How to Find Out a Person Name by Phone Number
Katherine Young
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Find Someone’s Name using Phone Number
Enter Phone Number to Find Someone’s Name!
Ever received a call from an unknown number and wondered who was behind it? Finding someone’s name by phone number is easier than many think. With accurate tools and expert techniques, even limited information from landlines or cell phones can reveal valuable insights. However, relying on unverified methods or inaccurate tools can lead to false identification, exposure to scams, and breaches of personal privacy. Choosing the wrong approach may result in misdirected actions, wasted time, and even compromise your data. Using credible, tested methods and trustworthy tools not only ensures accurate results but also protects you from misleading information and privacy risks. This comprehensive guide highlights how careful selection of safe, professional resources transforms a confusing search into a reliable process.
After spending 85 hours and carefully reviewing 15 methods with 20 tools, I have handpicked only the most effective and credible options. This ultimate guide offers step-by-step, professional advice to help you avoid pitfalls and achieve safe, accurate results. Try these methods to see if they meet your expectations. Read more…
Spokeo is one of the best websites for reverse phone searches. You can find a person’s full name linked to a specific phone number and also determine the date of birth associated with it.
However, you must be careful when selecting these tools. Using a service without proper research will directly impact the accuracy of the results and user experience, and it may also affect your data privacy. I have tried numerous methods and tools firsthand to create this article; hence, I can assure you that these services and procedures will most often yield the desired results.
How to Search Someone Name by Phone Number Free
Below, I shall cover the easiest and most efficient ways to find person name by phone number.
Method 1: How to Find Someone by Phone Number using Reverse Lookup Tools
Choose a reverse phone number lookup service such as Spokeo, Intelius or BeenVerified, enter the phone number you wish to search on their website, and the service will provide detailed information, including the name and location of the phone number’s owner.
1) Spokeo
I have often relied on Spokeo for reverse lookups, especially in cases where business owners needed to validate unknown contacts. Spokeo stands out by cross-referencing billions of public records, social profiles, and address histories to quickly provide user-friendly results. Its interface is intuitive—simply input a number, and Spokeo uncovers names, addresses, and other details, all in seconds. It’s an essential tool for anyone needing quick and reliable verification of unknown phone numbers. With its extensive public records, background checks, social media profiles, and more, you can access critical details, including neighborhood safety stats and professional history.
One challenge I faced was that some tools only offer partial details for free. To mitigate this, I recommend cross-verifying the results with multiple tools or using free trial periods for more complete reports.
Name Search: Yes
Reverse Phone Lookup: Yes
Reverse Address Lookup: Yes
Free Trial: 7-Day Trial for $0.95
Features at a Glance:
How to Use Spokeo to Find Someone’s Name by Phone Number
Looking to identify the person behind a phone number? Follow this step-by-step guide to use Spokeo and uncover the name associated with any number:
Step 1) Go to the Spokeo website.
Visit spokeo.com and click on the “Phone” tab present just above the white search bar.
Step 2) Type the number into the search bar
Input the phone number in the search bar, which automatically formats the entry for accuracy. Then, click on the “Search” to let Spokeo proceed with the search.
Step 3) Wait until data is fetched from the database
Spokeo will search billions of public records and archived databases for the details associated with the provided phone number.
Step 4) View report
Once completed, Spokeo will generate the partial report for free. you can view the complete report by paying only $0.95. The complete report includes the owner’s full name, address, email, secondary phone numbers, criminal records, and more.
7-Day Trial for $0.95
2) Intelius
During my investigation, I was impressed by Intelius for its fast reverse phone searches. This service generates a PDF report delving into the phone number’s history. The report would certainly contain the owner’s identity, address, social media connections, and more. Intelius also offers a sign-up bonus, so when you sign up for a monthly phone reverse search subscription with Intelius, users get access to unlimited searches. Having personally tested Intelius, I appreciated how quickly it generated background details when I needed to confirm a business inquiry from an unfamiliar number.
This tool is perfect for situations where you want a full background check, as it goes beyond basic identification to include addresses, social profiles, and more. Although Intelius may display only partial information until you pay a nominal fee. Use their trial of $0.95 for unlimited lookups, or supplement with free sources for confirmation.
Name Search: Yes
Reverse Phone Lookup: Yes
Reverse Address Lookup: Yes
Pricing: 5-day trial at $0.95
Features at a Glance:
How to Use Intelius to Find Person’s Name by Phone Number
Curious about who’s behind an unknown phone number? Follow these simple steps with Intelius to find out the name linked to a phone number:
Step 1) Visit the Intelius website and click on the “Phone” tab to redirect to the Phone Number Search page.
Step 2) Enter the phone number and click on the “Search” tab to let Intelius proceed with the search.
Step 3) Confirm your search and wait for it to scan through its database and public records.
Step 4) Once the search is completed, Intelius will display a confirmation “Results Are Ready”. You can click on “View Results” to unlock all the information.
Step 5) Intelius will display the results along with a location map and other details.
5-Day Trial for $0.95
3) BeenVerified
When I needed to find someone’s name using just a phone number, I found BeenVerified to be a reliable solution. It offered me detailed and accurate information without the hassle. With its user-friendly interface, I could quickly perform lookups and receive the essential details I needed, all for free.BeenVerified provides access to an extensive database that delivers detailed results, including names, through a reverse phone lookup. A standout feature is its ability to uncover hidden social media profiles linked to the phone number, offering more context beyond basic contact details. This makes it a valuable resource for comprehensive background information.
There was an instance when BeenVerified generated incorrect information. It claimed the phone number to be of someone deceased a year ago. However, after verifying with some other tools like Spokeo and Intelius, I learned about the correct owner of the phone number. I also verified it through Truecaller for my satisfaction. Another thing that pinched me was the report generation. I had to pay a marginal fee of $1 to generate the report (100 reports, to be precise, for 7 days).
Name Search: Yes
Reverse Phone Lookup: Yes
Reverse Address Lookup: Yes
Pricing: 7 Day Trial for $1*
Features at a Glance:
How to Use BeenVerified to Find Someone’s Name by Phone Number
Need to identify who’s calling or texting you? BeenVerified can help. Just follow these simple steps to find out the name linked to a phone number:
Step 1) Access the BeenVerified website and click on the “BeenVerified Phone” tab. It will redirect you to the search by phone number page.
Step 2) Enter the phone number into the search bar and click on the “Search” tab. BeenVerified will start searching for the details.
Step 3) Confirm the search, allowing BeenVerified to scan through its comprehensive database and public records.
Step 4) Once the search is complete, unlock the full report and download it for detailed information.
7-Day Trial for $1
4) PeopleLooker
As I evaluated PeopleLooker I found it to look up someone’s phone number and find them online. Enter the number, and People Finders will do a reverse phone search to pull up all the information associated with that number. This reverse phone lookup app provides thorough information about unknown callers with billions of up-to-date records. PeopleLooker offers a comprehensive tool for identifying individuals through phone numbers. It reveals names, email addresses, social media profiles, and criminal records. This tool can help you avoid scams and online dating fraud.
When I tried to access the detailed report, PeopleLooker asked for a bare minimum fee of $1. However, this was a marginal fee that allowed me to access all the features of PeopleLooker for 7 days. I could also generate 100 reports.
Name Search: Yes
Reverse Phone Lookup: Yes
Reverse Address Lookup: Yes
Free Trial: 7-Day Trial for $1*
Features at a Glance:
How to Use PeopleLooker to Find Someone by Their Phone Number
Curious who’s calling or texting you? Follow these simple steps on PeopleLooker to reveal the name linked to any phone number:
Step 1) Visit the PeopleLooker website, click on the “Phone Search”, enter the number on the blank space, and click on “Search”.
Step 2) PeopleLooker will search through billions of records to extract the details associated with the phone number.
Step 3) Once the results are ready, PeopleLooker will ask to enter your email address and hit “Submit” to view the results.
7-Day Trial for $1
Find Anyone’s Name by Phone Number
Enter Phone Number to Find Someone’s Name!
Method 2: How to Find Someone by Phone Number Using Social Media Accounts
A simple way to find someone by their phone number for free is by conducting social media searches. You can use various online tools to find someone by phone for free effectively. For example, a community volunteer identified a local organizer by searching their number on Facebook, enabling a collaboration for a neighborhood event. Since many people link their phone numbers to their profiles, this method is handy when you want to connect faces to numbers and understand more about the caller’s digital footprint.
Although a major hurdle of this method is the privacy settings, which can limit what you see. If results are sparse, try expanding your search to multiple platforms or use common variations of the phone number format.
1) Instagram
When I was organizing a community event, I used Instagram’s contacts feature to find and message a potential collaborator using just their phone number. Since Instagram often links numbers with accounts, it’s a valuable approach for informal outreach or event planning. Unlike some social media platforms, Instagram does not support searching for accounts directly via phone numbers. You can only search through usernames, but the process can be complicated and may not yield the desired results.
How to Find Someone’s Instagram Info by Phone Number
Follow the steps below to find someone’s information on Instagram using their phone number:
Step 1) Open Instagram, go to your profile, and select Discover People
Step 2) Allow Instagram access to your contacts list in the Settings menu of your phone. Now, connect your account to your contacts.
Once the contacts are connected, you’ll see if the unknown number in your contacts has an associated Instagram profile. Unless the Instagram account is set to Private, you can look through their photos and even message them directly.
Link: https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/
2) Facebook
You can also try searching on Facebook. The search method is slightly different as compared to Instagram. Also, you can achieve success with your search process on Facebook even if the results are not satisfactory on Insta or some other social network sites. I once needed to reconnect with a former colleague and found them through Facebook by simply searching their number. Facebook’s search function works best when people link their numbers for login or recovery.
If the account associated with the phone number has been deactivated, it will not appear in search results. Also, there can be scenarios where you may have registered with the same phone number. In that case, it becomes challenging to identify the actual user.
How to Search for a Person on Facebook by Phone Number
Follow the steps below to search for a person in Facebook after finding someone’s phone number:
Step 1) Open Facebook and enter the number in the search field with no breaks or dashes
Step 2) Then, view their results. If the number is registered with a username on Facebook, it will display. Or else it will display false information.
Like Instagram, if a Facebook account has a connected phone number, it should yield results when you do a social media search.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/
PeopleSmart is a reliable and user-friendly website for reverse phone lookups. It can uncover the name of the person associated with phone number, along with other helpful contact details like address history and possible relatives.
Method 3: Find Out Person’s Name by Cell Phone Number for Free Using Google
Using well-known search engines is one way to identify unknown callers and find someone’s phone number information. Google is the largest search engine with an extensive database of information, such as name, phone number, email, etc. During an online sale, I used Google to cross-check a buyer’s number and uncovered a relevant business review, confirming their legitimacy. Google is a quick, broad approach that can reveal references from business sites, forums, or public listings—useful for rapid verification. However, some results may be outdated or sparse. Use specialized lookup tools for critical searches or if the information is limited.
You can follow the steps below to find someone’s name by phone number for free with a Google search:
Step 1) Open Google and enter the phone number into the search bar.
Step 2) Now hit the Enter key or the magnifying glass icon and view the results.
At times, specific numbers may not provide accurate results. I have experimented with different configurations by adding dashes (-) or spaces between the numbers. Only then did those numbers yield the correct results.
Scannero.io is one of the top-rated tools for reverse phone number lookup services. Scannero.io allows you to verify phone numbers and retrieve a wealth of information about a person's name, using just their phone number.
Method 4: How to Find Someone with Their Phone Number using Contact Search
You can also search for someone’s name in the directory of the company they work with. However, you usually need to be working in the same company to have access to this information. Alternatively, you can check the About US page of the company’s website. I once helped a friend verify a recruiter’s authenticity by searching the phone number on LinkedIn and company directories, ensuring a legitimate job offer.
LinkedIn is especially helpful for business or professional verifications. But not all professionals list their numbers publicly. Additionally, if the number is not listed on LinkedIn, then it will not show any results. In such a case, you need to try other methods discussed in this blog.
You can also use LinkedIn, as it is a reputable source for professional contact information. The information is publicly available on this platform.
To find someone’s name by their phone number for free with LinkedIn, follow the steps below:
Step 1) Sign up or log in to LinkedIn and enter the phone number in the search field.
Step 2) You can then view your results and see if they show any name associated with the number.
Method 5: Search through Online Directories, Public Records, and Government Databases
To find someone’s name by phone number using online directories, you can utilize Truecaller for name searches. Truecaller has helped me identify persistent unknown callers, such as when managing appointments for a local business. It crowdsources caller IDs from a global database, making it reliable for quick name checks. US Whitepages also provides comprehensive name and address information, while Yellowpages offers directory listings.
You can also look through sites that rely strongly on public records and government databases like USA People Search. They aggregate public records and provide access to information like property records or voter registration. I noticed that some of the listings were incorrect. In some cases, these online directories were too lazy to update the latest information, and I had to deal with outdated data.
Method 6: Visiting Online Forums and Communities
There is also the option to use online forums and communities to find someone’s name by phone number. You can post a query on platforms like Reddit’s “phone number lookup” subreddit, Quora, or other online forums, providing the phone number and any other relevant details. Members of these communities may be able to provide information or suggest other ways to find the owner’s name. I once witnessed a lost pet owner find a Good Samaritan via a Reddit “phone number lookup” thread. Forums and communities tap into collective knowledge for unusual or rare number lookups.
However, these online forums often face privacy concerns and restricted access. As a result, I have found limitations in searching for people by phone number quite a few times when using these forums. Moreover, never share sensitive data on such platforms, and confirm any information before acting.
Method 7: Using Messaging Apps
Messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Signal allow you to find someone’s name by first adding their phone number to your contacts. If the number is linked to an account, you can view their profile name and sometimes additional details directly within the app. Ensure privacy and mutual consent before attempting to access someone’s profile. When vetting a freelancer, I’ve added their number to WhatsApp and instantly checked their display name and profile photo. This method is a fast way to confirm identity in a business or gig context.
I have experienced restrictions in viewing contact details when using these messaging apps. Not always, I would say, but in several cases, I failed to figure out the name of a person using a phone number through these apps due to end-to-end encryption and restricted contact visibility.
Method 8: Other Methods to Find Someone by Phone Number
To find a caller’s identity, consider these alternative methods. Check online reviews or complaints linked to the number. Utilize phone number validators like PhoneValidator or Numverify, contact the phone carrier’s customer service, or directly ask the caller via text or call. Once, a colleague used PhoneValidator to confirm a customer’s number was real before processing a large transaction. These tools verify the validity, type, and carrier of a number—ideal for quick fraud checks.
Phone number validator tools like Numverify or PhoneValidator only verify the number format and carrier. They can detect whether a number is fake or genuine. However, these validators primarily don’t provide accurate location details or personal info. Hence, they pose a limitation to the people’s search process by using phone numbers.
How can I find someone’s name using just their phone number?
You can use reverse phone lookup services, which search public records, social media, or online directories to match a phone number with a name. Many websites and mobile apps offer this feature, but results may vary depending on the number’s privacy settings and data availability.
How accurate are reverse phone lookup results?
Accuracy depends on the database and source. Landline numbers often yield more precise results, while mobile or VoIP numbers may be less reliable. Data can be outdated or incomplete, so always verify the information from multiple sources when possible.
Why should I use a reverse lookup app to find people by their phone numbers?
Reverse phone number lookup apps help to identify unknown callers if you’re getting spammed regularly. A reverse lookup app is an ideal way to find further information about a person and their contact details. It is instrumental if you only have the phone numbers of the people you are looking for. Additionally, performing a contact number search by name can be equally effective in locating individuals when you have their name but need their phone number.
How many people use phone number lookup tools?
In 2025, phone number lookup tools will continue to attract significant usage. In the U.S., the estimated active user base now stands at around 70 million annually—slightly higher than the 68 million reported in 2024. Globally, usage has climbed to approximately 150 million people accessing such services each year. Mobile remains central: downloads of leading lookup apps (e.g., Truecaller, Hiya) surpassed 40 million in 2024, aligning with the broader growth in app adoption—global app downloads are projected to reach 299 billion in 2025, up from 277 billion the previous year.
Conclusion
From my experience, the top three most reliable ways to find a person’s name by phone number are using reverse lookup tools like Spokeo, Intelius, and BeenVerified. These platforms are accurate and user-friendly. Additionally, using social media and Google search can also yield helpful outcomes. However, do keep in mind and always respect privacy laws and use these methods ethically—never misuse personal information or violate anyone’s consent during your search.
FAQs
Find Someone’s Name using Phone Number
Enter Phone Number to Find Someone’s Name!
