NOTES:

Please note that the the wildcard string is "%". Thus, if you want to search for any name beginning with "LO", enter "LO%". For any name ending with "A", enter "%A". For any name starting with "Mc" and ending with "a", enter "Mc%a". To find a name that includes the phrase "don", enter "%don%". If you want to select all of the 1920s, enter "192%". Please note that the wildcard DOES NOT work on the Last name if you are using an Alternate Index option.

Alternate Indexes: Soundex, Metaphone, Double Metaphone and NYSIIS are indexing options to search for the Last name based on the way a name sounds rather than the way it is spelled. Read more here about these options.

Also, You don't need to enter a value for every field. If you want to search for all entries of "JOHNSON" who died in 1939, just enter "JOHNSON" in the last name field and "1939" in the year field.

Finally, be aware that this is not a complete birth index for California. Vitalsearch has a list of 90,000+ names of delayed registration of live births prior to January 1955.

California Vital Indexes