From Rootsweb Review in case listmembers are missing it: Q: My ancestor Florence SCHATTSCHNEIDER doesn't show up in an exact spelling search of the SSDI either at RootsWeb or at Ancestry--why? A: The Social Security Administration limits surnames to 12 letters in the SSDI database and given names to nine letters. Names that exceed those length limits are abbreviated to show only the first 12 and/or nine letters respectively. Therefore, when doing an exact spelling search of the SSDI database for lengthy surnames either at RootsWeb (http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ ) or at Ancestry, limit your search to the first 12 letters of the surname and nine letters of the given name. In this example, search for SCHATTSCHNEI and the results will be found. NOTE: At the moment deaths beforee `1962 are not yet in the SSDI index. MDs did not have Social Security before the 1960s . Other occupations may also have been excluded (i.e. teachers and goverment workers for two) so they are not in the index. Write to SSA to inquite about records not in the index. http://www.ssa.gov/foia/html/foia_guide.htm