come to mind
spring to mind

Another question came to his mind, one that he often had asked before without hope.

No words came to his mind, but he knew what had happened.

She said the first name that came to her mind.

He tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to his mind.

It was the first name that came to his mind.

He's the one who says the first thing that comes to his mind.

"Then it came back to my mind what happened two years ago."

She had to go right; it was the first thing that came to her mind.

At times he seems to say every single thing that comes to his mind.

Something he had learned in history came to his mind.