California Death Index 1905-1939 - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of digital images of the California Death Index for the years 1905 to 1939. The index is arranged alphabetically by the name of the deceased and includes: initials of spouse, social security number (if known), code number of county where death occurred, date of death, registrar number and state file number. The code for the age unit is listed as follows: 1 - Years 2 - Months 3 - Days 4 - Hours 5 - Minutes A - 100 years or over [blank] - Unknown

California began indexing death records from various counties before July 1905. California became a state in 1850 with 27 original counties. Today there are 58 counties from that original 27. Although the state ordered the keeping of records in 1905, this order was NOT enforced and each county kept records according to the notion of the local County Recorder. Some counties will have records from an earlier date than others. Very few records, if any, are available before the 1860's. Original records are located in California at the Office of the State Register, Sacramento, and the Butte County Courthouse, Oroville. Some of the pages in the index, did not get filmed or were missing when the index was originally filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1990.

Place of death or county where death occurred is given in code as listed in the following chart. Larger cities have the following separate codes: 60 Alameda, 70 Los Angeles, 80 San Diego, 90 San Francisco. :

These indexes are also found in the Family History Library Catalog "California death indexes, 1905-1988 ; 1940-1994" with digital images available for the years 1905 to 1939 under File Notes section by clicking on the camera icons.

Sample Image
The California Death Index record may include:


 * Name of decedent
 * Initial(s) of spouse
 * Age (coded Units of Age)
 * Sex
 * County of death (coded by County and larger Cities)
 * Date of death
 * Date of registration
 * State file number

An explanation of the information found on the index, including the keys to the codes used for the units of age and place of death, can be found at this link. NOTE: Some county codes erroneously include their larger city code. For example: Alameda (County) should be 01; Alameda (City) is 60.

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * Name
 * Identifying information such as age or death date and place

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page: ⇒Select the appropriate "Year Range" ⇒Select the appropriate "Surname Range" which will take you to the images.

Keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s death record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the death date, place, and certificate number listed to obtain a death certificate from the County recorder.
 * Use the residence to find the family in census records which can identify more family members.
 * Use the social security number, if given, to locate social security documents which may give the name of a spouse or birthplace.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the deceased who may have died in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Remember that indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

What If I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):