In the two days since same-sex couples have been allowed to wed in California, the number of marriage licenses issued statewide has surpassed that of an entire typical June week, according to a Times survey of the state's 58 county clerks.
Just over 2,700 marriage licenses were issued in the state between 5:01 p.m. on Monday -- when the state Supreme Court's ruling lifted the ban on gay marriage -- and the end of business on Tuesday. The statewide average for a whole week in June is about 2,460.
Topping the list is Los Angeles County, the state's largest with a population of about 9.9 million, which issued one license on Monday evening in Beverly Hills and 648 Tuesday. San Diego County, population about 3 million, was second with 230. San Francisco County, population 765,000 was third with 212. Officials in Sacramento County, which usually issues about 25 licenses a day, issued 134 by closing time at 8 p.m. Tuesday. The county has 1.4 million residents.
Among the most dramatic increases in business Tuesday were Ventura County, which with 798,000 residents saw more than 20 times the normal traffic -- from two to 45 -- and Riverside County, population 2 million, which saw an increase from an average of nine applicants on a weekday in June to 133.
The marriage licenses were issued to both same-sex and heterosexual couples, although county clerks in many locations indicated that the vast majority handed out Tuesday were to gay couples. The new marriage application replaces the terms "bride" and "groom" with "Party A" and "Party B" and does not indicate whether the people marrying are of the same sex.
Clerks expect their offices to remain busy this week, with another wave of higher-than-normal traffic on Friday.
For an interactive map showing county-by-county totals, as well as additional information about procedures for obtaining a license and vignettes from more than dozen counties around the state, go to latimes.com/marriagemap.
jp.renaud@latimes.com
