What is CNAM Lookup?

How CNAM Works

When you make a phone call, your carrier sends your phone number to the recipient's carrier. The terminating carrier looks up that number in its CNAM database to find the associated name, which it displays as caller ID.

CNAM lookup APIs let you query this same data programmatically for any phone number.

What CNAM Returns

A typical CNAM lookup returns:

• Caller Name — The registered name (up to 15 characters)
• Name Type — Person, business, or unknown
• Presentation — Whether the name is available or restricted

CNAM Limitations

• 15-character limit — Names are truncated
• Carrier-dependent — Quality varies by carrier
• User-updateable — Some carriers let customers change their CNAM
• Not always current — Updates may take days to propagate

CNAM Use Cases

Identity Verification

Compare the CNAM result against a provided name to verify identity:

• Account signups — Does the caller ID match the application?
• Payment verification — Does the name match the cardholder?
• Lead validation — Is this a real person/business?

CRM Enrichment

Add caller name data to customer records:

• Fill in missing contact names
• Update outdated records
• Identify business vs. personal numbers

Fraud Screening

Flag suspicious patterns:

• Name doesn't match provided identity
• CNAM blocked or unavailable
• Generic or suspicious names

API Example

curl -X POST https://api-service.verirouteintel.io/api/v1/cnam \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"phone_number": "15551234567"}'

# Response
{
  "data": {
    "number": "15551234567",
    "cnam": "JOHN SMITH"
  },
  "errors": []
}

Best Practices

1. Don't rely solely on CNAM — Use it as one data point among many
2. Combine with LRN — Get carrier data alongside caller name
3. Handle missing data gracefully — Not all numbers have CNAM
4. Cache appropriately — CNAM doesn't change frequently