Civil Records: Births

Birth records may be found either as completely handwritten documents or as forms filled out with handwritten or typed text, depending on the time period when they were created. Before the invention of photocopying, when a person requested a copy of a birth record, a civil registration official would provide a literal and complete copy of the record or an extract of the same as a certificate of the record. The French terms used to refer to these are usually: acte or déclaration, and a certificat or extrait de naissance.

Each original civil birth entry may contain the following information:

• given names and surname(s) of the newborn
• the hour, day, month, and year of birth
• the town (distinguishable from the municipality or judicial district of the birth)
• the street address of the house, or the hospital, in which the birth took place
• declarant's marital status, age and/or place of birth and/or residence, and relationship to the newborn child
• given names and surnames, birthplaces, age, domicile, professions, race, and marital status of the parents, including their places of birth, marital status, professions, and in some cases, dates of birth
• given names and surnames, birthplaces, professions, race and marital status of the maternal and paternal grandparents, and/or if they have died.
• names of the witnesses who were present for the act of recording the birth
  

"Assignan, Hérault, Occitanie, France Records," images, FamilySearch, image 215 of 222; Assignan (Hérault). Officier de l'état civil, Cazedarnes (Hérault). Officier de l'état civil.