There are a few quick and easy things you can do in the beginning to match a phone number to a person

1.Call the person up- Remember that the purpose of the call is to flesh out who the phone number belongs to, so make sure to conceal your identity. You could also have someone else make the call for you. You can also call from a pay phone if you don't want to risk have the same problems happen to the person helping you.
2.Google it- Use an online search engine like Google, MSN, or Yahoo to help you with your search. This can help you trace phone numbers from telemarketers or businesses that use mass calling systems, however, it is not particularly useful if you want to locate a cell phone owner.
3.Free Phone Directories- You can also trace cell phone numbers by using a directory like the Whitepages, 411, or Anywho. These are basically online Whitebooks that will help you trace phone numbers from landlines and home phones.
4.Paid Membership Directories- If you want to run a cell phone number search, another option is to subscribe to a cell phone directory. For a fee you can look up all the numbers in a cell phone directory. I would not recommend this method because most people need to subscribe to more than one directory to find the number, making it a costly and time consuming alternative.
5.Reverse cell phone number finder- This is your best option. For a small fee, you can submit a phone number to the reverse cell phone number finder and a report will come back showing you the name, address, phone connection status, and carrier information of the person. Their databases are much more comprehensive than you other online options.

I would suggest that you try the first three alternatives because they are free, quick, and easy. But chances are, if you have stumbled across this page you have exhausted those options. You best option now is to use a reverse cell phone number finder. They are quick and easy, and they search both landlines and cell phone numbers. Goodluck with your search!