How to Find Lost Family Based on Their Name
When you have lost touch with someone in your family, you may want to find them again for a family event such as a reunion, a wedding, or a memorial service. People change jobs, move around the country, and even move out of the country. It can be challenging to find someone based only on their name, but if that person has an uncommon name or occupation, you may have some chance of finding the person again. Web-based social networking and websites focused on geneaology are two of the biggest assets in the modern search for lost family members.
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Instructions
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Searching phone numbers may yield results, especially if the person has an uncommon last name. Search online telephone and address books for lost family members. If you know what city or state people could be in, these tools are particularly useful. AT&T has a US-based online telephone directory. Of course, this method will not work if your relative has an unlisted number.
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Search Google based on a person's last-known city, work affiliations, and online networking associations. Plug the person's name into Google. If it is a common name, add any known workplaces or volunteer work connections that the person had. If the person might be a member of a trade association, add that to the search. Go to Google Alerts and set up an alert for that person's name. You will receive an email when there is new information about your search.
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Search social networking sites for clues about where family members might be. Flickr allows users to add names and other tags to photos, and these can provide good hints regarding the whereabouts of a person. On Facebook, search under maiden names, married names, and nicknames. Search the person's past corporate connections on LinkedIn.
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Search through family trees online for clues about the connections and whereabouts of a family member. Look for distant family members through mutual genealogical connections. Websites like FamilySearch allow you to search through historic census and marriage records. Ancestry allows you to create a family tree and search through family trees to find relatives.
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Look through birth, marriage and death announcements and directories to find clues. Look through marriage, birth and death registries and announcements. If you know what city people may be in, you can contact the local newspapers for a list of their birth, death, and marriage announcements. Online resources like GenWed provide searchable marriage registries so that you can see if lost family members have gotten married and learn whether they may have a new name and location.
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- Photo Credit computer image by peter Hires Images from Fotolia.com phone image by Eisenhans from Fotolia.com family tree image by Judy Ben Joud from Fotolia.com wedding image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
