How to Find a Lost Cousin

by Alexandra Perloe

Overview

Have you lost touch with a cousin and want to send a wedding invitation, birth announcement or simply a card to say hi? There are several ways to find either a phone number, mailing address or email address for your lost cousin. Most searches involve the Internet, and some involve old-fashioned snail mail.
If You Have Geographical Information

Step 1

Send a note to your cousin's last known address, if you know it, and write "Please Forward" on the outside of the envelope. The U.S. Postal Service may forward your letter to your cousin's new address if the move from the old address took place within the past year and your cousin requested mail forwarding.
Step 2

Use an Internet directory such as whitepages.com. Type your cousin's first initial and last name, as well as the state (and city if you know it). Scroll through the results to find your cousin. Depending on how common your cousin's last name is, you may get many results or only a few. Either way, you can reject any names that are obviously wrong, like those that give a full first name other than that of your cousin. Contact each person on the list either via phone or written mail if you have a manageable number of names. You don't need to include your last name (though they will be able to find it through reverse phone or address searches) but do say your first name and why you are calling.
Step 3

Call 411 or 1-800-FREE-411 if you prefer phone over Internet. Give the operator as much information as you have.

If You Have Very Little Information

Step 1

Use just your cousin's name to search the Internet for contact information.
Step 2

Type your cousin's name into a search engine like Google. Your search might land you at your cousin's personal or business website and lead you to contact information.
Step 3

Try social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. In particular, look at lists of mutual friends that you and your relatives share; perhaps another family member is in touch with this cousin. As with other searches, the more information you have, the more you can focus your search.
Step 4

Try other people-searching websites beyond Google or the online phonebook. Some of the best are Spock.com, Wink.com or WikiWorldBook.com.

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Paper or greeting card Pen or pencil Envelope Stamp Phone Computer with Internet access
Paper or greeting card
Pen or pencil
Envelope
Stamp
Phone
Computer with Internet access