To find the family religion on a death certificate, you must at least know the individual's full name at time of death, the approximate year of the death, and the state or county of the death, depending on when the death took place. If you do not have the minimum information to find a death certificate, you can either:

Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items,

Name

Death date

Place of death

click the Back button on your browser to return to the list of other places where you can find an individual's religion, or

read the paragraphs below for a few additional tips.

Finding vital records

Even if you don't have the minimum information required to find the original records, you're not completely out of luck. Indexes to vital records, including death records, have been made for some states and counties. These indexes provide you with the information you need to access the original record. Check with libraries and genealogy societies in the area -- they may know if any indexes exist for the records that you need.

Finding a religion

You can sometimes find references to an individual's religion on their gravestone. If you haven't already tried this possibility and would like help locating the burial site, see the topic Burial place.

Make sure to check photo albums, scrapbooks, and diaries at home. Also check for mementos such as rosaries, religious jewelry, yarmulkes, or other religious items. See the topic Finding information at home for more information. If there is a family Bible, look for the version: A Douai Bible would indicate a Catholic family, for example, and a King James Bible could indicate a Protestant family. A copy of the Old Testament or a Torah would indicate a Jewish family.

A local history about the hometown may indicate what the predominant religion in the area was. For help with finding local histories, see the topic Previous research.

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