Birth records (Dutch: geboorteakte) are a part of the civil registration and were kept since 1811 (or slightly earlier for some parts of the Netherlands). A birth record lists the following data:
- Place, date and time of birth
- Names of parents
- Name, profession and age of the one registering the birth (often the father)
- Names, profession and age of the witnesses
- Often: address where the birth took place
Reliability of birth records
The law required that each birth was registered within five days by the father, or in his absence, by a person who attended the birth or in whose house the birth took place. The informant had to appear at town hall and bring two witnesses (usually family members or neighbors). Two copies of the record were created and signed, one to be kept at the municipal level and the other to be kept at the provincial level. Both copies were signed at the time the record was created. If the information was later found to be false, it could only be changed by court order. Such a change would be noted in the margin. These regulations make the birth records very reliable.
What to look out for
- To protect the privacy of living people, birth records are only public after 100 years.
- Because the births could be registered up to five days after the birth, there can be a difference of a few days between the document date and the actual birth date. Index sometimes refer to the document date instead of the birth date.
- Stillborn children are not registered in the birth records, only in the death records.
Illegitimate children
Some children were born from unmarried mothers. In these cases, the birth was often registered by the midwife. If the mother married later, and her husband acknowledged the child as his, a note can be found in the margin of the birth record.
If the mother didn’t marry, she had to acknowledge her child as hers at a later date (at least before the child married). This had to be done because at the time of the registration, the mother was still recovering from labor. To make sure she was the real mother, she had to acknowledge the child.
Example: birth record of Maria Verstraeten (aka Gommeren)
Birth record of Maria Verstraete, aka Maria Gommeren
Translation:
In the year One thousand eight hundred sixty four, the third of September,
Appeared for us mayor, clerk of the civil registration of the municipality of ETTEN en LEUR, Mr. Bernardus Gillemans, age fourty four years, obstetrician, residing in this municipality, who declared to us, that on the second September of this year at seven o’clock in the evening, within this municipality in the house district letter I number twenty-six was born a child of the female sex, of Maria Verstraeten, laborer, residing in this municipality, to whom he declared to have given the name of Maria.Said declaration took place in the presence of Petrus Josephus de Wolf, age twenty-eight years, clerk, and Andries Broekhoven, age seventy, municipal messenger, both residing in this municipality.
As such recorded, which we, after having read by us to the informant and the witnesses, signed with them.
[signed]
B.J.B. Gillemans
De Wolf
A. BroekhovenThe clerk mentioned above,
[illegible][Left margin:]
Nr. 130
Maria Verstraeten.By marriage record of Jan Gommeren and Maria Verstraeten, passed before the clerk of the Civil Registration of the municipality of Etten en Leur on the sixteenth of August of the year eighteen hundred seventy-one, the child mentioned in the next record was acknowledged by them.
Etten, the sixteenth August eighteen hundred seventy-one.
The clerk of the civil registration of the municipality of Etten en Leur (signed) J.J. COopmans.
Breda, 17 August 1871.
The recorder of the District Court of Breda,
[illegible]
Analysis
This record is an example of the birth record of a child born out of wedlock:
- Only the name of the mother was given
- The informant was the obstetrician, who must have attended the birth
- The note in the margin shows the mother subsequently married and that she and the groom acknowledged the child as theirs.
This record not only gives us the information about the birth of Maria Verstraeten, but also the marriage date of her parents. Whether or not Jan Gommeren was the biological child is another question, but according to the law, he was her father.
Where to find
Birth records can be found in both local and provincial archives. Many birth records can be found in WieWasWie.
See also: How to order my own birth certificate from the Netherlands?
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About Yvette Hoitink
Would the mother’s acknowledgement of the child be in the margin as well? GGGrandmother had child Jan 1887 unfathered. She emigrates to US in Oct 1887 with child and husband, but I can’t find record of marriage either. I wonder if they ever married.
The mother’s acknowledgement usually took place much later, often before the child got married and needed proof of parentage. If the mother acknowledged the child, it would be recorded in the margin.
In the case you describe, the child probably never was acknowledged by the mother because they emigrated before this was an issue. How do you know they were married when they emigrated? If you can’t find a marriage, it may be that they were unable to get married for some reason (first wife still alive?) and just ‘eloped’ and pretended to be husband and wife. Alternatively, they could have been married in a place where the marriages haven’t been indexed yet, or their names were slightly different in the index than you think.
The only document I have found is the ship manifest which lists them all with the same last name. His name is pretty simple (Jacob Van Hal), but hers is terrible to look for, Josina, Jozina, Jerena, Irene, lots of different things. Both sets of their parents emigrated as well and they all ended up living in the same county in New York.
What religion were they? If they were Protestant or Christian Reformed, perhaps the church council had something to say about this child. In church council notes, I’ve sometimes come across the names of the fathers of illegitimate children.
They were Protestants. Where would I look for church records like that?
In the church records, which can usually be found in the regional or provincial archives. They are rarely available online so usually require an on-site visit. What town was the child born in? I could check for you where the archives are kept.
Zuidzande, Zeeland. Thanks!
Zuidzande is a municipality in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen whose records were largely destroyed during the bombing of Middelburg in World War II, including the baptism, marriage and burial records from before 1795. Some church council notes have been preserved. They are available at the Zeeuws Archief in Middelburg, record group 335, “Hervormde Gemeente te Zuidzande [Dutch Reformed church of Zuidzande].” Unfortunately there is a gap in the church council notes between 1882 and 1967. It may be that these notes are still residing with the church or that the 1883-1945 notes were destroyed in World War II. I advise you to contact the Zeeuws Archief to ask them if they know if these records still exist.
Thanks so much for looking it up for me. I’ll check it out!
Thank you for your informative and insightful website! It helps me believe information is available if I know where to look.
I have been researching my Dutch family named Wolfert, Wolferd. They were, and maybe some still are, from Ternuzen, Zeeland. My direct line immigrated in 1854 and are well documented in the US in US Census records. I’ve found older generations in marriage records dating back to mid 1700’s. Before that is a blank. I have reason to believe they are Jewish, maybe moving from Germany (because of the name) to Belgium, and then to Zeeland. How do I verify this possibility with other countries involved? Would there be Synagog records?
You’re welcome!
The church records in Terneuzen go back to the early 1600s and the court records go back to 1589, so you should be able to get back further than the mid 1700s. There were Wolferts in Terneuzen as early as 1585, as you can see from this Wolfert pedigree. What is your brick wall?
Why do you think they may be Jewish? In Zeeland, a lot of people had biblical names like Abraham and Sara, which are mostly associated with Jewish families in the rest of the Netherlands. There were only a few Jewish families in Zeeland, mostly in Middelburg. I don’t think there was a synagogue in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (the area around Terneuzen) but I’m not sure.
I would advise you to find out as much as you can about your brick wall ancestors and follow the clues in those records, rather than randomly searching in other countries. Since many Zeeland records were destroyed in World War II, this may require expanding your search beyond the ‘easy’ church records to court records and tax records. These are mostly not available online and may require on-site research at the Zeeuws Archief.
Thank you so much for your website. I’m currently trying to research my mother’s family, which has always been shrouded in secrecy. My mother, the middle of three children, discovered as an adult that it’s likely her parents weren’t actually married until my grandmother was already pregnant with her youngest child. The family is now very curious about whether the person my mother always thought was her father really is. We’ve gotten her birth certificate and know now, thanks to your site, that my mother’s birth was recorded by a midwife, not her father. Nine months later he acknowledged her but as far as I can tell there’s no mention of marriage. Was it common for a father to acknowledge the child significantly after it was born? Is there any reason for this delay besides the child being born out of wedlock? Would it say explicitly that the acknowledgement was happening because of marriage?
On another note, when do marriage records become public? I would love to track down my grandparents’ marriage certificate, but they wouldn’t have gotten married until 1943 or 44, and I’m not even sure where they were married. Is a direct relative (child or grandchild) able to request a marriage certificate if they are sealed?
I would really appreciate some help if at all possible. Thanks again for your very useful website!
Hi Jennifer,
Great to hear that the information on the website has been helpful.
If the acknowledgement happened during the marriage, the note in the margin should say so. It is very unusual for a man to acknowledge a child at another moment. Personally, I have only encountered that situation once. In that case, the mother married but her husband did not acknowledge the child until 12 years later. The family knew that the man who acknowledged the child was not the biological father, who could not acknowledge the child since he was married. The child was acknowledged by the stepfather after the death of the biological father.
One reason I can think of why a father would wait a couple of months to acknowledge his child is if he was absent or maybe in the military and not allowed to marry yet. I know conscripted soldiers were not allowed to marry in the 19th century, but I’m not sure if the same laws still applied in the 20th century.
Have you consulted your grandparents’ personal record card? This should tell you where both of them were living. Comparing their timelines should tell you if they lived together when their children were conceived and if the father was absent for a long time.
Marriage records become public after 75 years, in blocks of 10 years. Currently, the records until 1932 are public. Those for 1943/44 will become public in 2017. Until then, you will need consent of your grandparents or proof of their deaths. If you have that and know the place and date (the personal record card should tell you), you can order a copy from the municipality where the marriage took place. If you explain your relationship and include a copy of your ID, you should be able to order a copy of the record. The procedure is similar to what I described in the article how to order my own birth certificate.
Yvette, thank you for your very fast response! I examined my mother’s birth certificate more closely and found that the last note, which I’d previously given up as too tiny and illegible, does actually mention marriage. Specifically, here’s what it says as best as I can tell with my magnifying glass: “Door het huwelijk der ouders vol__ok_en te s’-Gravenhage op twintig Augustus negentienhonderd drie en veertig is dit kind gewettigd. Rotterdam, een en dertig Augustus negentienhonderd drie en viertig.” At least I think that’s what it says given the tiny handwriting and my extremely limited Dutch! Does this sentence in any way indicate that my grandfather was the biological father or does it just mean my grandparents were married on that date?
Thank you so much for the tip on personal record cards. I had no idea they existed! I am just starting this journey and, again, truly appreciate your web site. Since all parties involved are deceased, I hope that I will be able to get copies of their record cards.
Thanks again for your help!
You’re welcome! The missing word is probably ‘voltrokken.’ This note just tells you that the marriage took place in The Hague on 20 August 1943, at which time the child was acknowledged by the husband, and that the note in the margin was added on 31 August 1943. This is the normal phrasing for a child that is acknowledged by a man marrying the mother. This only has legal implications and does not say or imply whether or not the man is the biological father. But at least now you know the marriage place and date so you can order the marriage record. That will probably only confirm what you already know: that the bride had a child before she was married, which was acknowledged by the groom. What this does tell you is that he wasn’t married at the time the child was born, because he wouldn’t have been allowed to acknowledge a child if that would make the child the result of an adulterous relationship.
I just thought of another reason why they may have waited to get married. It could be that he received a call to work in Germany and was in hiding to avoid the ‘Arbeitseinsatz’. This was in the middle of World War II, after all.
Thank you, Yvette! That was extremely helpful! I can certainly imagine WWII would complicate just about everything. To add to the intrigue, though, my mother is the MIDDLE child in the family; at the time, my grandmother already had a three-year-old son and was six months pregnant with her youngest, my aunt. Such a mystery. I will work on tracking down personal record cards for as many people as I can. My uncle is still alive and could request his birth certificate, though he may not be interested in doing so.
Thanks again for your amazing web site!
Good luck! Also, be sure to check the The Hague Digital Family Tree website at http://denhaag.digitalestamboom.nl/ to check if they appear in the population register until 1939.
Hi, if I have only a date of birth and the place of birth – Leiden Hospital, male borth 10/2/61 is there anyway that I could get records of male births on that date? I don’t have any names to go by. thanks
I’m trying to trace my Jewish family who I think came from or spent time in Kleve, which was then Dutch, now German I believe. Would the records be in Netherlands or Germany? Records from around 1840 and earlier if family were there generations.
Those records would be in Kleve. By international law, archives belong in the location where they were created so they usually stay there after a transfer of power.
Hello Evette
Could you please tell me how I can find birth / death information of my father’s brothers & sisters in Rotterdam 1900-1990 .
I belong to Ancestry .com , but it is like a lot of that era of family never lived.
How much do you charge for this sort of information.
I like your web site very much.
Regards Leentje Huizer
Dutch privacy laws are very strict so most records of people born in the 1900s are not public yet and won’t be available online. Birth records are public until 1916. They can be found via , ZH, Rotterdam. Death records are public until 1966. For information about more recent deaths, you can order a personal record card. The fees page has information about what I charge.
Dear Yvette
Thank you so much for your help , I was getting no where because the people I’m looking for were after the cut off date, it was very kind of you to point me in the right direction.
Regards
Lee
Hello Yvette , Thankyou so much for the information you have shared. I have tried to explain my Mother’s birth certificate to people for years. Finally I found your page has the exact explanation. My Mother was illegitimate. When I requested her birth certificate, I was only given the bottom half of it. I has the names of her Mother and witnesses, not the part that has the Father’s name. In the column next to it, is says she was adopted by her Mother’s Husband years later. How do I get my Mother’s full birth certificate now that she has passed away? How do I find out if there is even a name for the natural Father?
Thankyou again
Diana
There is no such thing as half a birth certificate. There are often two certificates, so you will get half a page, but the other half would be for another person. Official both records don’t list the name of the biological father. BTW, these notes in the margin normally aren’t for adoptions, but for acknowledgements. Legally, they are two different concepts.
See this article for strategies to find the father:
https://www.dutchgenealogy.nl/how-to-find-the-father-of-an-illegitimate-child/
I was born in Zaandam in December 1953. My family is Catholic so the hospital was probably St. John. I was told that I stayed in the hospital with my mother for 2 months. Can I get a copy of my medical records?
Dear Petronella,
Most medical records are destroyed after a couple of years. It is doubtful that any survive. You would have to contact the hospital to find out if and where they keep records from that period.
Hello Ms. Yvette!
I am trying to find my uncle that was born during WW2, not exactly sure if he was born in 1944, 1945 or 1946. I don’t even know the city. All I know that he was born in the Netherlands. His name is Carel. His mother’s name was Sara, and I believe she was 19 or 20 years old. She was a daughter of a farmer. Is there any chance that I can find him?
Thank you
Sarah
Dutch privacy laws are strict and restrict access to records of people born less than 100 years ago. You could try searching the newspaper website Delpher but with so little to go on it’s a long shot. The name “Carel” in Dutch is also spelled as “Karel” so make sure to search for both variations.
hello, please i need to know if its possible for me to know about my father.he went to holland from poland in the early 1950s and married in holland,in the late 1960s he left for africa and later came back to holland in 1980 and died in 1981 in ‘s-Gravenhage.is there a way i can obtain information about him ?
I recommend you order his Personal Record Card from the Central Bureau for Genealogy.
Hello,
Im looking into how I can track down family members and some family history. I was born in Canada as were my parents. My Fathers parents were both born in the Netherlands and I only have their names, birth dates and birth locations. I have tried checking out the website Ancestry.ca but cannot find anything that is for sure part of my family.
Im wondering if you can help me out in finding anything I can. I have found a few things but it is all in Dutch and unfortunately I do not speak it. I have been quite distant with my Father so I am extremely limited on information on his side of the family.
Any help you can give, or suggestions on where to look is greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance.
Catherine Button
Dear Catherine,
Please contact me with some details (names, dates, places) so I can give you a proposal. If you want to do the research yourself, you will find plenty of advice on this website. You can find good starting points here.
Hello, I am trying to trace my Paternal Grandfathers family, his name was Abraham & his father was Joseph, Born in Amsterdam in Circa 1840 (According to records), His Father was Soloman who by the time Joseph Married Johanna Halberstadt (Also Born in Amsterdam) They were married in the great Synagogue in London in 1868. I have searched on Ancestry (I am a member) and also Family search. The name may well have changed (Anglasised) to cook from Kook or Koch ?, We belive they were Jewish as Johanna Line was as well as the Marriage was in a synagogue, where should I look ?
I would recommend starting with the indexes of Amsterdam population registers, available at the Amsterdam City Archives website.
hello thanks so much on the information found on this site, please i would like to know, is it possible to place a man name who acknowledged a child after 6 month of birth on the child birth certificate.whos name will the child bear on his or her birth certificate after the acknowledgement.
When a man acknowledged a child, this was noted in the margin of the birth record.
Hi, My maternal grandfather, Henry J Van Haaster, immigrated from Holland in 1925. He was born March 21, 1898 and came from Leimuiden. His name on Ellis Island documents was Hendricus J Van Haaster. Grandpa died in 1964 and unfortunately I know almost nothing about his Dutch family history. Grandma died of Alzheimer’s many years ago and my mother seems to know even less about her father than I do; their’s was a very strained relationship. I think his father’s name was Jacobus Van Haaster. I only know his mother’s Maiden Name – Krone. I was told that grandpa’s mother died sometime during his childhood and, until his father remarried, grandpa was raised by his eldest sister.
I have a very old photograph of his mother (my great grandmother) and I’ve got questions about her. What was her name? When did she marry my great grandfather? When was she born and when did she die? When was her photograph taken? I’ve also got questions about the traditional jewelry she wore in her hair and around her neck.
Are there any relatives in The Netherlands that I could contact for answers on our Dutch family history? Back in 1965, when I was 11, I traveled to The Netherlands with my maternal grandmother. We visited grandpa’s relatives but I really don’t remember much. Grandma conversed in Dutch with them but I didn’t understand a word that was spoken. I do remember a teenage relative, who spoke perfect English, taking me on a tour of the city. Any assistance from you is very much appreciated!
Hi Yvette,
Thank you so much for the informative article on Dutch records.
I have come across a few birth records that have these ‘notes’ on them, which you have explained rather well.
What I have not found any info on is the father of the above does not have any ‘notes’ on his record but the surname of his father was written on the record (1777) but has then been crossed out with a different surname and no other mark to indicate reasons. Could this be the same thing considering there was limited room on these records to record a note ?
Damien
1777 is before the civil registration so that’s a different kind of record, perhaps a baptism? There were no regulations so I’d have to see the record to see if I understand it. Can you post a link?
Hi Yvette,
These are baptism records.
First one is May 1777 – The initial name written in is Joannis Wynberg with the Wynberg crossed out and replaced with Blank.
https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/bd4a5920-8002-43c2-85b9-a68c3b4edd61
Second one is Nov 1774 – The initial name written in is Jan Wiebergen (same person) which has been crossed out and replaced with Blank.
https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/024cfac3-627d-4988-b651-ffb877d05291
Cheers
Damien
Gday for Australia
I am coming to so many road blocks; trying to find information on them both and their parents.
Due to family breakups and troubles; my mother Elizabeth Peters is unable to find out anything on her parents.
All i have is the following Wilhelmus hendracus johanus peters born 18/1/1933 … netherslands
married Jacoba Filamon 16/1/1935 nethersland. Came to Australia from Schipol on board airplane KLM 843 (1263) with their children. Reason for leaving unknown; maybe work in Australia
Hope you can help me out with my family tree
Graham
Hi Graham,
G’day from Sydney Australia
Jacoba Filemon born 16th January 1933. Father is Hendrikus Filemon born 15th December 1902. Mother is Teuntje van Varik born 2nd June 1902.