Name search
OFAC Name Search That Finds the Spelling You Did Not Type
An OFAC name search looks up a person by name on the OFAC sanctions lists to see whether they are a listed party. A good search also finds other spellings, transliterations and aliases of the same name, then uses date of birth and country to rule out namesakes.
What is an OFAC name search
An OFAC name search is the most common form of an OFAC check. You enter the name of a person and compare it with the entries on the SDN list and the OFAC consolidated non-SDN lists. Each entry holds a primary name, often several aliases marked as strong or weak, and details such as date of birth, place of birth, nationality and passport numbers.
The hard part is that names do not travel well. A name written in Arabic, Cyrillic, Persian or Chinese script can be spelled in Latin letters in many ways. Families order given names and surnames differently. People use nicknames, short forms and married names. An exact match search misses all of these, which is why a name search needs fuzzy matching.
The opposite problem is just as real. Common names produce many look alike results. Without a date of birth or a country to compare, every one of them looks like a possible match and someone has to clear it by hand.
Five reasons a name search misses or over matches
Knowing why names drift helps you search better and read results with more confidence.
Each of these is handled by the matching in OfacScanner, but they are worth knowing when you review a result or when you search by hand.
Spelling variants
Mohammed, Muhammad, Mohamad and Mehmet can all be the same name. Small vowel and consonant changes are normal, so a search should score by spelling distance, not demand an exact string.
Transliteration
A Russian name in Cyrillic can be written Aleksandr, Alexandr or Alexander. Chinese names in pinyin may drop or add spaces. Comparing the Latin forms of each script catches these.
Word order
Some lists and some customers write the surname first. Lopez Maria and Maria Lopez must meet. Scoring that ignores word order where it should finds both.
Nicknames and short forms
Bill and William, Sasha and Aleksandr. Lists record known aliases, so searching aliases matters as much as the primary name.
Very common names
A short, common name returns many candidates. Here the name alone cannot decide anything, and secondary data does the real work.
One name typed three ways
The same fictional person entered with different spellings and details. Notice how the date of birth changes the rating.
What you search
- Aleksandr Zarevkin, individual
- Alexander Zarevkine, individual, born 1962, Russia
- Alexander Zarevkin, individual, born 1991, Canada
What you get
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Aleksandr Zarevkin
Strong alias match, no date of birth to compare
90/100 Likely match -
Alexander Zarevkine
Transliteration match, birth year and country fit
98/100 Exact match -
Alexander Zarevkin
Name close, birth year and country do not fit
72/100 Review
Example data for illustration. The names are fictional. Real results show the listed entry, the alias that matched, the sanctions program and the list version date.
How to run a good OFAC name search
Five habits that give you fewer false alarms and fewer misses.
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01
Use the full legal name
Enter the name as it appears on an ID document, with all given names. Avoid initials when you have the full form.
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02
Set the type to individual
Choosing individual keeps companies and vessels out of the results, so a person is never scored high against a ship.
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03
Add date of birth and country
These are the fastest way to confirm or clear a candidate. A wrong birth year usually ends the question for a common name.
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04
Try the original script form
If you have the name in its own script, search that too. Transliteration runs both ways and may surface an alias you did not think of.
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05
Record what you decided
Clear or escalate each candidate with a short reason. OfacScanner saves it with the score breakdown as evidence.
Searching a company instead of a person
Company names bring their own traps, such as legal suffixes, trading names and former names. They also raise the OFAC 50 percent rule, where an entity owned 50 percent or more by blocked persons is blocked even if its name is not listed. Read our guide to OFAC business search for those cases. For a whole customer file of names, use batch sanctions screening instead of one search at a time.
OFAC name search questions
Another question? Write to [email protected].
Can I search OFAC by name for free?
Why does a search show people with different names?
What if the customer has no date of birth on file?
Do I need to search every alias a customer uses?
Is a name match proof that the person is sanctioned?
Keep exploring
Screen your first name in seconds
Type a person or company name, see the risk rating and top candidates from the current OFAC list, and keep the evidence when you sign up.
Results support your compliance decisions, and the final decision stays with your team. OfacScanner is not affiliated with OFAC or the U.S. Department of the Treasury.