Millions of gravestone records and obituaries added to SuperSearch

As Halloween approaches we’re excited to bring you new tricks and treats to help you find out more about your ancestors. We’re happy to announce that we’ve added millions of gravestone records and obituaries to SuperSearch, our online search engine for billions of historical records.

This new addition includes 5.5 million gravestone records from BillionGraves and 3.5 million obituaries from Tributes.com.

Search the BillionGraves and Tributes collections now

These records, added to MyHeritage’s death, burial, cemetery and obituary collections, will help you find out more about your family history and ancestors, and discover details such as birth dates, death dates, occupations and personalities of your relatives.

The new records are searchable via SuperSearch, MyHeritage’s online digital archive. Our Record Matching technology has been unleashed on these new records, so users will receive notifications about records which match individuals in their family tree.

In addition, our breakthrough Record Detective™ technology will help you generate new leads in your research. For example, a record discovered in one of these new collections will now automatically include a summary of additional records and individuals in family trees relating to it, such as birth, marriage and census records, among others.

We are continually adding new record collections, to enrich your family history research.

Why are gravestones important for family history research?

Gravestones are a great launching pad for family history investigation and a useful tool to bring color and information to the unknown past. A gravestone is not merely a record of dates, but provides important information in the inscriptions and other details. For example, a gravestone offering a relationship such as “son of” or “wife of” can provide details about the family referenced, while an epitaph or quote gives more detail about the character or nature of the person.

Gravestones can be used to discover nicknames, such as "Slim" on James Martin's gravestone

Each gravestone is unique, often decorated with symbols or quotes that give more details about that person, their personality or their occupation.

This rich content represents an essential historical source for learning about family heritage by providing clues to locate new information about relatives.

Why are obituaries important for family history research?

Obituaries are a rich source of information about family members and how they lived their lives. They show birth place, age, interests, and affiliations. Often included are surviving family members, typically even two or three generations worth that you may not have been aware of.

Obituaries are one of the few places that include both a woman’s maiden and married name together. This makes it easier to track down female ancestors.

Obituaries can also include information on how the person looked, their talents, and how they will be remembered.

Gravestones and obituaries are both great resources for family history investigation and useful tools to bring color and information to your family tree.

We invite you to search these collections now to see what you’ll discover.

The MyHeritage team