Last Updated on August 30, 2021
Quick note: If you landed on this page and you actually have the maiden name, which you want to use for your search, the please see search by maiden name
A maiden name is the last name of a person that they use from birth. It usually changes for women when they get married as they then use the husband’s last name.
In this article we will show you yow to do a free maiden name search and also recommend some of the best free maiden name search engines you can use today. If you are a beginner in people searching we also advise that you check out how to find someone free of charge online.
Whether you are looking to find your mother’s maiden name or you are simply building a family tree and doing research about the female member of the family then you are in the right place.
Trying to do maiden names search free takes you thinking like a private investigator. For starters chances are the person you are looking for is already married and it will be harder to find them using their name on social media sites because they have since taken up their husbands’ name.
So how do you even begin to find a maiden name and be sure of positive results? For starters you need to find information about her early life. Older records contain her actual maiden name so it is a good idea to start there.
High school Alumni, Yearbooks & Reunion sites
For example, find out where she went to school; this could be high school or university and if you can find both, great. Once you have found this then you can find sites that have databases of high schools and pupils listed there.
Use the person’s first name and look out for the results. If there are more than one sharing the same name then use other possible filters to find the one e.g. look at their photo to see if it could be the one you are looking for, or the graduation year.
If still that is not helpful then take both profiles to other people search sites to look for more information that will help you filter as you try to identify the right one.
Sites you can check out include; Classmates.com , Alumnionline.org, AlumniArchive.net, Alumni.net, Classreport, and Ancestry.com where you will find school lists and yearbooks.
Another quick hack is to try and find out if the school has their own directory of former students or alumni site e.g. a website like this high school
County Marriage Records
If you happen to know where someone got married, assuming you already know that they got married then you can try and access their marriage records from the public records of the county where they got married.
All you need to know is their current surname or if you know the name of the person they married as well then your search will be a lot faster. You can then try and access their marriage certificate.
Each county and state has its own different criteria to keep or furnish these records to the public. Even so, they do provide all the necessary steps you need to follow to come up with the information you are looking for.
If the county or state does not have any information on those records, they will show you or give directions to where you might get those records.
Another option might be to just pay a visit to these offices and asking for these details. They might require that you provide identification and reasons for requesting these facts.
Use social media networks
The one good thing about the social networks is that they actually encourage people to register using all their names such as nicknames or maiden names. This increases your chances of your maiden name lookup being a success.
Another option on these networks is to do your search by school, affiliation to an organization or university/college. The idea is to go through the page or group of the school and hopefully find the person you are looking for there or optionally you will find her friends you can contact for help.
Tip: also try out social media networks that are no longer popular but your person of interest might have used. Chances are back then they used their maiden name.
Use a Phone Book
The idea here is to use an online or physical phone book to lookup the person within the area where you know them to have lived (assuming you do). You might fail to turn up results for the person but possibly their family members. See free phone number lookup for more information
Like on the social networks, you can then make an attempt to get in touch with these family members with the hope of putting you in contact with her.
Search for genealogy records
Another option is to use genealogy websites as one of the free maiden name search engines. There are a number of sites that are very helpful in this regard; they can help with genealogy, family trees and even family history. My best recommended one is Ancestry.com.
They offer a free 14 day trial, which is ideal if you are not really invested in genealogy but are simply trying a onetime maiden name lookup free.
Other sites you can check out include FamilySearch.org. This site also has billions of records dating back many years ago. It is very good for finding family members and using these free maiden name search engines is a good idea.
Use People search engines to search for background Info
The other great idea is to use people search engines to get background information about the person. Obviously you would have to search using the person’s current marriage surname or the surname they are using now.
The people finders will provide you with a full report that has historical information about the person. Amongst these may be birth records, which will come with the maiden name or at the least, the full names of the parents.
Some maiden name people search engines include lMylife.com, Spokeo, Pipl and Intelius to name a few but you can see our full list of top people finders here.
Most will charge you a fee to get the full reports starting from as little as $4 for the single report to monthly membership fees of up to $40 per month. If you do not have budget for this you can try use the people search trial websites.
Other ways to search to find someone’s maiden name
- If all the above fails, then try checking out their old neighborhood to see if there are still friends and family there who can assist.
- Try going directly to Google to do your search. Enter the person’s name and maiden name to see what comes up. If it is a generic name Google will return too many results so your best option is to add a filter like phone number or address to your search. You can learn more about doing an effective Google free People search.
Remember, a people search is more rewarding when you have more details on the person you are looking for. Incorporating information like age and location might just do the trick for you as you use all these people finders recommended in this article.
Hey, don’t forget free white pages, they offer some of the best insights.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find my old friend’s maiden name?
To find an old friend’s maiden name you need to follow the same principles as presented in this guide above. Check high school alumni sites, public marriage records, social media and more.
Is surname the same as maiden name?
Yes the surname is the same as a maiden name. This means when searching for the birth name then you can interchange. Note however
that a maiden name can become a middle name if, for example, the woman chooses to use a double barreled surname.
