Searchable databases of California births and deaths are once again available free online. In December 2001 California Governor Gray Davis, requested that sites such as RootsWeb and VitalSearch remove the information.

Originally, this item was to be about VitalSearch's addition of the searchable databases to its site.

VitalSearch's searchable database of California births covers 1905-1995.

The Birth Index is searchable by any of nine criteria:

• Last Name
• First name
• Middle name
• Birth Year
• Birth Month
• Birth Day
• Mother's Last Name
• Sex
• County of Birth

Its California Death Index is spread over five databases:

• 1905-1929 Death Index Summary
• 1930-1939 Death Index Summary
• 1940-2000 Death Index Summary
• 1989-2000 Detailed Death Index (available to paid subscribers only)
• 1905-1929 Fetal Death Index (available to paid subscribers only)

The Death Index is searchable by any of 17 criteria:

• Last Name
• First name
• Middle name
• Birth Year
• Birth Month
• Birth Day
• Mother's Last Name
• Father's Last Name
• Birth Place
• County of Death
• Death Year
• Death Month
• Death Day
• Social Security Number
• Age

"Wildcard" searching is also available in both databases. the percent symbol (%) can be used to substitute for one (or more) letters in a name. For example, "Sam%" would return individuals named "Sam," "Sammy," "Sammie," "Samuel," etc.

VitalSearch provides free access to most searches, but users are required to register for a "Guest Pass" (username & password) to access the information.

Free users are subjected to innumerable, distracting pop-up ads and Flash ads that take up screen space and time to load. Click "Begin Search/Reset" at the bottom of the page to begin the search. VitalSearch also sells ad-free "Premium" search access for $57.95 per year or $24.95 for 90 days.

See Also:

• How Public are Public Records