The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is Still Available!
The
Social Security Death Index (often called the SSDI) is a valuable tool
for genealogists. It lists deceased people within the United States.
When first created, the SSDI only listed those people who were receiving
Social Security benefit payments at the time of death.
However, as the
years went by, the database was expanded to include ALMOST ALL DEATHS, whether receiving benefits or not.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) Death Master File (DMF)
contains more than 80 million records of deaths that have been reported
to SSA. This file includes the following information on each deceased
person, as applicable: name, date of birth, date of death, state or
country of residence (prior to Mar 1988), and ZIP code of last
residence.
Due to false concerns over identity theft, the Social Security
Administration stopped releasing updates to the SSDI a few years ago. A
few web sites that previously had made the SSDI available online have
since deleted the records from their web sites. Now many genealogists
believe the SSDI is no longer available.
Not true! The SSDI hasn’t been “lost.” It is still available in several places today, and you can search it online.
In fact, the Social Security Administration has stopped issuing UPDATES
to the Death Master File. However, the original database, current
through January 2011, remains in the public domain and is still
available online from a number of web sites. Later deaths are not
publicly listed, however.
NOTE #1: Genealogists
have always referred to this database of deceased persons as the “SSDI.”
However, employees of the Social Security Administration and many
others call it the Death Master File, or DMF. The reason for the
discrepancy in names appears to be confusion with another service of the
Social Security Administration.
If you mention “the SSDI” to an employee
of the Social Security Administration, he or she will probably think you
are referring to Social Security Disability Insurance, something that
is unrelated to the Death Master File except that both are available
from the Social Security Administration. When talking with
non-genealogists, you probably should always refer to this database as
the “Death Master File.”
NOTE #2: In most cases,
only the first ten letters of each individual’s first name are shown in
the SSDI. For instance, the name “Christopher” is abbreviated as
“Christophe”. Also, middle initials are shown, but complete middle names
are not recorded in the database. The search rules will vary from one
web site to another. I find it best to only enter the first ten letters
of longer names. That seems to always work. Entering all the letters of
first names with more than ten letters sometimes results in a “not
found” error on some web sites although not on others. When in doubt,
use only ten letters.
NOTE #3: Not all the
online databases will display all the available information about the
person listed in the SSDI. You may have to try several online services
in order to find what you seek.
NOTE #4: Information about geographic allocation of Social Security numbers can be found at
http://www.ssa.gov/employer/stateweb.htm. Keep in mind that Social Security Numbers used to be assigned by the location where the Number was
ISSUED, not by the place of birth of the individual.
I suggest you access the Social Security Death Index (Death Master File) at any of the following:
NOTE: Also included in the WorldVitalRecords.com version of the SSDI is See Neighbors
which is a list of those persons who died during the same year and in
the same zip code as the deceased who is being searched. Finally, when a
residence at death is included in a listing, a geo-coded Google Map is
included with the place where the person died and their nearest
cemeteries.
… and probably some other places as well.
You also can download the entire SSDI record set yourself at http://ssdmf.info/download.html although that is the 30 November 2011 edition. No later records are available.