How have you handled large Sql queries

I have a sql control that is performing a query against a list of about 28,000 possible entries.  Essentially it is a list of names inside our database.  I'm displaying the control as a drop down list so poeple can choose the name they want.  This will allow me to populate other fields in the form like address and phone number.  I've noticed while in Chrome, I'm seeing no performance issues.  However, trying it in Explorer it is definitely noticebly slower on form load and when you click on the drop down.  There is a small performance hit in Edge and Firefox.  I know the issue is this sql query as when I removed that control from the form, the performance issue went away.  I'm curious what others have done to try and make forms more performant when querying a large amount of data.  A type ahead feature would be really nice where you could begin typing the person's name and you could then select from a shortened list.  Unfortunately, I do not see how I could impliment that.  Any ideas out there?