Free Cemetery Records Search: Find Burial Records Online Without Paying

You don't need to pay for a genealogy subscription to find cemetery records. Millions of burial records are freely available online — you just need to know where to look. This guide walks you through the best free tools and how to use them effectively.

1. GraveMapper (Free)

GraveMapper indexes over 100 million cemetery records in a clean, fast interface. Search by name, location, date of birth, or date of death — and filter results by specific cemetery, county, or state.

No account required for basic searches. Results include burial location, plot details (when available), and links to related records.

Best for: Starting any cemetery search — clean interface, strong filters, no ads.

2. FindAGrave (Free)

FindAGrave remains the largest volunteer-maintained cemetery database, with over 200 million memorials. Coverage is inconsistent — major urban cemeteries tend to be well-documented, while rural or smaller cemeteries often have gaps — but the sheer scale means you'll find most people here.

Tips for effective FindAGrave searching:

• Try alternate spellings — volunteer transcriptions often contain errors
• Use the "Browse by Cemetery" option when you know the burial location
• Search with a date range rather than an exact year to catch transcription errors
• Check if a memorial has been "linked" to others — family members often appear in the linked records

3. FamilySearch (Free — Always)

FamilySearch is maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is entirely free to use — no trial period, no premium tier. It's one of the largest genealogical databases in the world and includes cemetery records, death records, and burial indexes from dozens of countries.

Key cemetery-related collections on FamilySearch:

• US Cemetery and Burial Records — millions of transcribed entries
• National Cemetery Burial Rolls — US military burials
• State-specific death indexes — often include burial location
• Parish burial registers — UK, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, Latin America

Best for: Deep genealogy research, international records, and finding related family documents alongside burial information.

4. Interment.net (Free)

Interment.net is an older site, but its data is often unique — especially for US cemeteries that have been poorly indexed elsewhere. It's strong for pre-1950 burials and has significant coverage in Canada, UK, and Australia as well.

The search interface is basic (search by last name and state/country), but the results are reliable. Worth checking when other databases draw a blank.

5. USGenWeb Cemetery Project (Free)

The USGenWeb Cemetery Project organizes cemetery transcriptions by county, contributed by local volunteers across every US state. Coverage is wildly uneven — some counties have thousands of records; others have nothing — but when it has data, it's often the only online source for that specific cemetery.

Access it through usgwtombstones.us or through your state's GenWeb page. Search by county, then browse to the specific cemetery you're investigating.

6. State Vital Records Offices (Often Free)

Many state vital records offices have digitized death certificates and burial permits going back decades, with free online indexes. The certificate itself may cost a small fee to order, but the index search is usually free.

States with particularly strong free online death record indexes include:

• California: Death index free through 1997
• Texas: Death index free through 1980
• Ohio: Death certificates free to search online
• Illinois: Death index through 1950 free online
• New York: Death records 50+ years old free to search

Check your state's department of health or vital statistics website for what's available online.

7. National Cemetery Administration (Free — Military)

If you're searching for a veteran buried in a national cemetery, the NCA Gravesite Locator (gravelocator.cem.va.gov) is the authoritative source. It covers 4.3 million veterans interred in national, state veterans, and tribal veterans cemeteries.

For overseas military burials (World War I and II primarily), check the American Battle Monuments Commission at abmc.gov — completely free, with GPS coordinates for each burial plot.

Search Strategy: How to Find Burial Records When Databases Come Up Empty

Even with all these free databases, you'll sometimes hit a wall. Here's what to try when the standard searches fail:

Try alternate name spellings

Immigrant ancestors often had names anglicized or misspelled on death records. Try phonetic variations — Jans vs. Yans, Schaefer vs. Shaffer, Kowalski vs. Kovolsky. Many databases support wildcard searches (e.g., "Sch*fer" to catch multiple spellings).

Contact the cemetery directly

Not every cemetery is indexed online. A quick call to the cemetery office — especially for small, rural, or religious cemeteries — can surface burial records that never made it into any database. Many cemeteries maintain handwritten lot books going back 150+ years.

Check funeral home records

Funeral homes often hold burial records going back decades. Many states now require funeral homes to maintain records permanently. If you know which funeral home handled the burial, contact them directly — they may be able to confirm burial location even if online databases don't have the record.

Request death certificates

The official death certificate usually includes burial location, name of cemetery, and sometimes plot information. Depending on the state and your relationship to the deceased, you may be able to obtain a certified copy for a small fee ($10-$25 in most states), or access an index record for free.

Start Your Free Search Now

GraveMapper is a good starting point for any cemetery search — 100 million records, no account required, and clean filters that actually work. Search by name and narrow down by state, county, or cemetery name.