Email permutator
In short: Turn a name and company domain into the likely email formats, most common first, and check the top ones live. Limit: On a catch-all domain every guess is accepted, so the tool cannot tell which one is the person.
An email permutator turns a name and a company domain into every address that person is likely to have. Enter both and this tool lists up to 30 formats, most common first: first.last@, jsmith@, jane@ and the rest. Then it can check the top 8 against the company’s mail server, after testing whether the domain accepts every address.
Sample result
[email protected] is the one: the mail server confirmed that mailbox exists.
- Found
- [email protected]
- Pattern
- flast
- Catch-all probe
- Not catch-all
What this means for you
Write to this address instead of guessing; the server said yes and is not a catch-all.
- Up to 30 patterns, most common first
- Catch-all probe before any mailbox check
- Stops at the first confirmed mailbox
- Three searches per ten minutes
- Patterns
- SMTP
- Catch-all
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated
What email formats do companies use?
Most companies use one rule for every employee, and three rules cover most business email. The rule is set once, when the mail system is configured. In Sendburg’s analysis of 336,782 work addresses, first.last@ made up 47.7%, flast@ (first initial plus surname) 26.8% and first@ 8.1%. Every other named format was under 2.5% each. That is one vendor’s view of its own database, not a census, but its method is published, and it is the ranking the tool uses for the formats it covers. Formats it does not cover are listed after them, in an order we chose and label as our own.
Company size moves the odds. In the same data, first.last rises from about 38% at companies of 1–10 people to 74% above 10,000, because a big company has several Janes and needs a scheme that scales. At an owner-run business, try first@ before first.last@. The full breakdown is in our guide to company email formats.
How do I find a company’s email format?
Find one real address at the company and read the rule from it, because one real address tells you the rule for everyone. Before guessing, look for any published address at the company: the team, contact or careers pages, a search for "@company.com" in quotes, press releases, conference speaker pages, or a signature in any email you have from someone there. Two checks before you use it: make sure the email domain is the one in the real address, not just the website domain, and remember a published address can outlive the person.
Names do not always map cleanly. The tool strips accents (José becomes jose) and apostrophes (O’Brien becomes obrien), and for a multi-part surname such as Smith-Jones or de la Cruz it adds variants with the parts joined, hyphenated, or only one part used. It cannot know a nickname, so if the person goes by Kate rather than Katherine, enter the name they actually use. A second person with the same name may have a number or a middle initial added; the middle-name field covers the latter.
More methods, from website pages to LinkedIn, are in how to find someone’s business email.
How does the permutator check which address is real?
It asks the company’s mail server about each candidate without sending anything, and stops at the first mailbox that exists. “Find the right one” looks up the domain’s MX records, then our verification server asks the mail host whether it would accept mail for an address and hangs up before anything is sent. It asks about a randomly generated address first. Then it tries the top 8 candidates in order, one at a time, and stops at the first mailbox that exists. Your browser sends only the name and domain; the server rebuilds the candidate list itself, so the tool cannot be pointed at a list of arbitrary addresses.
Guessing at a mail server is exactly what spammers do, and servers notice. That is why this tool is limited to three searches per ten minutes, a handful per domain per hour, and stops as soon as it has an answer or the server stops giving clear ones.
Why do catch-all domains break email guessing?
Because a catch-all domain accepts mail for every address, real or not. Ask it about jane.smith@, jsmith@ and a string of random letters and it says yes to all three, so a mailbox check cannot tell you which guess is the person. That is why the random probe runs first: if it is accepted, the tool stops, shows you the list, and points to the most common format as the best unconfirmed guess.
On those domains, look for other evidence, such as any published address showing the format, and if you send, treat the address as risky: a separate small batch, removed the moment it bounces. See how to send to catch-all emails, or test a domain on its own with the catch-all checker.
Can I email an address I found with a permutator?
Not automatically: finding an address is not permission to email it. In the US, CAN-SPAM lets you send commercial email without consent, but the FTC lists addresses “generated by a dictionary attack”, combining names and letters into many permutations, as an aggravating factor. Confirming one likely address before a single message is different from mailing every permutation to see what sticks; do the first, never the second. In the UK and EU, a named work address is personal data, so you need a lawful basis, and the ePrivacy rules (PECR in the UK) decide separately whether an unsolicited email may be sent at all.
Read is it legal to collect business emails and GDPR and B2B cold email before you build a list this way. This page is general information, not legal advice.
How do I find someone's email address with their name and company?
- Enter the person's first and last name, a middle name if you know it, and the company's email domain.
- Review the list of up to 30 likely addresses, most common format first. You can copy any of them.
- Press Find the right one. The server first tests whether the domain accepts a random address, then checks the top 8 candidates one at a time and stops at the first mailbox that exists.
- Read the outcome: found, catch-all, not found or inconclusive. On a catch-all domain the most common format is shown as the best unconfirmed guess. Before you send, make sure you have a lawful reason to email the person.
Example
- You enter
- First name Jane, last name Doe, domain acme.example.
- You get
- Up to 30 likely formats are listed, most common first. The server finds acme.example is not a catch-all, rejects
[email protected]and confirms[email protected]as an existing mailbox, then stops. - Limits
- Checks at most 8 candidates per search, with 3 searches per 10 minutes per visitor and 4 per domain per hour.
What is the most common company email format?
first.last@ by a wide margin. These are the top three formats in Sendburg's analysis of 336,782 B2B work addresses (16 July 2026), the ranking the tool uses:
| Format | Example for Jane Doe at acme.com | Share |
|---|---|---|
| first.last | [email protected] | 47.7% |
| first initial + last | [email protected] | 26.8% |
| first | [email protected] | 8.1% |
One vendor's view of its own database, not a census. Small companies lean towards first name only.
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- Cold emailers
- Find the address of one decision-maker you already know by name, confirm it, and send one well-researched email rather than guessing at every pattern.
- Recruiters
- Reach a passive candidate at their work address when you know their name and employer. For a list of names, use the bulk email permutator.
- Agencies
- Work out a client prospect's company format once, then apply it by hand to other names at the same company. If you have one real address, name from email shows the pattern it follows.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- On a catch-all domain every guess is accepted, so the tool cannot tell which one is the person.
- It cannot know nicknames, a separate email domain, or a number added for a second person with the same name. If none of the top 8 exists, the person may use one of those.
- A valid result means the mailbox exists, not that it belongs to that person. It could be a namesake or a reassigned mailbox.
- The free tool allows three searches per ten minutes and a few per domain per hour, to protect the mail servers it asks.
- The ranking comes from one published dataset. Formats outside its top ten are ordered by our own rule.
Sources
Common questions
- What is an email permutator?
- A tool that takes a person's name and their company's domain and lists every address they are likely to have, such as jane.smith@, jsmith@ and jane@. It is a starting point, not an answer: a permutator only guesses, and one of its guesses becomes an email address you can use once a mail server confirms that mailbox exists.
- What is the most common company email format?
- [email protected]. Sendburg's analysis of its own B2B database (336,782 work emails, 16 July 2026) found it in 47.7% of addresses, followed by first initial plus last name (jsmith@) at 26.8% and first name only (jane@) at 8.1%. Larger companies use first.last more often; very small firms lean towards first name only.
- How do I find someone's email address with their name and company?
- Find one real address at the company, from its website, a press release or an email signature, and read the format from it. Apply that format to the person's name, then verify the address before sending. If you cannot find any address at the company, generate the common patterns and check them one at a time, most common first.
- Why can't the tool tell me which address is right on some domains?
- Because the domain is catch-all: its mail server accepts every address, real or invented, so a mailbox check gets the same yes for each guess. The tool tests a random address first and stops if it is accepted. On those domains the pattern can only be confirmed by other evidence, or by sending and watching for a bounce.
- Does a valid result mean the email belongs to that person?
- No. Valid means the mail server confirmed that mailbox exists right now. It does not confirm who reads it: an address can belong to someone else with the same name, a shared inbox, or a mailbox reassigned after the original person left. Treat a valid result as strong evidence and check it against a second source when it matters.
- How can I find someone's email address for free?
- Look for one published address at their company, read the format from it and apply it to their name. If you cannot find one, enter the name and company domain above: the permutator lists the likely addresses and checks the top ones for free, three searches per ten minutes.
- Can I find someone's email address from their phone number?
- Not with a permutator. It builds addresses from a name and a company domain, and a phone number carries neither, so there is nothing to build an address from.
- Is it legal to guess someone's work email address?
- Finding an address is generally lawful, but it is not permission to email it. In the US, CAN-SPAM treats sending to addresses generated by combining names into many permutations as an aggravating factor. In the UK and EU, a named work address is personal data, so you need a lawful basis and the separate ePrivacy rules decide whether you may send at all.
One person here. A whole list in the finder.
The free permutator checks one name at a time, three times per ten minutes. The SimpleVerifier email finder takes several people at once, tries the likely patterns for each, verifies them with the same SMTP check, and tells you when a domain is catch-all instead of handing you a guess. Finder searches are included on the paid plan, under fair use.
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