New York State Death Index Browse

The indexes in this image browse are from the state of New York and are broken up by year, covering the years 1880 to 1955. Only the images of the indexes are included here and can only be searched by year. You can then browse a given index, which is arranged alphabetically by the first letter of a last name, to locate your ancestor.

The images in this collection will often provide the following details:

• Name of decedent

• Place of death

• Age – expressed in years and months (e.g. 80 1 would be 80 years and 1 month)

• Cause – city’s cause of death code

• Date – expressed in month and day (e.g. 12 27 would be December 27)

• Certificate number – with the certificate number, you can order the original death certificate. Follow the link in the Useful links and resources section to order a certificate.

These images have been made public thanks to the organization Reclaim the Records.

• Narrow your results by searching by a specific year or year range.

• Use the previous and next arrows or the image counter in the image viewer to navigate through the images in this collection.

• Some images are difficult to decipher, particularly the earlier years. You can download images and edit contrast and brightness to help improve legibility.

• The indexes for 1880-1881 are limited as there was not a comprehensive adherence yet to the law requiring such reporting of deaths.

• Certain places don’t appear in the indexes until 1914-1915: Albany, Buffalo, and Yonkers.

• Deaths that took place in New York, New York, are largely absent from these indexes as the vital records jurisdiction for the city was separate.