In a method for fingerprint identification, fingerprint images of parts of one finger of a person to be registered are registered as registered fingerprint images, and a relative position is calculated. A fingerprint image of a person to be identified is acquired as a read fingerprint image. Based on the relative position, a registered fingerprint image from among the registered fingerprint images is specified, and a matching degree between the registered fingerprint image specified and the read fingerprint image is calculated. The specifying and the calculating are executed until the matching degree is greater than a predetermined value.