With the technology available today, public information is easy to obtain if you have the right tools.

There are several reasons you might want to find someone's name with an email address. First, if someone keeps spamming you, you can find out their identity and report them to the proper authorities.

Second, if someone is stalking or threatening you, you can find out their identity and take the appropriate action. Your findings can even be used as evidence in court, along with the threatening emails they have sent to you.

Third, if someone keeps sending you an email and doesn't mention their name, you might delete or ignore the message without reading it. What if you are missing out on an important message from a friend, family member, or an old classmate? You would be able to solve the mystery easily by doing an email search.

If all you are needing is someone's name, simply go to the website of the sender's email provider and perform a search. For instance, if the email address ends with "@hotmail.com", you know they are using Hotmail. Simply go to the Hotmail website and type in their email address to do a search. Additionally, you can go to search engines like Google or Yahoo and enter the email address to see if there are any search results that come up.

Unfortunately, when you are doing searches such as this, you may get false or incomplete information. One reason for this is because it is easy for people to register emails under false names. It is also easy for people to opt out of lists, databases, or other public information portals. Since most free search sites just access user-controlled databases, the information you may not be accurate or complete.

If you need to be sure that the information you have received is accurate, or if you need more information than just someone's name, there are sites that do a more advanced search for a small fee. The cost of a lifetime membership is usually about $25 and includes unlimited searches. These sites have access to numerous databases and also comb the social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace.

Ultimately, if you use a site that charges a nominal fee, the result is much more accurate, authentic, and complete information about a person, even if the person has tried his best to hide behind a fake email address or has hidden his personal information from public view. I think you'll share my view that accurate information is essential and well worth the small charge of a membership.