How to Find out What Time You Were Born

Last Updated: June 13, 2022 References

Not all hospitals and countries record birth times, but it might be worth the effort and fee to track down a full-length birth certificate. The memory of your parents, midwife, or old family friends may be useful as well. If you are trying to find the time of birth for astrological purposes, you can try to narrow an estimate using a process called star chart rectification.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Finding Your Birth Certificate or Hospital Records

1
Ask your parents and other people present at your birth. Your parents might remember when you were born, or direct you to other family members or friends who were there when you were born. They may also have a copy of your birth certificate.
- If your parents have any "family history" boxed away, look through it for old diaries, family bibles, and family newsletters around the time of your birth.
2
Know your country's birth certificate policies. Not all countries record the time of birth on birth certificates. Look up the policies of the country you were born in with an online search. In some countries, you may need to know a few more details:
- In the United States, the birth time is only recorded in the "long form" birth certificate, also called the "full" version. This information is often missing on certificates from before the 1930s, or from cities with fewer than 100,000 people.
- In the United Kingdom, times of birth are only recorded for multiple births (twins etc.), or in some Scottish hospitals.^{[1]
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- Many Western European countries record birth times, but there are no official birth time records for Australia, Canada, Ireland, or India.^{[2]
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3
Request a birth certificate with birth time from the government. If you don't have a copy of your birth certificate, you can usually request a copy from the health department or vital records office associated with the county, province, or state where you were born. You may need to provide multiple forms of identification, and/or pay a fee. Always mention that you are specifically looking for a record of your birth time. Start your quest with one of the following links, matching the country of your birth:
- Canada
- England or Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
- The United States, or see here for more information on requirements.
4
Ask the hospital for records. As a last resort, you can try checking the records department of the hospital in which you were born. Contact the hospital through phone, email, or an in-person visit, and ask to see any records which may have the time of your birth recorded. You may need to provide one or more forms of identification.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Estimating Your Birth Time With Astrology

1
Find out whether this is necessary. If you believe that astrology can predict your future based on your birth date and time, you might have already constructed a star chart or hired someone to do so. If your birth time is based on your mother's memory, if it was rounded to the nearest hour on your birth certificate, or if you have no idea what it is, your star chart may be based on incorrect information. These online calculators below will tell you how likely it is that a given type of star chart, or part of a star chart, is accurate. Enter the number of hours you think your birth time guess could be off by, such as "3" if you only know the general time of day, or "12" if you do not know your birth time. If there is a high chance of your star chart matching the predictions anyway, you may want to skip the arduous process below.
- Moon signs for Western astrology or Vedic astrology
- Zodiac sign of your ascendant
- Solar arc
- Dasha predictions
2
Have a "best guess" star chart made. This star chart doesn't have to have much detail, since it will just be a starting point. If you don't know your birth time at all, make the chart as though you were born at noon. If you know it was between 4:00 and 8:30, make the chart for 6:15.^{[3]
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- You can hire an astrologer if you do not know how to do this, or learn how to do it yourself. You can also hire an astrologer to "rectify your star chart," and skip the steps below.
3
Write down a list of major events. Write down as many major events in your life that come to mind. You'll need a year, a date, and preferably a time for each one. Traumatic events and accidents are the most useful, but you should also include marriage, divorce, childbirth, change of employment, and other major events.^{[4]
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Research source} You can use these to see whether the predictions for your current star chart match the events in your life.
4
Make predictions based on the star chart. Use transits, solar arcs, and other astrology techniques to map out predictions based on the "best guess" star chart. Here are some tips on which to use, based on how quickly the astrological bodies move through the chart.^{[5]
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Research source} Consult an astrology website or astrologer if you do not know how to do this:
- Any solar arcs except the Ascendant, Midheaven, and Moon.
- Transits for Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Lunar Nodes. If you are confident of the birthday, add the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
5
Compare the predictions to your actual life events. Different astrologers use different techniques to "rectify" a star chart, but the basic idea is to see whether your life events match the predictions, or to check whether your life events can be explained by a different birth time. Here are a few techniques experienced astrologers use:
- Eliminate events that can be explained by natal planetary connections. Look at remaining events, and see whether they are concentrated when celestial bodies arrive at specific degrees.^{[6]
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  Research source} Those degrees could correspond to your Ascendant and Midheaven, if the positions work out.
- Compare recent outer planet (Jupiter through Pluto) transits to recent life events, to see which house appears to influence you.^{[7]
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Community Q&A

Question

How do you get a copy of your birth certificate?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

It depends on your birth state how you need to request one and what kind of identification documents you will need to provide. Contact the vital records office of the state where you were born or their website for the details.
Question

Are birth records public information?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

This will depend on your particular state. In some states they are public and in others are private. Also depending on the state, if the person was adopted their birth records may have been sealed to protect the identity of the birth parents.
Question

Where was I born?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

If you can find or obtain a copy of your birth certificate, it will have this information on it.

Warnings

Rectifying star charts is subjective, and even some people who practice astrology are not convinced it is helpful, at least if the birth time range is more than a couple hours.^{[8]
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