I. Introduction
In this digital era, finding a person by name has gradually become a vital skill. In daily life, we often want to find old friends, old classmates, or former colleagues who have lost contact for many years by name; in the workplace, we also hope to search for potential customers or business partners by name.
With the emergence of tools such as search engines, social media platforms, and people search websites, finding a person has become more convenient than ever. This article will introduce you to 5 effective ways to accurately find the target person by name.
II. 5 Methods to Find a Person by Name
i. Intelius
Intelius is a well-known people search website that helps users find a person by name. Intelius extracts data from various search engines, social media, public records, and government websites to help users dig deep into a certain person’s specific information and present it to you with excellent visual data.
You can find a person through “Intelius” by using:
· Full Name
· Phone number
· Home address
What you may get from “Intelius” is the following:
+ Reconnect with old friends + Check someone’s criminal record
+ See what appears in your background check + Find out who is behind the number calling you
+ Review property data on the house you want + Look up Potential Relationships
Cons:
– Many users reported that the search speed is very slow
– Discounts are only available for long-term subscriptions, and short-term use is expensive
– The cancellation process is complicated
ii. ThatsThem
ThatsThem provides users with a free people-finding tool that makes it easy to use any known information to find the corresponding person. This tool provides you with any contact information you want for free, allowing you to find someone you are interested in and then get in touch with them.
You can find a person through “ThatsThem” by using:
· Full Name · Email address
· Phone number · IP address
· Home address · VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)
What you may get from “ThatsThem” is the following:
+ Find people’s information for FREE
+ Lookup what network a phone number is associated with
+ See who is associated with the individual you are looking for
+ Get geographic information about the person currently
+ Find out the owner of any car by using its VIN
Cons:
– The search result is not accurate enough
– Only 10 free searches per day
– The subscription price is expensive (the cheapest one is $19.95 per month)
iii. Social Catfish
Social Catfish helps you find lost connections and verify the identity of people online. It uses reverse lookup in names, images, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, and even online profile usernames to efficiently find and confirm information about any people.
You can find a person through “Social Catfish” by using:
· Name · Email address
· Phone number · Profile username
· Home address · Image
What you may get from “Social Catfish” is the following:
+ Find a person’s information
+ Upload an image to trace its origin
+ Discover who is behind the suspected online profile
+ Check mutual friends or verify a person’s address
+ View all social media groups a person may be associated to
Cons:
– There are issues with user privacy leakage
– The subscription price is expensive
– The cancellation and refund process is very cumbersome
iv. Search Engine
Do you feel that the tools provided above are difficult to use? Want to find someone’s information without spending a penny? Why not try a search engine directly? Using a search engine to find someone by name may be the fastest and most direct way. The steps are as follows:
1. Select a search engine that you use most often (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)
2. Enter the name of the person you want to find and click to search (it is best to enter the person’s full name to narrow the search results)
3. If you find that many people own this name, try adding other information, such as the person’s address, workplace, occupation, etc.
4. Some search engines support image search. If you have a photo of the person, you can also submit it to the search engine for finding him/her
v. Social Media Platform
In this digital age, most people use at least one social media platform in their lives, which makes those platforms usually have a very large user base. Therefore, if you know someone’s name or some basic information, you may be able to find them on these platforms:
1. Choose a popular social platform (such as Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)
2. Enter the information you have about the person in the search bar (such as name, address, possible place of work, school, etc.)
3. If you want to confirm whether the person is the one you are looking for, you can further check his/her common contacts, friends, or fans on social media
4. If you know the other person’s professional background or interests, you can try to join a group with related topics, and you may find his information in the member list
III. How to Find a Person’s Location by Phone Number?
Compared to the data on the Internet that is easily disguised or embellished, the most practical way to find or verify a person is still to obtain the other person’s geographic location, such as where he is from, where he lives, where he works, where he often goes, etc. This can help us judge the person’s personality traits, interests and hobbies to a certain extent. At the same time, it also gives us the opportunity to meet this person in real life and verify the authenticity of his identity
i. GPS Locator
GPS Locator enables you to track a person’s real-time location simply by using their mobile phone number. This can help you to understand who the person is and verify their online identity. The steps to use GPS Locator to find a person is the following:
ii. Steps to use GPS Locator
1. Enter “http://www.gps-phone.net/gps-locator” in the link search box of the browser to go to the homepage of GPS Locator
2. Filling in the phone number of the person you would like to find and click the “Locate” button, GPS Locator will begin to search immediately and find the location of the person for you
4. Within few seconds, you can see the specific location of the target person on a map
IV. FAQ:
i. Is it safe to find a person by name on the Internet?
Please keep in mind that there is no such thing as 100% security on the Internet. However, in general, a website with a valid security certificate offers the highest level of security and can be trusted. You can easily identify this by looking for the “HTTPS” characters and the “secure lock” icon in the browser address bar. If the website has these features, it means it is safe to use and your online activities will not be maliciously monitored.
ii. Is it legal to look up information about someone on the Internet?
Yes, it is legal because all information of a person on the Internet is based on public records that are accessible to everyone. The public record is huge and growing. Every time you sign up for an online subscription, use a credit card, get a speeding ticket, sign a mortgage, or create a social network profile, you add a person’s public record on the Internet. Even something as simple as downloading an app from the app store adds a piece of data to the public record.
iii. Can you find someone by first name alone?
If you know the person’s first name and the general city where they live, you can likely find them on the Internet. However, it’s important to keep in mind that there are many people with the same name. Therefore, I highly recommend collecting as much information as possible about the specific person you need to find online, such as their last name, mobile phone number, and more specific address. Besides, don’t forget to compare and analyze the personal information obtained from different search platforms to improve the accuracy of finding specific people
iv. How should I find a person by merely a phone number?
You can use the mobile phone number you have to search on certain social platforms. Often you can get the account information bound to the person’s mobile phone. Some tools can even help you track the specific geographical location of the mobile phone number, thereby helping you further confirm the identity of the other party.