Click a link or scroll down the page:
• Internet FamilyFinder		Search Web sites, Family Archives, and online data for family names.
• Social Security		Search the Social Security Death Index for an individual in your family.
• Famous Folks		Search family trees of royalty, politicians, and more for your name.
• Site Search		Search FamilyTreeMaker.com for any word or phrase.

Family Finder
To find ancestors in Web sites, CDs, and online data (including Civil War), enter at least a last name and click Go. You can also browse select data by location.

Social Security Death Index
To find ancestors in the Social Security Death Index, fill out as many fields as you like and click Search Now.

Search This Web Site
To find information in Family Tree Maker Online pages, fill out as many fields as you like and click Search Now. Only looking for names? Use the Internet FamilyFinder.

An Internet FamilyFinder search locates information on millions of sites all across the Internet including Family Tree Maker Online and GenealogyLibrary.com. It does not search the Social Security Death Index.

Tips and examples:

• You don't have to fill out all of the fields, but you must at least fill "Last Name" field. If you leave a field blank, Internet FamilyFinder will allow anything in that field. It is usually a good idea to leave the "Middle" name blank unless you really only want matches that are listed with that name (remember that not all information may have been typed in with the middle name).

• If you only enter an initial in the "First Name" field, Internet FamilyFinder will find names with that initial. For example, if you search for "J Smith", this will find "J. Smith" and "J Smith".

• Do not enter titles (like Dr., Earl, or Queen) or suffixes (3rd, III, or Jr.). Just search for the name without the title and then check the results for the ones you want.

• Internet FamilyFinder is constantly searching the Internet for new names. If it did not find what you wanted, try again in a few days. If you know of a new genealogy page or site dealing with genealogy, it is possible that Internet FamilyFinder has not found that page yet, so please tell us about your page so we can add it.

• You can control the areas that the Internet FamilyFinder searches with the "Search on" check boxes.

• To search for accented characters in names, do not type the accents in your query. That way you will find the name even if the person who typed in the information was not able to put in the accents.

• Occasionally, if you search for a very common name or last name, Internet FamilyFinder will report that there are too many matches for the name you entered. This is to save you and us from wading through thousands of matches. To reduce the number of matches to a manageable quantity, make sure to enter both a first name and a last name. If you are looking for a name specifically on Family Tree Maker Online, be sure to deselect "The Internet" check box in the "Search on" section.

Tips and examples:

• You don't need to fill in all of the fields -- just a name will do.
• If you aren't sure how to spell the name, you can use a question mark in place of a single letter, as in "Su?anne" to find both "Suzanne" and "Susanne".
• You can also use an asterisk in place of multiple letters. For example, if you typed "Mary*" you would find names such as "Maryanne", "Maryanna", "Maryella", and "Mary-Louise". (Note that this may return a very large number of matches.)
• If you aren't sure how to spell the last name, try using the Soundex option. (Again, note that this may return a very large number of matches.)
• If you get too many matching names, try filling in other fields to eliminate some of the other possible matches.
• To automatically generate a letter requesting a copy of the individual's Social Security Number application from the Social Security Administration, click the "Write It" link to the right of the individual's name in the list of matches. All you need to do is print it and drop it in the mail!

A keyword search locates information anywhere in the Family Tree Maker Online Web site, except the Internet FamilyFinder and the Social Security Death Index.

Tips and examples:

• When you start a search, Family Tree Maker Online looks for pages containing all the words you typed in the field.

• If you want to search on an exact phrase, then include your search words in double quotes. For example, if you only want hits showing "John Doe" with nothing in between the two words, then you would enter your search as "John Doe" with the quotes.

• At this time, automatic OR searches are not possible. You must do multiple searches instead. For example, if you wanted to find pages containing Minnesota OR Iowa AND John Smith, you would do one search for Minnesota John Smith and then a second search for Iowa John Smith.