playbooks / person-name

Real name → the right person

Disambiguate a common name, then build a profile from public records, corporate filings and social media.

start: ☺ real nameyields: url, location, company, phone, email, username, imagelevel: intermediate

caution: Name searches produce confident-looking wrong matches. Corroborate each fact with at least two independent identifiers (location + employer, photo + username) before attributing it.

1. 01

   Add context to the name

   Combine the quoted name with everything you know: city, employer, school, middle initial, profession. "Jane A. Doe" (Leeds OR Bradford) nurse.

   • Google Advanced Searchresource
   • Bingresource
   • Yandex Searchresource
   • DuckDuckGoresource

   → can yield: ⇗URL ⊕Location ▤Company

2. 02

   People-search aggregators (region-dependent)

   US aggregators compile addresses, relatives, phones and emails from public records. Outside the US, coverage is thinner. Use national directories and electoral-roll services such as 192.com.

   • TruePeopleSearchfreedetails
   • FastPeopleSearchfreedetails
   • WebMiifreedetails
   • IDCrawlfreedetails
   • 192.comfreemiumacct optionaldetails
   • Piplpaidacct reqapidetails

   → can yield: ⊕Location ☎Phone ✉Email ☺Real name

3. 03

   Corporate roles

   Directorships list a name with a birth month and year and a correspondence address, which is a strong disambiguator.

   • OpenCorporatesfreemiumacct optionalapidetails
   • UK Companies Housefreeapidetails
   • LittleSisfreeacct optionalossapidetails

   → can yield: ▤Company ⊕Location

4. 04

   Court and public records

   Court filings, property records and campaign donations put a name at an address.

   • CourtListenerfreeacct optionalossapidetails
   • judyrecordsfreedetails
   • FEC Campaign Finance Datafreeossapidatasetdetails

   → can yield: ⊕Location ▤Company

5. 05

   Social profiles

   Look up the name on professional networks and across social search. Once you find a confirmed profile, its username unlocks the username playbook.

   • Social Searcherfreemiumacct optionalapidetails
   • CrossLinkedfreeossclidetails
   • X Advanced Searchfreeacct reqdetails

   → can yield: @Username ▣Image