In this post, I would like to share with you my opinion on whether it is hard to find more information on someone (for the purposes of reconnecting with him or doing a background check) if you only know his name.
By name I mean the FULL NAME. If you know someone’s first or last name only, then it is almost impossible for you to find more information on him (except if his first or last name is VERY, VERY rare.)
Anyway, let’s get started.
There are over 6 billion people in this would. Thus, the chances of someone sharing the same full name with the person you’re looking for is pretty huge.
This pretty much summarizes my point. Let’s say you try and use the WhitePages to find someone’s address, for example. You enter his full name there and come up with 8 results.
8 results, 8 different addresses. Probably 8 different states. How are you going to know which is the right one?
Well, I would guess the reality is that you know at least SOMETHING more on the person you’re trying to locate. Maybe an anecdote of his past or a name of a relative.
If you don’t have another more precise criteria to search by (as an address for example, or maybe a phone number or an email address) then use a brute force approach.
Try to call all the numbers there and ask whether the person you’re trying to locate lives there by telling even minimal information you know about him.
This is a bit inefficient since you don’t know the nature of the person you’re talking with, so he might give you false information or be very reluctant to give you any information at all. You can further persuade him by telling him the reason WHY you’re asking. People are much willing to do something when you tell them a reason why you’re asking them to do that thing.
Is there an easier way?
Yes, and that is, finding more criteria to search by. The person’s old address might be a good start. Or his telephone number, email or social security number. You can search by those 4 criteria also. So you have a lot more options to search by except the person’s name.
How do you find that information? Have you considered talking to people you already know, who might know something about the person you’re trying to find or might know some other people who can tell you more information about the same person? Don’t underestimate the power of leveraging people to achieve your aim.
Before using a new resource (like the numerous people search sites that exist), try seeing whether you got the maximum out of the resources you already know about.
