Online Kentucky Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries

Online Kentucky Death Indexes, Death Certificates and Vital Records Indexes

Kentucky Vital Records Indexes at Ancestry (these require payment)
- Kentucky Death Certificates and Records, 1852-1965 (coverage before 1911 varies by county)
  includes digitized Kentucky death certificates from 1911-1965, plus earlier records for some counties
- Kentucky Death Index, 1911-2000
- Kentucky Birth Index, 1911-1999
- Kentucky Marriage Index, 1973-1999

Kentucky Death Records, 1911-1965 at FamilySearch (free with registration); includes digitized images of the death certificates
Kentucky Deaths and Burials, 1843-1970 at FamilySearch (free with registration); not complete but has about 627,000 entries; coverage varies by county; some counties may not be included

Kentucky Death Index, 2000-2013 (free) at the Boyd County Public Library

Kentucky Death Records Indexes, Obituaries and Cemeteries by County

Allen County Genealogy Database includes some death indexes and cemetery burials
Boone County Family Cemetery Registers
Boyd County...
- Boyd County: Ashland Cemetery Index and Ashland Daily Independent Obituary Index (various years) from the Boyd County Library
- Boyd County Cemetery Search from the Boyd County Library
Boyle County Genealogy and Vital Records Indexes includes indexes for deaths, obituaries, cemeteries, marriages and more; also has some genealogy indexes for Casey County
Carter County Cemeteries, Transcribed Genealogy Records and Images includes some death certificates and obituaries
Clark County: Winchester Cemetery Burial Records (Winchester, KY)
Daviess County: Owensboro Area Obituary Index and Abstracts, 1842-present ongoing project
Edmonson County: Mammoth Cave National Park Cemetery Database
Fayette County and Lexington...
- Lexington Cemetery Burial Search
- Lexington Public Library Local History Index indexes some local newspaper articles, including some death and funeral notices for significant people
- Fayette County: Old Union Christian Church Cemetery Burials in rural Lexington, Kentucky
Hardin County: Elizabethtown City Cemetery Burials
Harrison County Funeral Home Indexes
Henderson County Public Library Obituary Finder, 1957-present (more years are being added)
Jefferson County and Louisville...
- Louisville Newspaper Obituary Index, 1918-1987 Handwritten indexes arranged by first letter of the surname, then by year. Downloadable PDFs.
- Louisville Cemetery Index Cards, 1840-1988 from FamilySearch; for Eastern, Schardein, and Greenwood Cemeteries; coverage may vary by cemetery
- Jefferson County: Cave Hill Cemetery Burials - Louisville, Kentucky
- Jefferson County: Herman Meyer & Son Jewish Funeral Home - Burials and Headstone Photos Louisville, KY (ongoing project)
- Jefferson County and Louisville Cemeteries some with transcriptions
Jessamine County: Maple Grove Cemetery Burials (in Nicholasville, KY)
Johnson County...
- Johnson County Death Indexes 1852-1876 and 1900-1999
- Johnson County Obituaries - Assorted Years
Kenton County Cemeteries, Death Records 1852-1880 (incomplete), and other Genealogy Indexes
- Northern Kentucky Newpaper Indexes, 1835-1935 and 1982-Present indexes some obituaries
Knox County Cemeteries
Laurel County Death Records, 1856-1858
Lawrence County...
- Lawrence County Public Library Cemetery Records scanned books
- Lawrence County: Big Sandy News Obituaries (transcriptions) work in progress, not complete; from the Lawrence County, Kentucky Genealogical and Historical Society
Lexington: see Fayette County above
Lincoln County Cemeteries
Louisville: see Jefferson County above
McCracken County: Oak Grove Cemetery Burials (Paducah, KY) PDF files
Meade County Deaths, 1852-1909 some years missing
Metcalfe County Cemeteries and Assorted Death Records
Trimble County Obituaries, 1928-1989
Warren County: Fairview Cemetery Online Burial Search in Bowling Green, Kentucky
Wayne County, Kentucky Cemeteries Project scanned pages from the Wayne County, Kentucky Cemeteries book

Kentucky Obituaries Archive - Recent (you can obtain copies of individual obituaries online for a fee) includes the Bowling Green Daily News (7/2/1999-Current); Covington Kentucky Post (4/2/1990-Current); Henderson Gleaner (4/14/2006-Current); Lexington Herald-Leader (1/25/1984-Current); Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer (9/1/1988-Current); Russellville News-Democrat & Leader (12/13/2005-Current); and more

Kentucky Probate Records, 1727-1990 from FamilySearch browsable images; most of the images have not yet been indexed; wills from Caldwell, Henry, Hickman, Russell and Trimble counties are currently indexed.

Also... Kentucky Genealogy Records at Ancestry (requires payment)
includes census records, cemetery burials, military records, vital records and more

Ordering Kentucky Vital Records

Where to Write for Vital Records - Kentucky (fees and restrictions apply)

Online Kentucky Death Records & Indexes

A Genealogy Records Guide