Thread: Finding similar names (text) in a list

Hello all!

I have a huge list of names that need sorting. I'm trying to find names that are homophones, eg. Abbie, Abbey, Abbi. Not all the names will have the same first letter, eg. Amina, Emina. I understand there is no exact way to do this, but if I can capture most of these instances that would be great!

I've created some metrics off the top of my head that surround first few letters, last letters, and middle letters, along with length. The more of these that match, the more likely the names will sounds similar I think (although there are certainly exceptions). The problem with this approach is that it does not compare the name in each row with all of the other rows. My formulas only reference the cell above. I'm puzzled.

I've attached a small sample file.

I appreciate all and any help, thank you in advance!

Bump, no reply received. Thank you!

Originally Posted by zbor

Well, it's really hard to create such a code that will recognise AABHA and ABA as same and AARE and AAREN wont.

Yessir,

I do understand this, anything that would at least match some items would be great.

Thank you for your time.

Bump, no reply received. Thank you!