Separate names into 2 columns?

[Ltat42a]

I have a column of names (first & last name). Is it possible to separate
them into two columns - 1 column for first name, next column for last
name?

Thanx...JF

 

[Hernandez, Roberto]

Yes.
Use the Menu Data--> Text to columns wizard....
And voila!

 

[Guest]

I don't know if it is appropriate to bogart onto someone else's post but is
it possible to do this in reverse. That is take first and last name or First
name, spouse first name and Last name information from separate columns and
combine it into one column ie John & Jane Smith or John Smith

 

[Gord Dibben]

John in A1

Jane in B1

Smith in C1

In D1 enter =A1 & " & " & B1 & " " & C1

Returns John & Jane Smith


Gord Dibben Excel MVP

 

[Guest]

Add in an IF statement and it works like a charm all in one column.

Thanks

 

[Gord Dibben]

?????

Gord

Add in an IF statement and it works like a charm all in one column.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

The purpose is to print a mailing label when
A1 is the first name
B1 is either the spouse first name or blank (if no spouse)
C1 is the last name

the IF statement simply determines if the ampersand (&) needs to be printed
by determining if the spouse name is blank. Therefore you get either "John &
Jane Smith" or "John Smith" but not "John & Smith"

I used =IF(B2>0,A2 & " & " &B2 &" "& C2,A2 & " "& C2)

 

[Gord Dibben]

Gotcha.

Thanks for the explanation. I now see's the purpose of the IF and the glaring
error of my not error trapping.


Gord

The purpose is to print a mailing label when
A1 is the first name
B1 is either the spouse first name or blank (if no spouse)
C1 is the last name

the IF statement simply determines if the ampersand (&) needs to be printed
by determining if the spouse name is blank. Therefore you get either "John &
Jane Smith" or "John Smith" but not "John & Smith"

I used =IF(B2>0,A2 & " & " &B2 &" "& C2,A2 & " "& C2)

 

[David McRitchie]

Even though you got more complicated but solved problem with the ampersand,
you might still be interested in macros to join or to split columns
and some others that might also be useful in preparing data for Mail Merge.
JOIN, SepTerm, SepLastTerm, firstname, lastname, fixUSzip5
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/join.htm

Also have a page on printing labels with Mail Merge
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/mailmerg.htm

The purpose is to print a mailing label when
A1 is the first name
B1 is either the spouse first name or blank (if no spouse)
C1 is the last name

the IF statement simply determines if the ampersand (&) needs to be printed
by determining if the spouse name is blank. Therefore you get either "John &
Jane Smith" or "John Smith" but not "John & Smith"

I used =IF(B2>0,A2 & " & " &B2 &" "& C2,A2 & " "& C2)