed where the event occurred. A hospital, a courthouse, or a marriage bureau in another borough can send you to a different set of books.
- Spelling variants. Clerks wrote what they heard. Search by sound, with wildcards, with initials, and with the surname spelled the way it would have been in the old country.
- Unindexed or mis-indexed records. Index errors, missing years, and delayed or special certificates are common. A late-December death can also be filed in the following year’s books.
- Two marriage numbers. From 1908 to 1937 the Health Department certificate and the City Clerk license have different numbers. Using one number to order the other record wastes weeks.
A Brooklyn example (illustrative)
Say you are looking for an Italian great-grandfather who married in Brooklyn around 1912. Searching under the spelling you know turns up nothing. Searching by sound turns up a certificate under a slightly different spelling, along with a separate City Clerk license that has its own number. The license is the better find, because it lists the couple’s birthplaces, their parents’ countries of birth, and the bride’s occupation. That points to the ancestral country and the next generation back. This is an illustration, not a real client case, and what is on a given record varies.
Want me to find it for you?
If the index doesn’t show your ancestor, or you are not sure which office or form fits your case, I can take it from here. I search the indexes and records for clients across the country, and I will tell you honestly what is findable before you spend more. Send me the names, approximate years, and any Brooklyn address you have through the contact page, or start with the $99 beginner genealogy project. This is genealogical record research, not legal advice, and I cannot guarantee that a particular record exists.
Related guides: New York birth records, New York marriage records, New York death records, hiring an Italian genealogist, New York records for Italian dual citizenship, and Italian surnames.
Frequently asked questions
Which office has a Brooklyn birth certificate from 1925?
The NYC Health Department’s Office of Vital Records holds NYC birth certificates from 1910 to the present, so a 1925 Brooklyn birth is theirs, not the Municipal Archives’. If the person has died, the Health Department releases the certificate to a parent, or to a spouse, child, sibling, grandchild, great-grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandniece or grandnephew who can prove the death. Check the current application and requirements before you send anything.
Can I order my great-grandfather’s NYC death certificate?
It depends on the year. Through 1950, death certificates are historical records at the Municipal Archives. From 1951 on, the Health Department issues them only to entitled parties, which includes a great-grandchild (without the confidential cause-of-death report) as well as closer relatives. Anyone else has to document a legal right to the record.
Why can’t I find my ancestor’s Brooklyn marriage?
Several things can go wrong. From 1908 to 1937 a New York City marriage can have two records, a Health Department certificate and a City Clerk license, and each has its own number, so a number from one set will not pull the other. The couple may also have been licensed in Manhattan, married outside the city, or married in a church with no civil record. After 1949 the record is at the City Clerk, and a marriage under 50 years old has access restrictions.
Is Brooklyn before 1898 part of the New York City records?
Mostly yes. Brooklyn was a separate city until January 1, 1898, but its civil records from 1866 on are held by the Municipal Archives with the rest of the city’s historical vital records. Some former Kings County towns, such as Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots and New Utrecht, have their own separate marriage and death records for the 1880s and 1890s. Before 1866 there was no consistent civil registration, so church records and censuses matter more.
Do I need a Letter of Exemplification for dual citizenship?
Often a foreign authority asks for a certified copy with a Letter of Exemplification or an apostille, but requirements differ by country and consulate. Both the Municipal Archives and the Health Department can issue one if you ask for it when you order, and the Archives requires mail delivery for it. Confirm exactly what your consulate wants first. I gather genealogical records and do not give legal advice or prepare citizenship filings.
Can you get these records for me?
I can run the index searches, work out the borough, year and certificate number, and tell you which office and form fit your situation. If a record is restricted, the application has to come from an eligible family member, but I can tell you what to send. I can’t promise that a particular record exists, and I will tell you plainly what is findable before you spend more.