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Social Security Death Index
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) includes most deceased individuals who died
having owned a Social Security number. The SSDI lists the deceased's name, their Social
Security number (SSN), date of birth, date of death, state where the SSN was issued, ZIP
code of the last residence, and ZIP code of where the death benefit was sent.
The Social Security Adminstration has records in the SSDI from about 1962 when the
reporting process became automated. The SSDI is a useful tool for genealogists in that it
often provides the deceased's exact birth and death dates and the geographic region in
which the individual died. If you find an individual for whom you want to know even more
information (ie: parent's names) in the SSDI, you may write to the Social Security
Administration to obtain information from the deceased's Social Security application file.
If you know that a deceased individual had a Social Security number, but you cannot
find reference to them in the SSDI, there are several reasons to explain this situation:
- The file does have errors in it. Kathleen Hinckley, CGRS has produced a list of several
obvious errors that she has uncovered.
- It may be that the deceased's death was not reported to the SSA.
- or, the information regarding the deceased's death was reported incorrectly.
- It may be the case, too, that the individual's last name was mispelled or a middle given
name was used as the primary given name. In searching the SSDI, you may want to try a
soundex search (searches for a similar sounding name) or try using the deceased's middle
name(s).
- Some railroad employees' pensions handled their social security payments and these
pensioners may not appear in the SSDI.
Additional Articles
Brian Bonner Mavrogeorge
There is an article written by Brian Mavrogeorge, that describes in detail some of the
aspects of the Social Security Death Index. That article was previously published by
RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative, RootsWeb Review, in
Vol. 1, No. 23, 18 November 1998. You may visit RootsWeb's main Web page at http://www.rootsweb.com.
Follow-up Article
Regarding the SSDI article in Vol. 1, No. 23, there is another reason why a person
might not be in the SSDI.
Both my parents had worked for firms where they paid into FICA. However, their last and
longest jobs were with the railroad from which they retired. They started to receive two
monthly
retirement checks, but after some time their Social Security benefits were transferred to
the Railroad Retirement Board in Chicago. They then received a single check until their
passing.
And their names do not appear on the SSDI. I do not know how common this is nor if the
Railroad Retirement Board has a list similar to the SSDI. John Burfiend.
[Editors' Note: If a person worked for a railroad after 1936 he might have qualified for a
pension from the Railroad Retirement Board in lieu of Social Security. That's why
researchers don't find those ancestors in the SSDI. Most of the RR employees' Social
Security numbers begin with the digits 700 through 729. Researchers can write to: Railroad
Retirement Board, 844 Rush
Street, Chicago, IL 60611.]
PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from ROOTSWEB REVIEW is granted unless specifically
stated otherwise, PROVIDED
- The reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes.
- This notice must appear at the end of the article:
Written by Editors: Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG
RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com
Previously published by RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative,
RootsWeb Review, Vol. 1, No. 24, 25 November 1998. You may visit
RootsWeb's main Web page at http://www.rootsweb.com.
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06 Apr 2009