These indexes were created from a series of microfilms filmed by the Genealogical Society of Salt Lake City in 1981 at the Santa Clara County Clerk’s Office in San Jose, California.
Official California civil records did not begin until 1905. Prior to 1905 registration was voluntary, so this index does not include the entire population of the area. The majority of these records are from 1871 to 1905, but fully range from 1813 to 1979.
Most of the films have been digitized and are available on the Family Search website. The films are also available at the Santa Clara City Library with assistance of .
If you would like an image copy of any of these records, please fill out the Research Services Form with the Type of record (birth, marriage, or death), name of person, Film # and Section #, if given. Fees vary. Please send any corrections to .
As you search this index, please note:
Spelling was NOT important at the time of these records. And legible handwriting was NOT a requirement for a job at the Clerk’s Office.
Please use your imagination as letters "m" and "n" and sometimes "u" look alike. Capital "S" and "L" look similar in some handwriting.
For the birth records, an attempt was made to collect records that appeared to be the same child, but the surname was spelled differently on each record. Forward slashes have been placed between the different spellings.
Many entries were created from indexes and registers and do not contain any more information than what is listed.
