A method and apparatus for searching for a desired directory entry in phone book data of a mobile communication terminal is disclosed. A terminal phone book directory has one or more data entry fields such as hot-key, name, and phone number. Using the terminal keypad, the user enters a sequence of numbers, and according to the number of digits in the sequence of numbers, the terminal searches for directory entries wherein one or more data fields have a matching numerical sequence. All directory entries having a matching sequence are then displayed for the user to select the desired entry. Wild-card characters may be used in the sequence of numbers.