In today’s Snapchat landscape, where scams are becoming more common, it’s important to make sure the people you’re chatting with are who they claim to be. For example, one user, just like many others worried about potential catfishing, wanted to find out the true identity of her Snapchat contacts¹.

So, in this post, we’ve put together a few ways to find someone’s real name on Snapchat. With just a username, you could dig up a wealth of information that helps ease uncertainties you might have about your online interactions.

Best ways to find someone’s real name on Snapchat

Snapchat allows users to set a username and display name of their own choice, but some people may choose to display their real name. You’ll see it on the user’s profile. 

However, if the Snapchat account is anonymous using an implicit display name, you can try Method 2 – Method 4 for deeper investigations.

1. Check out the user profile on Snapchat
2. Cross-check different social media
3. Use a Snapchat username lookup tool
4. Perform an image search

1. Check the user profile on Snapchat

Navigate to the Snapchat profile to check if the person uses his/her real name as the username or display name.

1) Open your Snapchat app and tap Chat at the bottom of the screen.

2) Find the account you would like to know and open the chat.

3) Tap its profile icon at the top left to view the complete profile.

2. Cross-check different social media

Many people reuse the username across different social media platforms. So once you’ve got hold of someone’s Snapchat username, it’s easy to trace their digital footprints especially if the person is active online.

Start by searching for the Snapchat username on Google and the results will show public websites the query appears on. You may also try to search for the useron Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram, where people are more likely to share their real identities and daily pictures.

3. Use a Snapchat username lookup tool

By scouring public records and social media data, a reverse username lookup tool allows you to find out the real person behind a social media profile and offers a variety of information about the individual.

#1 Social Catfish – Best for social media search

Social Catfish is dedicated to finding lost connections and verifying someone’s real identities. By looking up a Snapchat username, you’ll know who’s the owner, gain insights into their background, and may confirm whether their profile is real.

1) Visit the Social Catfish official website. Choose Username and enter a Snapchat username. Or you can reverse search image to uncover the user’s real name.

2) After the scanning completes, you may see the possible username owner, their gender, known locations, and more. Unlock the full report (subscription required) to see the complete results.

#2 BeenVerified – Best all-in-one people search tool

BeenVerified is one of the most popular background search websites. This people search engine combs through hundreds of social media sites, communities, online chat rooms and forums to helps you search for almost everything associated with a username.

1) Go to the username search page. Type a specific username and click Search. 

2) Wait a few seconds to complete the search. Then from the report, you can check out all the details about that user, from his/her real name to contact info.

Although Snapchat is not yet included in the BeenVerified database, it has millions of up-to-date user records from popular social networks like Instagram and Facebook. And as many people would use the same username online, this tool may help you locate the correct owner.

#3 Spokeo – Best for discovering related accounts

Spokeo is another great tool for looking up your online encounters. It crawls public profiles on 120+ social networks including dating sites, blogs, and e-commerce sites, and brings up-to-date results in an easy-to-read report.

Here’s how to get started:

1) Go to the username search page at Spokeo.

2) Simply type a Snapchat username you would like to know and click Search Now.

3) After the search completes, click Unlock Full Results to view all the online profiles related to the Snapchat user.

Apart from verifying a profile’s identity, people also reverse search a Snapchat username for other reasons. In a user’s story, he hoped to reconnect with an old friend he unadded on Snapchat with their previous username². A people search tool may also help you trace a person’s online presence effectively. 

4. Perform an image search

The images of a Snapchat user may offer some clues about their identity. A personalized Bitmoji avatar is relatively difficult to recognize, so you’ll need to grab real photos or videos featuring the Snapchat user’s face.

Capture an authentic photo or take a screenshot from the video, and then upload it to Google Images. Relying on facial recognition and visual analysis, this tool identifies image sources and shows you more similar images.

If the image appears to be a stock image or is associated with a different name, this can be a red flag of fake accounts.

What if I can’t find the Snapchat user’s real name?

Many users reported receiving random friend requests on Snapchat from whom they couldn’t identify³. In such cases, it’s best to ignore or block these requests as they’re suspected to be bots or scams.

Snapchat users who prioritize a high level of privacy may leave minimal digital footprints, making it more difficult to trace. So if your initial attempts yield no results, you can try:

• Search by previous Snapchat usernames or display names – People update their profiles often. If you recall any previous usernames or display names, look them up to see if it’s linked with useful information.
• Utilize additional user information – Use the tools above to cross-check other information you know about the user, such as a phone number or an email address, and you may discover more details. 

Hopefully this post helped. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave your comments below.

1. r/SnapchatHelp [KitchenSpiritual2161]. (2023 , July 7). Can you find out someone’s real name with a snapchat username? [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/SnapchatHelp/comments/14t9fz0/can_you_find_out_someones_real_name_with_a/ ↩︎
2. r/RBI [jbeck]. (2022, June 24). Finding someone by their old snapchat username. [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/RBI/comments/vjbj4u/finding_someone_by_their_old_snapchat_username/ ↩︎
3. r/socialskills [Gabriele_IT]. (2022, January 26). Random girl added me on snapchat by phone number. [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/socialskills/comments/scnz15/random_girl_added_me_on_snapchat_by_phone_number/ ↩︎

Featured image made by Freepik from Flaticon