How would one go about finding information about a parent that left him or her as an infant?

[an unquiet mind]

title pretty much says it all. all i know is the approx year of death and i think the state of residence.

without having to pay, preferably. google hasn't helped much and obituaries aren't that easy to sift through.
i literally have zero information and the death was pre facebook era. the last name is common as $&@#.

is is there any way to find someone based on first name last name job and state of residence?

[Cosmo]

I saw something about this on the news a few months ago. It concerned a person who'd been given up for adoption by her unwed mother some dozen or so years before. She used Facebook to track down her relatives and found a sister she didn't even realize she had. From that she contacted her real mom who'd given her up for adoption. Privacy rights advocates were livid over it but the deed was done. Just go to Facebook and start searching. It's free.

[Rebecca]

I would start with my own birth certificate if the parent is listed on it. Order a copy of the long form. There is more information on it than the short one. Use the information on it to order a copy of the deceased parent's birth certificate. You may find you have living grandparents who can give you all the information you need. It's not free, but much simpler than wading through obits, and pretty inexpensive.

If the parent is not listed on the birth certificate, you might try following the job. If the parent worked in a job that is commonly associated with a trade union or professional association, you might get in touch with someone in the area with a long-standing association in that field. They could probably put some feelers out for you, or may personally remember your parent well enough to provide some clues.