Separating First & Last Names

Will you please attach a SMALL sample Excel workbook (10-20 rows of data is usually enough)? However, please give us an indication of the approximate number of rows of data you want the solution to work with (100, 1000, 100,000 or whatever). Please don't attach a picture of an Excel sheet (no-one will want to re-type all your stuff before starting).

1. It does NOT have to be your real sheet - mock up a SAMPLE if you need to. But not 1000's of rows!!! It makes manual checking so tedious. Whatever you do... make sure that all confidential information is removed first!!

2. Make sure that your sample data are truly REPRESENTATIVE of your real data. The use of unrepresentative data is very frustrating and can lead to long delays in reaching a solution. Are there other exceptions, like Fred Bloggs Jr or Fred E. Bloggs Jr and so on...

3. Make sure that your desired solution is also shown (mock up the results manually).

4. Try to avoid using merged cells. They cause lots of problems!

Unfortunately the attachment icon doesn't work at the moment. So, to attach an Excel file you have to do the following: Just before posting, scroll down to Go Advanced and then scroll down to Manage Attachments. Now follow the instructions at the top of that screen.

Try this
Enter formula in B2 and drag formula across to D2 and down

Formula:

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v	A	B	C	D
1	Names	F. Name	M. Name	L. Name
2	John B Doe	John	B	Doe
3	John Doe	John		Doe
4	Richard Jay Flint	Richard	Jay	Flint
5	George T Clooney	George	T	Clooney
6	Larry Bird	Larry		Bird