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How to find someone on facebook with only their last name


How To Find Someone on Facebook With Only the First Name?

Facebook​Social Media

By Steve Kuhn September 19, 2022September 19, 2022

You are wrong to think it is impossible to find a person with just their first name on Facebook.

Whatever your intentions are, whether to find a long-lost school friend or stalk the person you just met at work, you can dig for information on them on Facebook even without knowing their full names.

Facebook allows everyone to connect with their friends, families, and acquaintances. It is the biggest social media platform with the highest number of users, so the odds of finding what you are looking for are higher here.

You can find anyone on earth by their name on Facebook. But, the question is what to do when you do not know their full names.

So, let’s explore how to find any user using the advanced search tools of Facebook in case you do not know their full names.

Table of Contents

  1. Finding Someone on Facebook
  2. How To Find Someone With Facebook Advanced Search?
    • How To Do a Facebook Advanced Search on a PC?
    • How To Do an Advanced Search on Facebook Mobile App?
  3. The Last Resorts
  4. Final Thoughts

Finding Someone on Facebook

With 2.93 billion monthly active users, Facebook is undoubtedly the biggest social media platform. Facebook has everyone you can think of — from your grandparents to your young nephews and nieces.

Unlike many other social media platforms, Facebook provides content for every generation, concentrating mainly on millennials and Gen Z.

As it has users in billions, the chances of finding people you want to track are higher.

Facebook will arguably be your first stop to get information on anyone, be it your old classmate, family member, the person you just met at work, or the potential employees, business partners, buyers, and sellers.

Now, it is easier to find someone by just typing their full name on the Facebook search bar, and it will show many profiles bearing that name.

Things get a little complicated when you do not remember the full name. If you type only their first name, Facebook will retrieve the profiles of hundreds of thousands of people.

Now, what to do in this situation?

Lucky for you, Facebook allows users to fill in a lot of information about themselves, such as their city, workplace, school, etc.

You can leverage this information to track the person using an advanced search on Facebook.

Now, how exactly to do that? For that, you have to read this next part carefully.

How To Find Someone With Facebook Advanced Search?

You can use Facebook advanced search to find any user, even if you only know their first name.

You can further narrow your result by applying more filters to get more refined results.

For example, thousands of Dave profiles will pop up if you know someone named Dave and search it on Facebook without entering their last name. It is because Dave is a pretty common name.

Now, if you use the Facebook advanced search, using various filters, you can narrow down your search, and more profiles that match your defined description will appear to simplify your search process.

Any information you know about Dave, like location, education, school, work, or public groups he follows, can help filter his profile from others.

How To Do a Facebook Advanced Search on a PC?

To do an advanced search on Facebook using your PC, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Facebook on your favorite web browser.
  2. Click on the search box in the top left corner.
  3. Enter the name of the person you want to find and hit “Enter.”
  4. Select “People” from the left navigation.

It will unlock additional filters in this category to make the search more meticulous. These filters are:

  • City – if the person has set their residing city, this filter will help you find them with the location information.
  • Education – if you know their school/university, you can use this filter to discover them.
  • Work – this filter allows you to search the person based on their workplace (if specified by them).
  • Friends of Friends – this filter will show all those profiles that share mutual friends with you.

Facebook will show the results by taking your selections into account.

You can also perform an advanced search for specific Posts, Photos, Videos, Pages, Places, Groups, Events, and Market Place.

How To Do an Advanced Search on Facebook Mobile App?

You can also perform this advanced search on the Facebook mobile app. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Facebook app on your mobile device.
  2. Tap on the search icon in the top right corner.
  3. Enter the first name of the person you want to find and hit the search button.
  4. Tap on the “People” tab at the top.
  5. To refine the search result further, tap on the filter icon next to the search bar.
  6. Choose any filter from the additional options to get the best results.

The Last Resorts

You can also find the person by their phone number on Facebook, depending solely on whether they have linked their phone number.

Similarly, you can also find people if you know their email addresses. Besides, you can also search for people in public groups. For that, you have to select the “Group” filter.

You can use a search engine if you do not find the person on Facebook.  

If you have their picture, you can also use Google Images. This reverse image search on google can help you find the person.

You can also use LinkedIn if you know their workplace. You will most likely find them in your 2nd or 3rd-degree connections.

Your last resort would be to use third-party tools to track down the person.

Final Thoughts

“When there is a will, there is a way.” This quote aptly fits you and your willingness on how far you can go to track down someone.

Since Facebook is the oldest and biggest platform, it is understandable if you begin your search here. Facebook offers advanced search tools to help you find someone even if you do not know their complete name.

Now, with Facebook’s advanced search filters, you can track anyone based on their location, education, and even place of work.

How to Find Someone on Facebook with First Name Only

If you are looking for someone whom you know only the first name of, you can try your chance with Facebook to see if you will be able to find that person there. In this tutorial, I will show you how to search people on Facebook with their first names only.

Facebook is no doubt the number one social network and a highly poplar site and mobile app in the world, with over a billion users. There were even times where Facebook was the most visited website on the Internet.

Most people who use the Internet, usually also have a Facebook account that they use for connecting with their friends and family members. Celebrities use the site to connect with their fans and followers, businesses use Facebook to connect with their customers, in short there's something on Facebook for any type of user to engage with.

Facebook People Search

Since a huge amount of people use Facebook and since they mostly use it with their real names and surnames, it offers a great platform for searching and finding people from around the world. You might be surprised about who you can find on Facebook, such as your elementary school friends, people from your hometown, people you worked with over 10 years ago, in short, if there's someone that you need to find for any reason, Facebook should be your first stop to perform your searches. Besides, searching for someone on Facebook may often return better results compared to search engines.

There are a number of ways that you can search for people on this major social network. For example, you can search people by email, that is, if you know or you can guess the email address they might have used for their Facebook account. Or, you can search people by city, if you know which city they are from, which city they have lived in or which city they are currently living in. Another method is to search people by state, if you have their state information, but this will most probably return the poorest results among the three. Though some certain search features require you to log in to your account, you can also search people on Facebook without logging in if you prefer total privacy.

Now, let's see how to search someone on Facebook by using only their first name.

Search Someone on Facebook with Their First Name

Before we start, you should keep in mind that as long as the person you are looking for has an active account on Facebook, you will most probably be able to find him/her. However, not everyone has a Facebook account, besides sometimes people give a break by deactivating their accounts, in which cases you won't be able to find them on search results. So, if you put a reasonable effort in finding someone yet you still can't find them, that means they're most probably not on Facebook.

STEP 1: Log in to your Facebook account: facebook.com

STEP 2: Enter the first name of the person into the search box at the top navigation bar and click the search button. It says Find friends when there's no text input.

STEP 3: On the search results page, select the People tab, to ensure that only the user profiles are listed in your search results.

Let's say you are searching for someone named John, the users with the first name John will be listed.

STEP 4: Browse through the list of users by checking their profile pictures, surnames, cities, work info etc. and see if you will be able to find the person you are looking for. If it's a common name, you may need to spend more time going through all the people with the same name. You can also use the filters on the left sidebar, such as city, education, work, or mutual friends.

If the only thing you know about that person is the first name, and if that name is a very common name such as James, John, Mary, Elizabeth etc. it will most probably not be so easy to find that person. There's one more thing that you can try if the above search doesn't help, which is to use the following search query in the search box:

people named John

Just like the following:

This time, on the search results page, instead of clicking the People tab, click the See All button below the first few profile listings.

This new search may find some other profiles with the same name that were not listed on the first search. Carefully browse the list until you find the person you are looking for.

If you are going to perform some people searches that require privacy, you may want to delete your Facebook search history or delete your web browser's history log after your search is complete. You can even use your browser's private mode by disabling browsing history to leave no tracks on your device.

Another thing to note is that when you search someone and visit their profile page, they won't know that you visited their profile, since you can't see who viewed your Facebook profile.

How to search for people on Facebook by last name, first name, photo, phone number, etc.

Facebook is used to search for acquaintances and exchange information. Finding a specific person here can be more difficult than on other social networks. However, knowing the search algorithms, competently using filters and portal tools, you can quickly find the right person. The following describes how to find a person by name, phone number, city or photo.

Find friends on Facebook by last name and first name

For all types of searches on Facebook, a general search bar is used in the upper left part of the page.

To find a user, knowing his first and last name, you need to follow the scheme:

  1. Log in and log in through your Facebook account.
  2. Enter the first and last name of the person you are looking for in the search box.
  3. If the name and photo appeared in the pop-up menu, you need to click on it, otherwise move on and click on the "Search by query ..." button. nine0014

In the "Result type" column, click on the "People" item. We are looking for a friend by photo in the proposed list.

You can also use a filter in the search system to find a person by additional parameters:

  • mutual friends;
  • education;
  • work;
  • city or country.

If any of the filter types in the search is not required, it can be removed by clicking on the cross on the right side of the screen. You can return the parameter using the "Add filter" button. nine0003

Find friends on Facebook by phone number

Some people do not subscribe to social networks with their real name and surname, a search by mobile number can help out. This option is not suitable for all cases, because due to privacy restrictions, the owner can hide data from strangers.

By the way, a Facebook user found this feature of the portal himself. The search could be done by phone number, since the user account was linked to it at the time of registration. Previously, there were no restrictions on searching through a mobile number, but for better privacy, Facebook developers gave users the opportunity to hide their data from the general search and remove them from the page. nine0003

Facebook's two main resources will help you search for a person's phone number: the mobile app and the website. You can find a Facebook user, knowing his phone number, like this:

  • Log in to the site using your account.
  • Click on the "Search" field in the upper right panel of the interface.
  • Enter the number in the format 8NNNNNNNNNN or 7NNNNNNNNNN.

Next, you will see a list of registered user matches. You can go to the page - the number will be displayed in the column of personal information. nine0003

If the number is not indicated in the profile, but the page was found correctly, it means that the user has removed information about the number from public access, but has not disabled search by this parameter in the privacy settings.

It is also possible to search via mobile app. In fact, its functionality is similar to the functionality of the site. The Facebook app is free to download on mobile. After authorization, you need to open the search column, enter the numerical combination of the number and get matches. If the exact number is found, only one page will appear: the phone cannot be linked to two accounts. nine0003

If the search did not show anything, then the user has disabled the ability to find his page by phone, changed his number, or he is not registered with Facebook at all. If a person is not registered with Facebook or has hidden their data in the privacy settings, the internal search of the social network will not help you.

There is another way to search, and without authorization. It is based on linking a phone number to an account:

  1. If you are logged in, log out of Facebook and redirect to the main page of the social network. Under the authorization window, select "Forgot your password?" nine0014
  2. In the field that appears, enter the numeric phone number through 7- or 8- and click "Search".
  3. Look up the username and photo associated with this number and copy it.
  4. Now you can go to your profile and insert the person's first and last name in the search bar. Next, we act according to the above algorithms. By the way, using the same method, you can find a profile by e-mail.

How to prevent your number from being found through a search? nine0087

Privacy settings can prevent you from finding your account through your phone. Facebook has two privacy features:

  • Remove your number from the information on the page accessible to all users.
  • Disable the ability to search for a page by phone number.

How to hide the number from the search:

  • Log in to the site using your account.
  • Open the "Settings" section in the additional menu.

  • Go through "Settings" to the "Privacy" tab
  • In the block "Who can find me?" select search by phone number. In the menu, tap the appropriate option: leave this option for friends, or only for yourself. Don't forget to save your settings.

How to find a person by city on Facebook

It would seem that it is simple, but on Facebook there is no filter by city in the list of results in a standard attempt to find a friend. You need to act on the following pickup:

  • Log in to the site, go to your page (click on your name next to the "Home" button in the upper right corner).
  • Click on the "Friends" icon in the top menu. After that, you will see a list of all your Facebook friends.

A window opens with friend requests and a selection of recommendations from usernames that you may know or have mutual friends with (the "You may know" list). If there are inactive and unconfirmed requests, above the recommended list there will be a list of requests from users to add as friends. nine0003

  • Select the "Find friends" field in the upper right corner of the window.
  • Use the right side menu in the opened search form to set the parameters of the person's place of birth and the city where he lives now.

Filters will help you fine-tune your settings and find a person.

How to find a person on Facebook without registering

According to the developers of Facebook, the security of personal data remains a priority of the service. Therefore, the social network is sensitive to maintaining confidentiality. Search without registration in a social network is becoming more and more limited every year. nine0003

If you are not registered on Facebook or want to find another person's account without logging into yours, you can use the standard search engine: Google, Search.mail, Yandex. They operate according to similar algorithms:

  • Open a search engine and enter the user's full name in the line, then add "Facebook"
  • The search will return those results in which it finds matches, there may also be a personal page of the person you need.

Privacy settings can complicate everything: the user can prevent the display of his profile in search engines in the settings. nine0003

Searching for a person on Facebook by photo

Facebook is categorically against the search by photo function, and therefore it is not supported on the social network. Here again, you can turn to the search engines.

Search via Google

Drag and drop the image to the search bar in this case will not be enough. A slightly different approach is needed:

  1. Go to https://www. google.ru/imghp.
  2. Click on the camera icon in the search bar.
  3. Go to the "File Upload" tab and select a photo from those saved on your computer. nine0014

After that, Google will display the results found for the query. To be more precise, after the picture, you can drive the word “Facebook” into the search box. Then the search will go on the pictures inside the site.

Search using Yandex

The algorithm is about the same, with a few nuances:

  1. Go to yandex.ru.
  2. On the main page, click on the link labeled "Pictures".
  3. On the next page, find the button with the image of the camera, click on it and then on "Select file". nine0014
  4. We are looking for the desired image on the computer and click "Open" - Yandex will give options, including possible matches

Search through a special service

An alternative option is to search using special Internet sites. One of the best solutions is tineye. com. This service allows you to find all references to a photo on the Internet. Take the following steps:

  1. Sign in at tineye.com.
  2. Add or paste the image URL. nine0014
  3. Click on search.

Intelligence Search extension

Special services help you find the account you are looking for faster. The Intelligence Search extension is designed for the Google Chrome browser and helps you search for people faster with more precise parameters. To make the extension available, you need to install it, after which an icon will appear in the upper right corner of the browser.

Check if the Intelligence Search extension is activated, this can be done in the browser settings. Go to More Tools and then to the Extensions tab. Intelligence Search must be enabled. nine0003

The extension has 4 tabs for 4 different platforms and formats. It allows you to search for people on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, also by video. There is a caveat - to find a Facebook person, you need to switch the Facebook language to English.

On the left side of the extension you can choose who to search for:

  • people;
  • pages;
  • groups;
  • events;
  • publications/posts;
  • photos.

Search for people is by default in extension by name. However, here you can select different options:

  1. name;
  2. likes;
  3. place of work;
  4. place of residence;
  5. friends;
  6. communities;
  7. age;
  8. floor;
  9. language;
  10. education;
  11. frequently visited places;
  12. relationship status;
  13. interests.

By combining these parameters, you can set a specific search direction: categories can be combined with each other using the "And" and "Or" functions. For example, let's say we want to find all married men over 48 who work for Google. To do this, combine 4 parameters and click on "Search Facebook". The list of candidates will be presented later. This extension will find a specific person, or a group of specialists, future colleagues in the company where you want to get a job. nine0003

Facebook search service "Search is back"

Search Is Back is an advanced search engine for Facebook. With its help, you can find people, photos, events, publications and reposts on Facebook. To detect people, filters "name", "city", "school", "interests", "position", "relationship status" and others are provided. To use this service, you also need to switch the Facebook language in the settings to English, since the service is fully functional only for residents of the United States, where the Search Graph social search is launched. nine0003

To use the service, log in to Facebook and follow the link.

There are 4 tabs for searching: "Find people", "Events", "Posts and promotions" and "Photos".

Using the service, you can find a person by gender, hobbies, age, city, marital status. For example, all the divorced men of St. Petersburg working at Gazprom, find out which of your friends live in the city where you are passing through, find a new acquaintance whom you saw at a party and learned a little about him. The service also allows you to search for photos, posts, comments, user likes. For example, a photo with a tag, all comments and likes of a user you are interested in, events where your friends are invited, posts about a country where you want to go on vacation, find friends by interests (for example, music or a hobby for a skateboard). nine0003

Video tutorial: how to find a person on Facebook

For more information on how to find a person on Facebook, see this review.

You may also be interested in a video on how to search from your phone

How to find a person on Facebook

Magazine ProfiComment welcomes you! Last time we talked about how to find out who viewed your Facebook page.

Today you will learn how to find a person in this social network in different ways. Facebook* is the world's leading social network used by people in different countries. This is very convenient, because there is only one social network, and you can find almost any person. Agree, amazing technological progress! nine0003

However, for the safety of each person, his privacy, on Facebook you can only find someone about whom you know enough information. Let's look at how this can be done.

How to find a person by city on Facebook

With a standard attempt to find a person by city, you will encounter difficulty. You will get here as shown in the pictures. First, you probably do this, enter the name of the person in the search box on the main page:

Fig 1. This method is incorrect if you want to find a person on Facebook by the city

and, after going to the page with people search, in the end, you find that there is no way to find a person by city:

Fig 2 N this page does not have advanced settings for finding the right person

Therefore, you need to do it as follows. On the right at the top of the page there is a symbol friends :

Fig 3. To find a person in the city, you must click on this icon

Click this icon once and you will see a list of friends who want to join you or have already added. In this pop-up window, you should see the link "Find Friends":

Fig 4. By clicking on this link you will be taken to the page for finding people with advanced settings find a person by characteristic « Hometown "and" City of residence ":

Fig 5. Now you are in the right place, it remains to enter the necessary data

You can also find advanced search in the same pop-up window of friends below , just click on the link " View all "

Fig 6. Also, advanced search settings are located on this link

The Facebook social network is more complicated than VKontakte, however, this site provides much more opportunities to search for a person. For example:

How to identify a person on Facebook by phone number

Here, in general, everything is much easier than you think, in order to find any person by phone number, you just need to enter the number in the search field and, without having time to click on the magnifying glass icon, you are already you can see a hint with the page of the person you are looking for:

Fig 7. To find a person by phone number, just enter the desired number in the search box

Remember that you can also be found on Facebook by your phone number. If you do not need it, then you need to make the appropriate settings. In the upper right corner of your page, click on the arrow icon as shown in the figure to expand the window with functions. Here, find the link "Settings" and follow it:

Fig. 8. Facebook security settings are located here

Once on the settings page, you need to go to the "Privacy" tab and follow the path of the arrows, as shown in the figure. At the end of the path, choose the option that suits you best. That is, your friends or friends of friends will be able to find you:

Pic 9. Set up your privacy as shown in the picture

How to find a person on Facebook by photo

In order to find a person on Facebook, you need to correctly use the Google images search. Even if you copy a photo of a person from a social network, or you just have photos, then you don’t need the whole person in the photo, but exactly his face . If you have a photograph where a person is in full growth or just a portrait where the whole head and body are visible to the waist, then these are inappropriate photographs.

Learn more