Start with the strongest facts

Write down the full name, alternate spellings, maiden name, city or county, and an approximate death date. A location often identifies the relevant newspaper or funeral home more effectively than adding unrelated biographical details.

Choose a source for the period

For a recent death, try funeral-home sites, current newspaper notices and obituary networks. For an older death, move to digitized newspapers, library collections and genealogy databases. A civil death record can confirm a death but is not the same as an obituary.

Search names in more than one form

Try initials, nicknames, middle names, married and maiden surnames, and common spelling variants. Search the surname with the town when a database's filters are limited.

Follow local clues

If a national database has no result, identify the newspaper serving the person's residence, place of death or burial. Local libraries and archives may provide indexes or access to issues missing from commercial collections.

Verify on the original source

Treat indexes and memorial pages as leads. Confirm names, dates and relationships on the original newspaper, funeral-home notice, archive image or official record whenever possible.