San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California) Newspaper Obituaries (1865 - Current)

How to Search the San Francisco Chronicle Obituary Archives

To get started, simply type the last name of the relative you are researching and then click the “Search” button. For those who need more specific information, follow these steps for an advanced search:

• Step 1: Start with the full name of your relative—if you know their middle name, include it for better results.
• Step 2: Add a keyword like a school or city to help narrow down your search.
• Step 3: You can remove keywords that bring up the wrong people.
• Step 4: Include a range of years—this is especially helpful if your ancestor has a common name.
• Step 5: Sort your results by the best matches or by the newest or oldest entries.

Extra Tips To Find The Information You Need

Searching our online database sometimes need’s a bit more practice to get it right. Here are some strategies to help you find the correct details:

• Use recent family details as clues for finding older generations.
• Search using initials, as older records often used them instead of full names.
• If looking for information about female relatives, try searching under their married names.
• Consider common misspellings of names, as older records weren't always accurate.

Start with GenealogyBank for your family history and use our Learning Center to find more tips and inspiration for your research journey.