How to Use the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) to Search for Family History, Elvis, or Anyone Else

Elvis Lives? SSDI says No.

Your Social Security Number and related records are totally private. Until you die, that is! At that point, your record becomes part of a publicly available file known as the Social Security Death Index. There are currently more than 87 million records available in the SSDI, with millions more added every year. Here's how to use it to search for family history, information on famous dead people, or other ancestry and genealogy information.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. **Head to the SSDI search page**

   SSDI is on the web at ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com (the Resource section includes a direct link to the SSDI site). Be sure to find the SSDI search box on the site, as there are other, similar-looking searches on the same page.

2. The King is, in fact, dead...at least according to Elvis' Social Security records.

   **Enter information in the SSDI search boxes**

   Use whatever information you have, such as first and last names or social security numbers to search for SSDI records.

   **Don't** get confused if you see a search box at the very top of the page; it's an advertisement. Use the SSDI interface.

3. **Use Advanced Search"

   Click on Advanced Search if you want to search on additional features, such as place or year of birth, or date of death. This is especially useful if you are searching on a common name that would otherwise produce hundreds of results.

4. Click "Submit" to see the SSDI records for that name.

5. The Resource section has more information on SSDI, family history, people search, obituaries, and resources for getting help with your family history research.

Resources

• SSDI Search Page
• Professional research service for obituaries, family history, family trees, etc.