Finding the minimum for each group

[caco4]

Name Date
A 5/9/1997
A 8/19/1998
B 3/3/1997
B 12/19/2003
B 7/1/2004
C 3/30/2006
C 6/20/2006


I would like a single function that returns the earliest date for each name listed. I know the solution is simple but I cannot figure it out. Thanks so much for your help!

[NBVC]

=Min(IF($A$2:$A$100="A",$B$2:$B$100)) will return earliest date in range B2:B100 where A2:A100 = "A".

The formula must be confirmed with CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER not just ENTER...you will see { } brackets appear around the formula.

repeat for each name

if you list the names separately, you can replace "A" with a cell reference containing that name and then you can copy down.

[CalvinL]

I just used this formula with a second "IF" function to filter multiple criteria and it worked great. Thank you !

Cal