Changing order of names

**lotusfixer** · 12-12-2012, 05:46 PM

I'm working with a list of names and addresses; the names are mostly in this format: last name, comma, first name or names. The names are in column A, addresses are in B, City and State are in C, ZIP is in D.

What I would like to do is employ a macro or formula to change names with commas (which now read last - comma - first) so that they read first-last. Is this possible without rewriting all 200 plus individually?

I'll probably have to be led by the hand; I know virtually nothing about the advanced features of Excel. thanks in advance.

Art

**BB1972** · 12-12-2012, 05:49 PM

Art,

Welcome to the forum. Are you familiar with the "text to columns" feature of Excel?

**Ghozi Alkatiri** · 12-12-2012, 05:57 PM

if at A1 so try it

=MID(A1;FIND(",";A1)+1;LEN(A1))&" "&LEFT(A1;FIND(",";A1)-1)

**lotusfixer** · 12-13-2012, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by BB1972

Art,

Welcome to the forum. Are you familiar with the "text to columns" feature of Excel?

No, I don't know about it. Can you explain?

Art

**BB1972** · 12-13-2012, 09:40 AM

If you select COLUMN A, then on the DATA tab in the ribbon click Text to Columns, you can choose to separate the data in the cells in column A by various characters, such as comma, space etc. So if you choose "comma" as your separator and follow the instructions that follow, you should end up with the LAST names in column A (they will remain there), and the rest of the data (first name/s) will now occupy column B. (Make sure Column B is empty - insert a blank column if necessary, as this procedure will overwrite anything already in column B)

You can now concatenate the contents of columns A & B as follows: in a blank column (assuming your page has headings) type in e.g. E2

Please Login or Register  to view this content.

This will combine the contents of B2 (which should contain a first name) and A2 (which should contain a last name), separated by a " " (space). Copy the formula down as far as required, and you should be sorted out.

Let me know how you get on.