Are you trying to find out someone’s name? The complexity of this task depends on the amount of information you already know about the particular person. The more details you have about them, the higher the odds are that you’ll be able to find their name.

This article will detail several strategies for finding a person’s name. These strategies range from traditional in-person inquiries to more advanced online searches by images, phone numbers, addresses, usernames, and email addresses. Read on and see which methods might work for you.

1. Ask around

If you know this person from a party, school, or workplace, chances are someone else around also knows the person. Try asking the host, a classmate, a colleague, or anyone that you think might know the person. 

2. Search on social networks

If you know where the person works or which university they attended, you can try searching the organization’s name on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, and check the follower list to see if you can identify the person’s profile from there.

3. Reverse image search

If you happen to have a photo of the individual you’re trying to find information about, try running a reverse image search to locate their online presence. This method allows you to upload the image, and it works by scanning the internet to pinpoint webpages containing the same photo. Often, similar instances are found in the form of social media posts, profile pictures, or other online platforms where images are commonly shared. If you’re able to find the person’s social media profiles this way, chances are you might be able to find their name from their profile page or from their interactions with their friends in the comment area.

There are many reverse image lookups that can help you identify similar pictures online, such as Google Images, TinEye, and Yandex Image Search. All these tools are conveniently free to use. Just upload the photo you have, and cross-reference results to ensure thoroughness.

If the picture you have belongs to a celebrity, or the owner posted photos consecutively online, your chances of tracking down the person are pretty high. If you didn’t have any luck with the free tools, consider using a paid people search service like Social Catfish.

Read More: How to find someone with a just picture

4. Reverse phone lookup

If you receive phone calls or messages from someone you’ve never contacted before and you would like to learn more about the person before calling back, try a phone number lookup service. These reverse phone lookup tools compile detailed data connected to a phone number, including the owner’s name, address, email, social profiles, criminal records, and more, all in a single location.

You can start with free reverse phone lookups such as True People Search to see if you can track down the person with a phone number. If the free tool doesn’t yield much information, we recommend that you try a paid tool like BeenVerified, Spokeo, or Intelius.

For example, below is a sample BeenVerified report. I was able to not only view the subject’s full name, but also learn about their address history, relatives, job and education history, and social media profiles. (Note that this is just a sample BeenVerified report. The actual report may contain less or more information.)

Read More: How to Find Out Who a Phone Number Belongs To

5. Try a reverse address lookup

If you know the person’s address, then there are several ways to get to know them. The easiest and most obvious way is to knock on the door, introduce yourself, and show your sincere interest to know them. Another way to find out who lives at a certain address is that, if the person owns the home and your local county’s property-tax rolls are online, you can quickly look up their address and get the details on who owns it on your county property appraiser’s website.

If you don’t feel like spending time digging into webpages, you can also try a reverse address lookup service. We suggest that you try a free tool like True People Search, which we mentioned before, to see if this tool is capable of giving you the name.

If the free option doesn’t work for you, or you want to run a deeper search, try a paid tool like BeenVerified, Social Catfish, or PeopleLooker, to score a background report on the resident of that address. 

Read More: How to Run a Reverse Address Lookup

6. Search by username

If you met this person online and you have their social media username, you can cross-search common search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo, and social media networks to see if you can locate more profiles created by the same person. People tend to use the same username on multiple platforms, so there is a chance you might be able to find them this way.

If you don’t feel like conducting the extensive search on your own, try a people search tool like BeenVerified, Social Catfish, and PeopleLooker. These tools perform an automated search for you across the web, tracking down social networks and other traces on the internet.

Read More: How to Find Someone by Social Media Username

7. Look up the person’s email address

If you have received an email from an address you don’t recognize and you would like to know more about the sender, start your investigation with free searches on Google and social media. Sift through the results to see if you can find any profiles linked with that email address.

If you get no results or you’re overwhelmed by vague search results, try professional email address lookup services to track down the person efficiently. A dedicated reverse email lookup service like BeenVerified, PeopleLooker, or Social Catfish, is the most efficient way to search for people-related information on the internet.

Read More: How to Find Someone by Email Address