{"id":19263,"date":"2024-02-12T14:55:42","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T19:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/?p=19263"},"modified":"2026-06-04T16:15:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T20:15:33","slug":"whats-in-a-name-vital-records-and-public-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/richmond-city\/2024\/02\/12\/whats-in-a-name-vital-records-and-public-health\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in a name? Vital Records and public health\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What do Chiefs players Lucas Niang, Willy Gay, and Mike Danna have that Travis Kelce doesn\u2019t? Some of the most popular boys\u2019 names in Virginia!<\/p>\n<p>This week, VDH\u2019s Office of Vital Records announced\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/2024-news-releases\/virginia-department-of-healths-office-of-vital-records-announces-top-baby-names-of-2023-other-interesting-virginia-birth-data\/\">top baby names\u00a0of 2023<\/a>, including Liam, Noah, William, Lucas, and Michael for boys and Charlotte, Emma, Olivia, and Sophia for girls. The office also notes that July 7, 2023, was the largest single day for births in the commonwealth\u2014we welcomed 332 babies that day!\u2014while August was the month with the largest number of births.<\/p>\n<p>Fun baby name facts are just a small part of what Vital Records staff do. At RHHD, the Vital Records teams maintain certificates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce, and helps community members access these important documents. Business managers Christine Sult and Nora Herrera-Sanchez oversee Vital Records in Henrico and Richmond, respectively. Both say that Vital Records is a critical\u2014and perhaps less familiar\u2014aspect of public health.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese documents are housed within VDH because the data that makes up these certificates enhances statistical reporting. It\u2019s one of the ways CDC gets information,\u201d Christine explains. She says that birth records can help public health workers understand important data about delivery methods, the ages of parents, and the number of healthy pregnancies.<\/p>\n<p>RHHD\u2019s Vital Records staff print copies of certificates for people who need them. They can also direct residents to the right offices if they need to make changes to those certificates or to use them for things like applying for a driver\u2019s license, accessing SNAP benefits, or transporting a loved one who has passed away out of Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>Nora says that Vital Records Deputy Registrars often interact with people who are in a moment of life transition, high stress, or grief after the loss of a relative. \u201cWe have offices at our clinics because we want to be close to the public to provide these services. We\u2019ve also become a bridge for populations who don\u2019t speak English, who face a lot of barriers when a baby is born here.\u201d Christine has also observed challenges for parents trying to file a birth certificate for babies born at home instead of at a hospital.<\/p>\n<p>In each of these cases, having an experienced registrar helping a resident navigate these processes makes all the difference. \u201cRHHD provides wonderful customer service for people who walk in and are looking for birth and death certificates,\u201d Nora says. \u201cStaff show so much compassion, and I\u2019m so proud to work with them\u2014they really know the needs of the public.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Christine agrees: \u201cSometimes you\u2019re getting someone who\u2019s having a really hard time, and it\u2019s amazing to be able to provide the resources to help them get closure or accomplish something that surrounds whatever event that it is.\u201d She encourages residents to visit the\u00a0Office of Vital Records FAQ page\u00a0to learn more about when certain records become public, how to use records requests to further your genealogical research, and how to request a needed certificate. You can also walk in to RHHD\u2019s Vital Records:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Richmond\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n400 E. Cary St., Room 126<br \/>\n804-205-3911<\/p>\n<p><strong>Henrico West \u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n8600 Dixon Powers Dr.<br \/>\n804-501-4660<\/p>\n<p><strong>Henrico East\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\n1400 North Laburnum Ave<br \/>\n804-652-3190<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do Chiefs players Lucas Niang, Willy Gay, and Mike Danna have that Travis Kelce doesn\u2019t? Some of the most popular boys\u2019 names in Virginia! This week, VDH\u2019s Office of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"modified_by":"bryanhooten","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s in a name? 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