Trying to reconnect with an old friend who moved to a different city years ago? Or maybe you have a long-lost relative and the only thing you have as a starting point for your search is their last name.
You can hire a private investigator or even pore over public documents yourself. However, you’re lucky to live in the age of the Internet. Today, you have multiple online tools at your disposal that you can use to find someone’s address just by their name.
In this article, you’ll learn about 4 last name lookup for address methods. Let’s dive in.
Leverage the Power of Social Media
Facebook and other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have tons of information about people that everyone can see.
By typing the last name of the person whose address you want to know in a social media site’s search bar, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find out where they live.
If you know which city they’re based in, you can make your search easier with the help of filters. Many social media sites will allow you to filter the search results according to cities, companies, and schools. By taking advantage of these filters, you can increase the efficiency of your search.
The good thing about sites like Facebook and Instagram is that if you manage to find what you’re looking for, you might be able to see pictures and videos, too.
Search for Their Name on Google
The social media method is useful but it can be very time-consuming. In most cases, if you search for someone’s last name on Google, their social media profiles will pop up in search results. This way, you can save time by not having to use every social media app individually.
Keep in mind, though, that you won’t be able to filter your Google searches the way you would on Facebook or Twitter.
Another problem with Google is that you might not always find anything. This is especially if the information of the person whose address you’re looking for hasn’t been indexed by the search engine.
A search engine will prove to be more useful, though, if you have additional information such as the person’s email.
Use Public Records
Depending on where you live, there might be public records available that will have information about people’s addresses. In the US, for example, you can look at phone directories, property records, and voter databases.
Note that for some of these public databases, you’ll have to visit a physical office, but many of them, such as the US Land Records, are now digital and can be accessed online.
You can also contact the tax assessor office of the county where you think the person lives.
In case the person whose address you want to know owns a business, you may be able to find it on Google Maps.
Use a Reverse Address Lookup
Instead of going to a physical office and spending hours looking through public records, let an online tool do it for you.
Using a last name lookup site, such as Information.com, you can easily find anyone’s address as long as you know their name. It’ll also give you access to the property’s ownership history and other information such as the person’s email address and phone number.
You can narrow down the search results if you know what city and state they live in, but this information is optional.
Tools like Information.com are completely legal as they use public records such as property ownership databases, marriage licenses, and criminal records. Just be sure that you aren’t using the information you find for stalking or harassment purposes, as this is always illegal.
Some sites may require you to pay a small fee, but in return, they offer the convenience of getting access to public records without you having to move an inch.
Find Someone’s Address Using Their Last Name
As you can tell by now, there are multiple methods you can use to look up someone’s address with their last name. Not all of them will always work, but it’s worth trying them out.
For example, social media platforms have a lot of information about everyone, but if the person whose address you want hasn’t made it public, then you can’t access it no matter what you do.
In that case, you could try a last name lookup site, such as Information.com. These sites use public records, so they’re legal and up to date.