SSDI UPDATE WITH NEW "MIDDLE NAME/INITIAL" DATA. Due to the resolution of a mix-up at the supplier end with an Ancestry.com and RootsWeb.com standing order, our Web sites are once again posting monthly updates to the Social Security Death Index after a brief interruption. The new SSDI update, current to September 2001, contains roughly 500,000 more entries than the version it replaces, bringing the grand total close to 66.7 million names. The new database is also notable in that it contains new fields: middle names and name suffixes. In fact, the new file contains middle name information on some 21 million people, almost one-third of the entire index. The vast majority of these entries are middle initials only. The benefit to genealogists is to see extra information about an ancestor that allows one to discriminate between two potential records. The updated data also contains name suffixes such as "JR" and "SR," which can be valuable in determining the identity of fathers or sons. Search the latest SSDI at: http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi