Methods and apparatuses are provided for performing a cell search by a receiver in a communication system. A scrambling code is identified by correlating a common pilot channel with a first synchronization accumulation length based on a frame boundary and a code group. A multipath signal is sought by correlating the common pilot channel with a second synchronization accumulation length based on the frame boundary and the code group. A difference between, or a ratio of, a first maximum value of first correlation values acquired during identification of the scrambling code and a second maximum value of second correlation values acquired during searching for the multipath signal, is determined. It is determined whether a frequency offset exists by comparing the difference or the ratio with a predetermined threshold value. The frequency offset is estimated and the frequency offset is transmitted to a demodulator, when the frequency offset exists.