Hawaii genealogy records

Kingdom and territorial vital records

Reports of births, marriages, and deaths were required by law, but many were never turned in, and the State Archives warns that vital statistics were seriously under reported, especially in the early years. What survives forms the Archives' Vital Statistics Collection, 1826 to 1929, which the Archives assembled itself and arranged by island. Two sets of indexes, for 1832 to 1910 and 1911 to 1929, are in the Archives reference room and can also be searched through Ulukau.

Births and deaths are thin. The few birth records are mostly lists sent in by school teachers to the Department of Public Instruction, and records before 1864 are basically statistical. Death lists came from teachers before 1896 and from agents of the Department of Health after 1896. Expect a name, a date, and a district, sometimes more; race or color was not required on birth certificates until 1937, while nationality appears on death records as early as 1878.

Marriages are the largest part of the collection. They include marriage licenses from 1837 to 1929, some in Hawaiian and called Palapala Mare, plus ministers' marriage books and reports, school agents' lists, and records of licenses issued from 1896 to 1929. Marriage records before 1896 do not name the bride's and groom's parents.

Birth, marriage, and death certificates

Certificates are issued by the State Department of Health. For events 115 years or less before the current year, you must show a direct and tangible interest in the record. For events more than 115 years ago, you can book a genealogy appointment at the Oahu office, and eligible genealogy requests for events before 1921 are made by mail with the official request forms.

As of 2026, a certified copy of a birth, marriage, or death certificate costs $10 for the first copy and $4 for each additional copy of the same certificate ordered at the same time; for birth and marriage certificates, a $2.50 fee is added for each increment of up to 5 copies. Indexes to birth records for 1896 to 1909 are at several Hawaii State Library branches and the University of Hawaii Library's Hawaiian Collection; these are indexes only, and the records stay with the Department of Health.

Census records

The kingdom took its own censuses. Returns survive at the State Archives for 1866, 1878, 1890, and 1896, but no census is complete. Schedules with names survive only for 1878 (Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii), 1890 (all islands except Niihau), and 1896 (Honolulu). They are in the Archives' digital collections, arranged by year, island, district, and place, and there is no index.

With territorial status the islands became part of the U.S. census, and Census Bureau data for Hawaii begin with 1900. The Hawaii State Public Library System has the 1900 to 1930 U.S. censuses on microfilm.

Probate and wills

The State Archives holds probate files and wills from 1847 to 1917. Wills admitted to probate may be inside the probate case file, and adoptions and guardianships were filed with probate cases starting in 1859. Documents are in Hawaiian and English, and some Hawaiian documents have been translated by the courts and Archives translators.

To find a file, search Ulukau for the citation, which is the circuit court and case number. The records were selectively microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around 1970, based on genealogical content, so the film may not show every document, and the Second Circuit Court probate case files and minute books were not filmed at all; the Archives' digital collections also have probates on their Judiciary page.

Naturalization under the kingdom

Foreigners could be naturalized by the Hawaiian government well before annexation. Oaths of allegiance to the government of the Sandwich Islands are recorded as early as 1838, and the Act to Organize the Executive Departments in 1846 gave the Minister of the Interior authority to naturalize foreign citizens. The State Archives has an index to these naturalization records from 1838 to 1899, arranged by name, which gives the book and page to look up in its digital collections.

Language and spelling

Expect Hawaiian-language documents in marriage and probate records. The Archives' marriage licenses, for example, may be headed Palapala Mare or Palapala ae e Mare, and indexes are arranged by island before name, so knowing the island narrows the search.