How to Find Information on People
Conduct a general search., Locate people using online people finders., Access online historical archives and census data.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Conduct a general search.
Search engines, such as Google or Bing, are easy to use and free.
Start with a simple search that includes the person's name plus the city and/or state where you last knew he or she lived.
Keep your search simple.
Put quotation marks around the name you are searching.
This tells the search engine to only find pages that contain that exact name.
Focus first on gathering all the free information that you can.
Bookmark or save a list of the websites that require payment to pursue later. -
Step 2: Locate people using online people finders.
You can look-up a home address or telephone number for free on Whitepages.com.
If you are willing to pay a fee, websites such as Intelius.com or Spokeo.com provide access to a wider variety of sources and documents than traditional search engines or social networks.
You will need to know the person's full first and last name, as well as current or previous state or city of residence.
Intelius and Spokeo provide some information for free, such as name, address, home phone number, age, and relatives. , This may be helpful if you are trying to find family members, living or deceased.
The U.S.GenWeb Census Project provides free United States census data for many states up to
1940.
Most census records are grouped by state, so it is helpful to know the state in which the person was born, died, or lives.
Contact a state or local historical association in which your target lived, especially if he or she died prior to the 1940s.
Many historical documents, public records, and newspapers have not been digitized, and are only accessible as paper documents or on microfilm. -
Step 3: Access online historical archives and census data.
Detailed Guide
Search engines, such as Google or Bing, are easy to use and free.
Start with a simple search that includes the person's name plus the city and/or state where you last knew he or she lived.
Keep your search simple.
Put quotation marks around the name you are searching.
This tells the search engine to only find pages that contain that exact name.
Focus first on gathering all the free information that you can.
Bookmark or save a list of the websites that require payment to pursue later.
You can look-up a home address or telephone number for free on Whitepages.com.
If you are willing to pay a fee, websites such as Intelius.com or Spokeo.com provide access to a wider variety of sources and documents than traditional search engines or social networks.
You will need to know the person's full first and last name, as well as current or previous state or city of residence.
Intelius and Spokeo provide some information for free, such as name, address, home phone number, age, and relatives. , This may be helpful if you are trying to find family members, living or deceased.
The U.S.GenWeb Census Project provides free United States census data for many states up to
1940.
Most census records are grouped by state, so it is helpful to know the state in which the person was born, died, or lives.
Contact a state or local historical association in which your target lived, especially if he or she died prior to the 1940s.
Many historical documents, public records, and newspapers have not been digitized, and are only accessible as paper documents or on microfilm.
About the Author
Raymond Wood
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