Find a Grave Tennessee by Name —
Cemetery & Burial Records Search
Your complete, practical guide to tracing Tennessee ancestors through cemetery and burial records — every free database, step-by-step instructions, official state resources, and local insights in one place.
Tennessee’s burial records span more than two centuries of American history — from the first Overmountain Men who settled the Watauga Settlements in the 1770s, to Civil War battlefields at Shiloh, Stones River, and Franklin, to the bluegrass cemeteries of Music City and the Appalachian homestead graveyards of East Tennessee’s ridge-and-valley communities. Whether you’re tracing Scots-Irish family roots along the Cumberland Plateau, searching plantation-era records in Middle Tennessee’s fertile basins, or locating a veteran buried in one of the state’s national cemeteries, this guide gives you every verified tool and precise step to find any Tennessee grave.
📄 What Tennessee Cemetery & Burial Records Actually Contain
Tennessee burial records hold far more information than most researchers expect. A properly indexed cemetery record can reveal an entire family network in a single search result.
- ✦Full name — including maiden names prominently on older headstones
- ✦Birth and death dates — often the only reliable source for pre-1908 Tennessee deaths
- ✦Cemetery name and full address with plot/section/lot numbers in organized cemeteries
- ✦Headstone inscription — verbatim transcription including Bible verses, military unit, and family notes
- ✦Headstone photograph — available on Find a Grave and BillionGraves for most indexed Tennessee graves
- ✦Spouse and family members buried in adjacent plots or cross-linked in the database
- ✦Military service indicators — branch, rank, and conflict (Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam)
- ✦Religion and church affiliation — especially prominent in church cemetery records
- ✦GPS coordinates — BillionGraves provides exact grave location for navigation inside large cemeteries
Pre-1908 Tennessee Deaths: Tennessee did not require statewide death registration until 1908. For ancestors who died before that date, cemetery transcriptions, Baptist and Methodist church burial registers, county court minutes, and family Bibles are your primary sources. Some Tennessee counties maintained local death registers in the 1880s–1900s — search the TSLA county microfilm database.
🔎 How to Search Tennessee Graves by Name — Micro Step-by-Step Guide
Follow these exact instructions for each major database. We tell you precisely what to click, what to type, and what to do when results don’t appear.
- Go to findgraveusa.org — Tennessee — the Tennessee-specific section of the FindGraveUSA database.
- Type the person’s last name first, then first name. Example:
Presley, Elvisor justPresleyto browse all surname matches in Tennessee. - Use the county filter to narrow results — Tennessee has 95 counties and common surnames like Johnson, Williams, or Smith can return hundreds of results statewide.
- Click any result to open the full burial record: birth/death dates, cemetery name and address, headstone photo, plot number, and linked family members.
- Note the cemetery address — use it to contact the sexton’s office, navigate physically to the grave, or look up the cemetery’s own records.
- No results? Try the person’s maiden name (for women married before death), check alternate spellings, or proceed to Method 2.
- Visit findagrave.com — Tennessee Cemeteries. No account needed to search; free registration allows you to add memorials and request photos.
- Use wildcards for uncertain spelling — essential for Tennessee’s Scots-Irish and Appalachian name variants:
?replaces one letter (e.g.,SeviervsSeaver),*replaces multiple letters (e.g.,McAd*). - Click “More Search Options” to filter by Birth Year Range, Death Year Range, and Burial Location — select United States → Tennessee → then a specific county.
- Click any result to open the full memorial with headstone photo (if available), burial details, and linked family members.
- No headstone photo? Scroll to the bottom of the memorial and click “Request Photo” — a nearby Tennessee volunteer typically responds within days at no charge.
- To browse all Tennessee cemeteries by county: go to findagrave.com/cemetery-browse/USA/Tennessee and click any county name to list all indexed cemeteries there.
- Visit sos.tn.gov/tsla — the Tennessee State Library and Archives, the official repository for historical Tennessee records.
- Use the online catalog to search for county-level death registers, cemetery transcriptions, and genealogy collections. Many records are freely browsable without an account.
- Tennessee death records 1908–1958 are available free through FamilySearch as a digitized collection. Earlier records exist in county court minutes and church registers held at TSLA.
- TSLA is a FamilySearch affiliate library — you get free access to restricted FamilySearch collections in person at 403 7th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37243. Phone: (615) 741-0218. Hours: Mon–Sat 8AM–5PM.
- For county records not online: call TSLA and request a records check. They offer limited free searches by mail or phone for specific names and time periods.
- Visit billiongraves.com and search for the person’s name in Tennessee. BillionGraves volunteers photograph gravestones with GPS-tagged smartphone photos.
- Results show the headstone photo alongside the exact GPS location on a map — invaluable for large Tennessee cemeteries like Mount Olivet in Nashville (100,000+ burials).
- Click “View on Map” to see the grave’s precise position within the cemetery — you can navigate directly to it.
- Download the BillionGraves app before visiting a Tennessee cemetery — it provides turn-by-turn navigation to any indexed grave within the cemetery grounds.
- If a grave hasn’t been photographed yet, use the app’s “Needs Photo” feature to flag it for nearby Tennessee volunteers.
- Create a free account at familysearch.org — no cost, no subscription required.
- Go to Search → Records. In the Location field, type “Tennessee” to open all Tennessee collections.
- Search “Tennessee Deaths, 1908–1958” — a free indexed database of early state death records searchable by name, death year, and county.
- Also search “Tennessee Death Records, 1914–1955” and county-level church burial records for pre-registration ancestors.
- For county-specific cemetery records: go to Search → Catalog, type the county name plus “cemetery,” and browse available microfilmed cemetery records for that county.
- TSLA in Nashville is an official FamilySearch affiliate — free in-person access to restricted collections not available at home.
Cross-referencing tip: When you find a Tennessee burial record, immediately search the same name in FamilySearch census records. An 1880 or 1900 census entry often reveals parents, siblings, neighbors, and county of origin — expanding your family tree far beyond what a headstone alone provides.
📊 All Tennessee Burial Record Databases — Free vs. Paid Compared
Database | What It Covers | Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
Tennessee cemetery burial records; name search by county | Free | First stop for any Tennessee burial search | |
Millions of Tennessee memorials; wildcard search; volunteer photo requests | Free | Headstone photos, memorial pages, family links | |
GPS-tagged headstone photos; smartphone navigation to grave | Free | Finding exact grave location inside large cemeteries | |
Tennessee Deaths 1908–1958; county microfilm; church records | Free | Historical death records; pre-1908 county records | |
Official Tennessee historical records; county registers; cemetery surveys | Free | Official records; FamilySearch affiliate access | |
Single-source official register transcriptions by county | Free | High-accuracy records from original cemetery registers | |
Links to Tennessee death indexes, obituaries, and cemetery burials | Free | Finding obituary and death index links by county | |
Veterans buried in VA national cemeteries statewide | Free | Veteran graves in Nashville, Memphis National Cemeteries | |
Tennessee death index 1908–1958; cemetery collection 1847–2018 | Subscription | Deep historical research; military burial registers | |
Certified Tennessee death certificates from 1908 | $15 first copy | Legal/official proof of death for estates and benefits |
🗺️ Search Tennessee Burial Records by County
Tennessee has 95 counties. Knowing your ancestor’s county makes cemetery searches dramatically faster. Click any county below to browse its indexed cemeteries on Find a Grave — all URLs verified working:
For all 95 Tennessee counties: browse the full Find a Grave Tennessee cemetery browser or use Interment.net Tennessee for county-organized transcriptions.
🪦 Notable Tennessee Cemeteries — History, Location & Search Links
Tennessee’s historic cemeteries are living documents of American history — from the Civil War’s bloodiest battles to the birthplace of American country music. These are the most significant and most-searched cemeteries in the state.
- Established 1856 — one of Tennessee’s largest and most historic
- 100,000+ burials including Tennessee governors and Civil War figures
- Beautiful Victorian-era monuments and mausoleums
- Confederate soldiers section; many Nashville founding families
- Active cemetery with ongoing burials; office open Mon–Fri
- Final resting place of Elvis Presley — most-visited grave in Tennessee
- Located on the Graceland estate at 3734 Elvis Presley Blvd, Memphis, TN 38116
- Elvis’s parents Gladys and Vernon also buried here
- Free to visit the Meditation Garden during estate hours
- Thousands of fans visit daily from around the world
- Established 1867 — major Civil War veteran burial ground
- 16,000+ burials from the Civil War through present day
- Searchable free through VA Nationwide Gravesite Locator
- Confederate and Union soldiers from the battles around Nashville
- Address: 1420 Gallatin Ave, Madison, TN 37115
- Established 1850 — Knoxville’s most historic cemetery
- Prominent East Tennessee families; Victorian-era monuments
- William Blount Brownlow (Governor) and other TN leaders buried here
- Adjacent to University of Tennessee campus
- Free walking tours available through the Old Gray Cemetery Association
- Established 1867 — one of the oldest national cemeteries in the South
- 40,000+ burials including Civil War through Vietnam veterans
- Significant African American USCT (United States Colored Troops) section
- Address: 3568 Townes Ave, Memphis, TN 38122
- Searchable free through VA Nationwide Gravesite Locator
- One of Nashville’s largest active cemeteries — 250+ acres
- Many Civil War soldiers and Nashville business leaders
- Online grave locator available through the cemetery website
- Address: 5110 Gallatin Pike, Nashville, TN 37216
- Phone: (615) 865-1101
📜 Official Tennessee Death Certificates — How to Get Them
Cemetery burial records confirm where someone is buried. An official death certificate from the Tennessee Office of Vital Records is a legally certified document providing cause of death, attending physician, informant, and other details not found on headstones.
50-Year Confidentiality Rule: Under Tennessee law, death certificates are confidential for 50 years from the date of death. Access before the 50-year mark is limited to qualifying family members and legal representatives. After 50 years, records become public.
- Visit any Tennessee county health department during business hours, Mon–Fri 8AM–4:30PM. All county health departments can issue certificates for deaths that occurred anywhere in Tennessee.
- Bring valid photo ID (driver’s license, passport, or state ID) and proof of relationship if the record is under 50 years old.
- Pay the fee: $15.00 for the first certified copy; $15.00 for each additional copy.
- Certificates are typically issued while you wait at the counter.
- Download the application form from tn.gov/health/vital-records.
- Complete the form with: deceased’s full name, date and county of death, your relationship to the deceased, and your mailing address.
- Make a check or money order payable to “Tennessee Vital Records” for $15 per copy. Do not send cash.
- Mail to: Tennessee Vital Records, 421 5th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37243.
- Visit vitalchek.com or call 1-888-279-9888 (24/7).
- Select Tennessee from the state dropdown and follow prompts. Credit and debit cards accepted. VitalChek adds its own service fee on top of the standard $15 state fee.
- Rush delivery available for an additional charge — confirm total cost before completing the order.
📚 Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) — Free Research
The Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) is an official FamilySearch Affiliate Library providing free in-person access to restricted digital collections alongside Tennessee’s most complete collection of historical genealogy records.
- ✦Free FamilySearch affiliate access — restricted digital collections viewable on-site only
- ✦Tennessee death certificates 1908–1958 and county-level death registers from the 1880s
- ✦County court minutes, church registers, cemetery surveys, and land grant records
- ✦Tennessee Civil War records — both Union and Confederate rosters and burial records
- ✦Paid research requests available by mail for out-of-state researchers
🎖️ Tennessee Veteran & Military Grave Search
Tennessee has a deeply military heritage — from the Overmountain Men of the Revolution to the Civil War battles at Shiloh and Murfreesboro, to veterans of every 20th-century conflict. Multiple free databases exist for finding Tennessee veterans’ graves.
- VA Nationwide Gravesite Locator: Search gravelocator.cem.va.gov for veterans buried in any VA national cemetery in Tennessee — including Nashville National Cemetery, Memphis National Cemetery, and Mountain Home National Cemetery in Johnson City.
- Mountain Home National Cemetery, Johnson City: One of the most significant veteran cemeteries in East Tennessee — 10,000+ burials from the Civil War through today. Address: 2001 Lamont St, Johnson City, TN 37604. Phone: (423) 461-8775.
- Chattanooga National Cemetery: 48,000+ veteran burials; one of the largest in the South. Address: 1200 Bailey Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37404. Search: gravelocator.cem.va.gov.
- Civil War veterans: Find a Grave has extensive Tennessee Civil War veteran records — filter by “Has Military” in search options. Also check Fold3 for pension records and burial details (free at TSLA terminals).
- Tennessee Civil War Soldiers Database: The Tennessee State Library maintains a searchable database of Tennessee Civil War soldiers at sos.tn.gov/tsla — includes burial location for many soldiers.
🌿 Insider Tips & Genealogy Tricks — Tennessee-Specific
East vs. Middle vs. West TN Records
Tennessee’s three grand divisions have very different genealogy patterns. East TN (Appalachian) has Scots-Irish Baptist church records. Middle TN (Bluegrass) has plantation-era records. West TN (Delta) settled last and records start in the 1820s. Know your region before searching.
Pre-1908? Go to the Baptist Church
Tennessee was heavily Baptist and Methodist. Many churches maintained burial registers going back to the 1790s that were never digitized — contact the current congregation directly. TSLA holds microfilm copies of many historic Tennessee church registers.
The Wildcard for Sevier/Seaver/Sever
Tennessee Appalachian names were spelled phonetically by census takers and church clerks. Always search multiple spellings: Sevier, Seaver, Sever, Sevires. On Find a Grave, use Sev* to capture all variants in one search.
Shiloh National Military Park Records
The Shiloh battlefield cemetery (Hardin County) has 3,500+ Union soldiers and a Confederate burial trench. The National Park Service maintains a searchable database at nps.gov/shil — far more detailed than Find a Grave for this specific battlefield.
Request Photo — TN Volunteers Are Active
Find a Grave’s Tennessee volunteer network is exceptionally active, especially in Davidson, Knox, and Shelby counties. If a record exists but has no photo, click “Request Photo” — most requests in urban counties are fulfilled within 24–48 hours.
Tennessee Death Certificates Show Parents
Tennessee death certificates from 1908 onward include the deceased’s parents’ names and birthplaces — an extraordinary genealogical goldmine. Even if you already know the burial location, getting the death certificate can reveal an entire generation you didn’t know.
County Courthouse Probate Records
Tennessee probate records from county courthouses often list the burial location explicitly in estate inventories and administrator reports. Many Tennessee counties have digitized probate indexes back to the 1790s — searchable free at TSLA.
Music Row Cemetery Connection
Many Nashville music legends are buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park (614 Thompson Lane, Nashville). If searching for a musician ancestor, check Woodlawn specifically — it holds Tammy Wynette, Dottie West, and dozens of other country music figures whose graves aren’t always on Find a Grave.