How to Combine First and Last Names in Microsoft Excel

Situatie

Do you want to bring the first and last names that are in separate cells into a single cell? Combining text is easy in Excel, and we’ll show you five different ways to combine names.

Solutie

Method 1: Use Flash Fill

Flash Fill is an Excel feature that automatically fills your cells by recognizing the fill pattern. You manually fill a cell with the kind of data you want, and the feature senses that data and fills all your selected cells accordingly. No formula is necessary with Flash Fill.

In the case of combining names, you manually merge the first and last names for a single record, and Flash Fill recognizes that pattern and merges the names for all your other records automatically.

To use start using Flash Fill, in your spreadsheet, select the first cell where you want to display the combined names. In this cell, type the first and last names together as you’d like them to appear.

Manually enter the first and last name.

Go down a row and start typing the first and last name for your second record. As soon as you begin typing, Flash Fill will sense the pattern and fill all your records in gray color. To confirm you want these cells filled, press Enter on your keyboard.

Press Enter.

And that’s it. Excel has automatically merged the first and last names for all your records.

Merged first and last names.

Method 2: Use the & (Ampersand) Symbol

If you prefer to use an Excel formula to combine names, a simple method for bringing multiple cells’ content into a single cell is to use the & (ampersand) operator. This operator combines the content of your specified cells, allowing you to merge all the cell data you want.

To use this method, in your spreadsheet, select the cell where you want to see the merged names.

Choose a cell.

In the selected cell, type the following formula and press Enter. Here, replace B2 with the cell containing the first name and C2 with the cell that has the last name.

=B2&" "&C2

Note that we’ve added a space enclosed with double quotes so that there’s a space between the first and the last name in the resulting cell.
In your selected cell, you’ll see the first and last names combined.

Combined names.

To copy this formula for all your records, from the bottom-right corner of the cell where you’ve entered the formula, click and drag downwards covering all your records.

If you have a middle name or initial in a separate column and you’d like to merge that as well, add that cell as an argument to the formula. Here, we’ll combine the contents of the cell B2 , C2 , and D2 (in that order), with each cell content separated by a space.

=B2&" "&C2&" "&D2

Alternatively, if you want to combine names so that the last name appears first followed by a comma, use a formula like this.

=D2&", "&B2&" "&C2

Tip solutie

Permanent

Follow Us