Baptismal Records
Where are Baptismal records kept?
Each individual parish keeps records of baptism, first communions, confirmations, marriages and funerals. There is no central filing system in the Archdiocese of New York. To contact the parish yourself, please utilize our online search for a parish page.
If the parish is not listed, or if the parish has merged and you are unsure where the records may reside, please send your concern in writing to the Vicar General's Office. The Vicar General's Office will be happy to provide a listing of the parishes in the area in which a relative was baptized. Please send a self-addressed stamped envelope with your request to Vicar General's Office, 1011 First Avenue, New York, NY 10022, and we will be happy to send you a listing of parishes in the area that have been merged.
Can we change the names on a baptismal register?
Often people will want to change the name of a godfather or godmother on a baptismal certificate for a variety of reasons. However, we are not permitted to change the entries made in a baptismal register. The godparents are the official witnesses of the baptism and therefore the certificate is a quasi-legal document. This is not an easy answer to accept, especially in cases where there is estrangement on the part of family members between each other. We try to convince the persons requesting the change to appoint someone who will be the sponsor for the child at Confirmation. Let that person accept the "role" of godparent until such time that his or her name can be entered as sponsor for confirmation.
