Removing data from cell within an excel spreadsheet

[Guest]

I have a very large spreadsheet in which column A contains a list of names
e.g. Fred Bloggs. I need only the surname in this column - is there anyway I
can remove the christian name without having to do this individually cell by
cell.

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

I have a very large spreadsheet in which column A contains a list of names
e.g. Fred Bloggs. I need only the surname in this column - is there anyway I
can remove the christian name without having to do this individually cell by
cell.

Yes you can. And the manner depends on exactly how the names are formatted.

If the surname is always the last word in the cell, then it can be extracted
using the formula:

=MID(A1,FIND(CHAR(1),SUBSTITUTE(
A1," ",CHAR(1),LEN(A1)-LEN(
SUBSTITUTE(A1," ",""))))+1,255)

If other formats are possible, you will need to post them here.

In B1 enter the above formula, then copy/drag down as far as needed.


--ron

 

[Guest]

Many thanks - you have saved me an awful lot of time.

Regards
Dawn

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

Many thanks - you have saved me an awful lot of time.

Regards
Dawn

You're welcome. Glad to help. Thanks for the feedback.
--ron

 

[Guest]

Ron

Could you also let me know the formula to use to so I can extract the
christian name from the column.

Many thanks

Dawn

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

Ron

Could you also let me know the formula to use to so I can extract the
christian name from the column.

Many thanks

Dawn

Try this:

=LEFT(A1,FIND(CHAR(1),SUBSTITUTE(
A1," ",CHAR(1),LEN(A1)-LEN(
SUBSTITUTE(A1," ",""))))-1)


--ron

 

[Guest]

Ron

Again, many thanks - that also worked.

Regards
Dawn