LinkedIn can be a great place to reconnect with old colleagues, classmates, and friends, but it can be tricky to find someone when you only know their first name. Here are some tips to help track down that long lost connection on LinkedIn using just a first name.
Search LinkedIn for Their Name
The first obvious step is to simply search for the person’s first name on LinkedIn. Go to the search bar at the top of LinkedIn and type in just their first name. If it’s a common name you’ll likely get lots of results, so you’ll need to sift through to find the right person. Scan through looking for the right location, employer, school, job title or industry to identify them.
If you get too many results, you can refine the search by adding in the location where you know the person lives or works. For example search “John Miami” or “Emily San Francisco.” The more specific the search location, the fewer results you’ll have to sort through.
You can also filter by school or company to narrow it down. Search “John Stanford” to find John who went to Stanford, for example. If you know where someone works, search their first name plus company like “Deborah Microsoft” to locate Deborah who works at Microsoft.
Browse Their Connections
Another way to find someone by first name on LinkedIn is to look through the connections of mutual friends and coworkers to find them. If you and the person you are searching for have shared connections, there’s a good chance one of those connections is also connected to the person you want to find.
Go to the profile of any mutual connection and browse their connections list. Sort the connections alphabetically by first name to easily scan for the name you’re searching for. You can also filter connections by location or company to narrow down the possibilities.
Search Public Profiles
LinkedIn’s public profiles setting allows anyone to view profile information, even if they’re not connected. People with public profiles will show up in search results. To find public profiles:
- Go to the LinkedIn search bar
- Search for the first name you are looking for
- Make sure “Public” is selected under “Profile type” on the left side filter
This will display profiles that are visible to the public, allowing you to browse for the specific person you’re trying to find.
Join Relevant Groups
Join LinkedIn groups related to the person’s industry or interests where they may also be a member. You can browse group members lists to look for their name. For example, if you know they work in marketing, join some marketing industry groups. Or if they studied computer science, join alumni groups from their university.
Here are some tips for joining relevant groups:
- Use group search tools to find groups related to the person’s field
- Look for location-based groups like “Marketing Professionals Mumbai” if you know their location
- Join industry-specific groups like “Fashion Retail Executives” if you know their industry
- Join alumni groups from the university or organizations they were a part of
Once you’ve joined groups, browse through the member lists and look for their first name. If the groups are very large, you can filter members by name or location.
Search by Skills or Interests
If you know some of the person’s skills or interests, search for those terms on LinkedIn. For example, if you know they are interested in photography, search “photography.” Then browse through the People results looking for their first name. You can combine skill searches with filters like location or company to narrow down the possibilities.
Here are some examples:
- Search “programming” and filter by San Francisco
- Search “guitar” and filter by profiles who went to Berklee College
- Search “skiing” and filter by profiles who work at Vail Resorts
LinkedIn displays People results who have the skills/interests you search for on their profile, making it easier to uncover the specific person you want to find.
Search by Current Company
If you know where the person currently works, you can search for their company name on LinkedIn and filter results by first name.
For example, if you know they work at Google:
- Search “Google” and select the “People” tab
- Filter results on the left side bar by first name
- Browse through results for their first name
This allows you to pinpoint people with a given first name who work at that company. The more niche or unique the company name, the fewer results you’ll have to sort through.
Search by Past Company
Similarly, if you know a previous employer’s name, search for it and filter by first name. For example, if you know they used to work at Microsoft:
- Search “Microsoft”
- Filter by first name
- Browse for their name within people profiles who used to work at Microsoft
The “Past” filter under “Company” on the left sidebar allows you to focus on profiles of people who have worked at that company in the past.
Search by School
If you know where someone went to school, search for the school name and filter by first name to uncover their profile.
For example:
- Search “Harvard” and select “People” tab
- Filter profiles by first name on the left side
- Scan for their name among people who went to Harvard
You can search by university or college name if you know where they studied. The school filter makes it easy to focus just on alumni.
Contact Mutual Connections
If your searches aren’t successful, reach out to any mutual connections you share and ask them for help contacting the person. Send them a message like:
“Hi [name], hope you’re doing well! I’m trying to find my old colleague [first name] who I think you’re also connected to. I can’t seem to find them on LinkedIn with just their first name. Do you have any contact info you could share so I can get back in touch?”
If they have the person’s contact info or full profile details they can pass it along to help you get connected.
Post on LinkedIn Asking for Help
Make a post on your own LinkedIn profile explaining that you’re looking to get back in touch with someone from your past but need help locating their full name or profile. Provide any context or details that can help identify them.
For example:
“Hi everyone, hoping to tap into the collective wisdom of my network here! I’m trying to find my old college friend [first name] who I think now works in journalism in the Chicago area. I’ve been searching LinkedIn but can only find her first name. If anyone can help me get her full name or profile info I’d really appreciate it!”
If any of your connections know the person and details that can identify them, they may be able to provide information to help find their profile.
Join LinkedIn Premium
A LinkedIn Premium account unlocks extra search features like viewing full profiles of people who’ve viewed yours. You may be able to identify the full profile of the person you’re searching for if they’ve recently looked at your profile.
Premium also lets you do advanced boolean search using operators like AND and OR to combine search parameters. This can help narrow down results and zero in on the specific profile you want to find.
Some key Premium search features include:
- Seeing full profiles of viewers in last 90 days
- Advanced search operators
- More search filters
- Unlimited InMail messages
The paid features remove some LinkedIn search limitations, so it’s worth trying a Premium free trial if you’re hitting roadblocks.
Look Beyond LinkedIn
If you still can’t find the person on LinkedIn, expand your search to other social networks and resources:
- Search Facebook for their name and location or school/workplace
- Try searching Google for their name plus location or other keywords
- Search their email on a site like Hunter to uncover their contact details
- Try searching their name on sites like Pipl or PeekYou
- Search public records listings for potential matches
Additional online searches may uncover details like a full name, email address, social media profiles or contact information. Sites like Spokeo or ZoomInfo compile data from various sources that can aid a search.
As a last resort, you may need to post on additional networks like Facebook asking if anyone knows the specific person and can share their info to get back in touch.
Conclusion
Searching LinkedIn with only a first name can be challenging but is often possible with the right techniques. Combining their name with location details, company, school, skills and other keywords can help uncover a profile. Browsing connections, joining relevant groups and reaching out to mutual contacts for assistance can aid your search. In some cases you may need to expand the search to resources beyond LinkedIn to identify details necessary to find their profile and contact them.