Looking for your ancestors? The Social
Security Death Index is one of the largest and most useful databases available. It contains
names, birth dates, death dates, Social Security numbers, and other useful information
about more than 55 million people. See the instructions for helpful search tips.
You don't need to fill in all of the fields —
just a name will do.
If you aren't sure how to spell the name, you can use a question mark in
place of a single letter, as in "Su?anne" to find both "Suzanne" and "Susanne".
You can also use an asterisk in place of multiple letters. For example,
if you typed "Mary*" you would find names such as "Maryanne", "Maryanna",
"Maryella", and "Mary-Louise". (Note that this may return a very large number
of matches.)
If you aren't sure how to spell the last name, try using the Soundex option.
(Again, note that this may return a very large number of matches.)
If you get too many matching names, try filling in other fields to eliminate
some of the other possible matches.
Long names are often truncated in Social Security records. When searching
for a name longer than nine letters, try entering the first part of the name
followed by an asterisk, as in "Holling*" instead of "Hollingsworth".
To automatically generate a letter requesting a copy of the individual's
social security number application from the Social Security Administration,
click the "Write It" link to the right of the individual's name. All you need
to do is print it and drop it in the mail!
