Extended Description:

History
Unique Features
Search Tips
Interesting Facts
FAQ
Related Information

History
In the summer of 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law; it was created to provide government assistance—such as unemployment insurance and retirement benefits—to all eligible citizens. To assist in keeping track of individuals, the government assigns a numerical identification to each person involved in the program. Though it was originally intended for use within the Social Security Administration only, its value as a unique identifier has promoted its application in other areas of society, such as drivers' license ID numbers, state and federal tax programs, motor vehicle registration, military ID (starting in the Vietnam era), etc. Since 1935, more than 370 million Social Security cards have been issued to the citizens and residents of the United States.

As a by-product of this vast recordkeeping system, the SSA developed a file of those individuals who received Social Security numbers and were reported as deceased. This file is the Social Security Death Master File. The Social Security Death Index at Ancestry.com is generated from this Death Master File.

View an original Social Security application form

Unique Features

• The entries in the index are overwhelmingly American; however, there is no way to establish citizenship by the index data alone. Some Canadians, Mexicans, and individuals of other nationalities are included in the database. If an immigrant is in the United States legally, he or she can obtain a Social Security card, though the number may not be used for actual employment purposes unless the individual is granted permission from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

• The index contains many individuals who were U.S. citizens, but who were not living in the United States at the time of their death. Individuals in this category might include consular employees around the world, employees of U.S. companies or subsidiaries working abroad, or those serving in the armed forces.

• In general, the index is useful for finding information about individuals who died in the mid-1960s or later. Although it is true that the index contains some individuals whose birth dates are listed as early as 1800, individuals born before 1860 in the index comprise less than 0.00006% of the total. Most of these entries are for persons who supposedly lived well past age 100, and are most likely the result of data-entry errors.

Search Tips

• Most of the names listed in the Social Security Death Index are individuals who died after 1962. Though the Social Security Act was created in 1935, a computer system for reporting death benefit claims did not exist until 1962.

• Not all Americans were covered under the Social Security Act in its earlier days. Railroad workers, teachers, and other municipal employees often were covered by other retirement systems; therefore, the Social Security Administration did not record their information and they might not be included in the SSDI.

• The government allows for twelve characters in the last name and nine characters in the first name, with any additional characters simply being left off.

• Death dates in the vast majority of cases before 1988 contain the month and year only.

• The zip code of last residence may not reflect the actual place of death because an individual may have died in an out-of-town hospital, on vacation, etc. The zip code is more appropriately used as the "address of record."

• The first three digits of a Social Security number (the state of issuance code) do not always indicate the individual’s state of residence. The code refers to the state where the SSA office that issued the number was located.

Interesting Facts

• Close to 98% of the entire SSDI contains individuals who died after 1962 (when the SSA began keeping the database on computer).

• An initial rush to record and distribute Social Security cards occurred in the first two or three years of the program's existence. At least 35 million numbers were assigned to workers who qualified before 1 January 1937. Since that time, however, various other groups of individuals not originally classified as eligible have been included in the program.

• Medical doctors did not begin receiving coverage until 1965.

• The Social Security Death Index at Ancestry.com is generated from the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Death Master File.

FAQ

How can I get more information regarding an individual listed in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)?
You can request a copy of a deceased individual’s original Social Security application from the Social Security Administration (SSA). To do this, you need to send a letter to the SSA and request a copy of the Social Security application form (the SS-5). Note: The SSA charges $27 for each copy of the form.

A standard letter to the SSA is available on Ancestry.com. To create a letter, access the individual’s SSDI record on Ancestry.com and click the Request copy of original application link. Then, click the Click here to generate letter link.

The original Social Security application that you will receive contains the following information:

• Full name
• Full name at birth (including maiden name)
• Present mailing address
• Age at last birthday
• Date of birth
• Place of birth (city, county, state)
• Father's full name "regardless of whether living or dead"
• Mother's full name, including maiden name, "regardless of whether living or dead"
• Sex and race
• Ever applied for SS number/Railroad Retirement before? Yes/No
• Current employer's name and address
• Date signed
• Applicant's signature

I can’t find the individual I’m looking for in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) even though they had a Social Security card. What should I do?
Not everyone who has, or has had, a Social Security card will have an entry in the SSDI. Many enrolled persons are not listed either because their death was not reported to the SSA, or they are still living. If you haven't found your deceased relative in the SSDI, but he or she was likely enrolled in the Social Security system, it may still be possible to get a copy of his or her original SS-5 form from the Social Security Administration (SSA).

To request a copy of the Social Security application form (the SS-5), you will need the name and Social Security number of the person you are researching. You might be able to locate the person's Social Security number in the following places:

• Personal papers
• Death certificate
• Funeral home records
• Records held by financial institutions
• Voter registration rolls at a county courthouse
• Former employers of the individual

If those sources don't produce the number, you may request a records search from the SSA. To request this service, you need to send a letter to the SSA and provide the following information: full name, state of birth, and date of birth. Be sure to provide proof of death as the records of living individuals are not publicly available. Note: The SSA charges $29 for this service.

Send your letter to the following address:
Freedom of Information Officer
4-H-8 Annex Building
6401 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland 21235

Why can't I find my ancestor in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)?
Here are some reasons why you might not find a particular individual in the SSDI:

• The individual did not have a Social Security card. Especially before 1951, it is likely that the individual did not have a Social Security number at all. The self-employed, farmers, military, government employees, some professional groups (doctors, lawyers), did not receive coverage until the 1950s and 60s. Certain members of the family may have never had the need to enroll in Social Security (retired individuals, housewives, etc.).
• The individual had a Social Security card, but his or her death was not reported to the SSA. The Death Master File only contains those deaths reported to the SSA. These deaths are usually only reported in conjunction with claims of death benefits.
• The individual is in the SSDI but is listed under another name or another spelling. Try various spellings of the individual's name, including middle names, nicknames, initials, maiden names, other married surnames, etc.
• The individual is in the SSDI, but the original data was reported or recorded incorrectly.

What do the abbreviations in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) mean?
The following abbreviations or codes appear in some SSDI records in the Last Residence box:
(72), (PE), (FO), (HC), (VA)

These are usually in parentheses and are internal codes used by the Social Security Administration; they do not mean anything to researchers.

Why is the information in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) publicly available online?
The Social Security Administration maintains an official repository of death information via the Death Master File (DMF). The DMF is part of the Numident, a master file that contains personal identifying information about each individual to whom the SSA has assigned a Social Security number. The SSA created the DMF as the result of a 1978 lawsuit requiring the agency to make death information available under the Freedom of Information Act. Congress also enacted legislation requiring that the SSA provide death information to various federal and state agencies in order to prevent erroneous payments to deceased individuals. The SSA uses the DMF to fulfill these obligations. In addition, an individual’s right to privacy does not apply because all included individuals are deceased.

Related Information
For more general information on the SSDI, see this article:
The Social Security Death Index by Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Ph.D.

For more information on who you might find in the SSDI, see this article:
Using the Social Security Death Index by George G. Morgan

For SSDI search tips, see this article:
Social Security Death Index - Tips

For official government information on social security, see this website:
U.S. Social Security Administration

Source Information:
Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Orem, UT: Ancestry, Inc., 2004.