Want to get in touch with someone? But all you’ve got is a name? No problem. In this tutorial, we’ll show you 7 easy ways to search for someone’s email address. Here’s how to find a Gmail account by name.
There are a few reasons why you might want to find the Gmail address of someone you don’t know (yet):
- Maybe you want to reach out to someone famous
- Maybe you want to ask someone a quick question
- Or maybe you want to pitch your product to a prospect
Whatever your reason is, it’s possible to find almost anyone’s email address.
All you need is a name. The right methods. And a bit of luck 🍀
In this quick guide, we’ll cover 7 proven tactics to find a Gmail account by name. Give them a shot. And find the email address you’ve been searching for.
- Check your contact list
- Search on Google
- Take an educated guess
- Use email lookup tools
- Visit their website
- Do a WHOIS Lookup
- Search on social media
How to find a Gmail account by name
There are a LOT of ways to find a Gmail account by name. But none of them are foolproof. We have listed the ones that have worked best for us so far.
With them, you should be able to find the email address you are looking for 90% of the time. Sounds good? Then let’s dive in ⤵️
1. Check your contact list
Did you send messages to that person in the past? Or did they email you? If that’s not the case, move on to the next method.
But if you’ve already exchanged with someone (and now you can’t remember their email address), the best place to start your search is your contact list.
Why? Because Gmail keeps track of all the people you’ve emailed before. Even if it was 10 years ago.
Type your contact’s name in the Gmail search bar. And press enter. Gmail will browse through your old conversations. And check if there’s a match.
You can refine your search by clicking on Show search options and adding more criteria to your query (keywords, attachments, email size…).
Make sure to include archived emails in your search. We’ve written another in depth guide to show you how to find archived emails in Gmail.
2. Search on Google
Nothing on your Gmail account? Then it’s time to broaden your search. And what better way to do that than using a search engine.
In this example, we’ll use Google. But you can also try this on other alternative search engines such as Bing or DuckDuckGo.
Simply open your browser. And type the person’s name + email address. You can also try the following queries:
- “Firstname lastname” + “@gmail.com”
- “Firstname lastname” + “company”
- “Firstname lastname” + “contact”
This approach only works about 10% of the time. But it’s still worth a shot. Especially if you’re looking for the Gmail account of someone who has a unique name. Like Christabel Fernsby. Or Archibald Gastrell.
However if you’re searching for a person with a very common name (like John Smith), you’ll probably get too many results. And you may have a hard time figuring out which email address is the right one.
If you are looking for someone’s business email address, you can try searching for their “name” + “@domainname.com”. And see what turns up. You can also try combining the above queries to refine your search.
3. Use an Email Permutator
Moving on. Most email addresses follow the same patterns. And if we had to guess, we’d say your email address looks something like this:
Why? Because these addresses are easy to remember. And they can be used anywhere. At the bank. At school. Or at work.
Whereas using an address like [email protected] might make you look unprofessional in some situations.
So chances are, people will stick to their name + last name. Or their initial + last name. Which makes it easy to guess what their email address is.
Gmail makes it even easier for you. Because it doesn’t care about dots. And it doesn’t support email addresses with dashes or underscores.
Which means that [email protected] is the same address as [email protected] and [email protected].
We’ve created a free tool to help you find a Gmail account by name. We call it the Email permutator. Here’s how to use it.
Step 1: Enter someone’s first name. Their last name. And a domain name. You can even add a middle name and a nick name if you want to.
Step 2: Once you’re ready, click on Generate email addresses. And the Email permutator will give you a list of potential addresses for the name you’ve entered.
Step 3: To verify if one of these email addresses is the right one, you can create a new Gmail message. And copy + paste the email combinations you just generated inside the To field.
Step 4: Now all you need to do is hover your mouse over each email address. If one of them has a profile image, bingo! You’ve found the valid Gmail account you were searching for.
Note: don’t try to send emails to all the addresses generated with the Email permutator. You may end up finding the right address. But the other emails you send will bounce. Which may harm your email reputation. Unless you're using an email verification tool such as a BounceShield.
This is a simple, yet surprisingly effective way to find a Gmail account by name. But once again, success is not guaranteed.
Because if your prospect is using an unconventional email address, such as [email protected], you won’t be able to guess it correctly.
4. Use email lookup tools
Still no sign of the Gmail address you’ve been looking for? Then it’s time to bring out the big guns. Let’s use an email lookup service.
Most of these tools work the same way. You simply need to enter a person’s name. Or their website. And the tool will try to find their email address.
Sounds easy, right? But not all email lookup services are created equal. Some work great. Others don’t.
Which is why we’ve listed our favorite email lookup tools just below. Give them a try and pick the one that works best for you:
These are paying email finder software that we’ve partnered with to offer you exclusive discounts. Feel free to grab your discount from our partners page.
And if your budget is tight, you can also try to do free search with email lookup tools such as Clearbit Connect, GetProspect or RocketReach.
5. Visit their website
Your prospect has a website? This is a great place to search for their email address. We can think of (at least) 4 places where you might find what you’re looking for:
- Contact page: The most obvious solution is to go to the contact page. A lot of people use it to share their coordinates (phone number, email address…). Alternatively, you may find a contact form. Why not give it a shot?
- Author page: Most blog owners have a specific page for each author. There might be a link to this page in their bio. Find it. And you might find their email address.
- About page: Another common place to look for a Gmail address on a website is the “About” page. Most people use this page to introduce themselves. And some explain how you can reach them.
- Email opt-in: Your prospect has a newsletter? Perfect. Subscribe to their mailing list. And the next time they send an email, you’ll have an email address that you can use to contact them.
6. Do a WHOIS Lookup
Still no luck, uh? Let’s keep digging. People with a website are required by law to share their contact details. This is your chance.
If the person you’re trying to contact has a website, you can do a quick WHOIS lookup to find their email address.
WHOIS is a public record that contain information such as the name of the website’s owner and (sometimes) their email address.
Go to who.is and search the domain of the email you’re trying to find. You can also try other WHOIS lookup tools, such as:
- Name.com
- Namecheap
- Domain.com
- Hostinger
- Domain Tools
7. Search on social media
Social media is a gold mine. Head over to Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin. Type the name of the Gmail account you’re trying to find. And check out their profile. Especially the “About” section. You might find a way to contact them.
If you’re trying to find the email address of a company, go to their Facebook or Linkedin page and look for posts that mention customer service or sales. You might find an email address in the replies.
Alternatively, if you can’t find any contact information on their social media page, you might want to send them a Direct Message. This can be a great way to start a conversation. Even without an email address.
