The present system provides an efficient and reliable method for name searching within an email, workflow or groupware application. The present invention uses a plurality of different searching algorithms such as an exact algorithm and a fuzzy algorithm. The exact algorithm is used to provide a first set of a limited number of results from a names database. The fuzzy algorithm is then used to search through only the first set of results to quickly provide a ranked results list of names that is displayed to a user. The user is then able to select the appropriate name from the results list for further processing using the computer application.