Find a Grave

Content and features[edit]

The website contains listings of cemeteries and graves from around the world. American cemeteries are organized by state and county, and many cemetery records contain Google Maps (with GPS coordinates supplied by contributors) and photographs of the cemeteries and gravesites. Individual grave records may contain dates and places of birth and death, biographical information, cemetery and plot information, photographs (of the grave marker, the individual, etc.), and contributor information.^[13]


Interment listings are added by individuals,^[14] genealogical societies,^[15] cemetery associations, and other institutions such as the International Wargraves Photography Project.^[16]


Contributors must register as members to submit listings, called memorials, on the site. The submitter becomes the manager of the listing, but may transfer management. Only the current manager of a listing may edit it, although any member may use the site's features to send correction requests to the listing's manager. Managers may add links to memorials of deceased spouses and parents for genealogical purposes. Deceased children's memorials that are linked to their parents' memorials will appear on the parents' memorials as their children. They will also appear as siblings of other deceased children whose memorials have been linked to the same parents.^[17] Links to external websites and email addresses are not allowed.^[18]


Any member may also add photographs and notations to individual listings; notations may include images of flowers, flags, religious, or other symbols, and often include a message of sympathy or condolence. Members may post requests for photos of a specific grave; these requests will be automatically sent to other members who have registered their location as being near that grave.^[19]


The website is often recommended as a resource for genealogy research.^{[20][21][22][23]}


Find a Grave also maintains lists of memorials of famous persons by their "claim to fame", such as Medal of Honor recipients,^[24] religious figures,^[25] and educators.^[26] Find a Grave exercises editorial control over these listings.^[27]


Starting on May 18, 2023, memorials may also be marked with a "Veteran" tag but the definition of the term Veteran used by Find A Grave^[28] differs from that used in many countries, including the United States.