To sound familiar; to spark a memory, to remind of something

He says we know each other from high school, but his name doesn't ring a bell. Does his face ring a bell with you?

Dice che ci conosciamo dai tempi del liceo, ma il suo nome non mi dice niente. A te ricorda qualcosa?

Your name has a familiar ring. Do I know you from somewhere?

Il suo nome mi suona familiare. Ci siamo già incontrati da qualche parte?

How many cm in one meter? Does one hundred ring a bell?

Quanti cm in un metro? Il numero 100 ti dice qualcosa?

This American idiom, from the early 1900s, reminds us that bells have always been used to remind, signal and alert people of both important events and everyday activities. So, if something like a name, a face or a date "rings a bell," it causes you to remember something