Collection Guides
The New York City Municipal Archives

The New York City Municipal Archives (NYCMA) holds historical marriage records for the five boroughs of the City of New York—the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—as well as earlier marriage records from pre-consolidation New York City and from former towns and villages of adjacent counties that have been subsumed into modern-day New York City. The adjacent counties represented in the marriage records are Kings County (present-day Borough of Brooklyn), Queens County (present-day Borough of Queens), Richmond County (present-day Borough of Staten Island), and Westchester County (portions of it became present-day Borough and County of the Bronx). Pre-consolidation New York City (New York County) consisted of Manhattan, a few adjacent islands in the waters around Manhattan, and several Westchester County towns that were annexed to the City and County of New York in 1874 and 1895.

Pre-consolidation marriage records date from 1829-1897 (with gaps) and are in the form of marriage registers, certificates, and indexes. Note that some marriage records for the area comprising the present-day Borough and County of Bronx are included in the New York County marriage records as the towns of Westchester County that were annexed into New York County/City of New York remained part of New York County until January 1, 1898. After that date, marriage records for the Borough of the Bronx were filed in that borough.

Marriage records for post-consolidation New York City date from 1898-1949 and are in the form of marriage certificates, licenses, contracts, chapel certificates, affidavits, and indexes. From 1908 to 1937 the City of New York maintained two sets of marriage records—Department of Health marriage certificates and New York City Clerk marriage licenses. Beginning in 1938 only marriage licenses were issued. The Department of Health and the City Clerk’s certificate number or license number are not interchangeable. NYCMA holds numerous marriage records indexes. Most are original records, but some have been microfilmed.

Marriage registers generally include the following information: names of bride and groom, date of marriage, and name of officiant (generally clergy or magistrate). Marriage contracts generally include the following information: name and address of persons involved, sometimes place of birth, village, and country (if not the United States), witnesses, and signatures. The contracts usually contain no property agreements. Marriage certificates generally include the following information: names of groom and bride, their residences, ages, color [skin complexion], marital status (single, widowed, divorced), birthplace, father’s and mother’s names, number of marriages, bride's maiden name, if widowed, and groom's occupation. Also included is the address and date of ceremony, signature of person performing ceremony and, "official station," residence, signatures of two witnesses, and the certificate number. Delayed and imperfect marriage certificates are certificates that were filed as least a year, and often several to many years, after the marriage occurred and include the same information as regular marriage certificates.

Marriage licenses consist of three components: an affidavit (affirming there is no impediment to the marriage), a marriage license, and a marriage certificate. It was not mandated that couples needed to file both when getting married. Each record is assigned a registration number based on the date and time of issuance of the marriage license. The affidavit includes the following information for both bride and groom: name, color or race, residence, age, date of birth, occupation, names, and country of birth of parents, and details of any former marriage. The verso contains certificates of consent for marriages of minors. The marriage license repeats the same data as the affidavit and indicates that the license is valid starting in forty-eight hours and ending in sixty days. The verso of the license is the marriage certificate certifying the date, time, and place of the marriage and signed by the person performing the ceremony, who also had the responsibility to return the completed license/certificate to the City Clerk.