count cells that contain part of text

Hi,

I want to use the COUNTIF formula to count the number of cells that contain a text (that is written in a cell). Let me explain, my cells are:

John, Jack
John
Mary
Jack

Now I want to count the cells that contain the word Jack (I want 2 to be displayed). My problem is that I want I want to refer to it as a cell, not as a text. So instead of using =COUNTIF(A1:A4;"*Jack*"), I want to use something like =COUNTIF(A1:A4;(B1)), provided that cell B1 contains the word that I'm looking for (Jack). The problem is that this way I can't use the * because =COUNTIF(A1:A4;*(B1)*) does not seem to work.

I hope I was clear.

Thanks!

How about:

=COUNTIF(A1:A4,"*" & B1 & "*")

Originally Posted by Andrew-R

How about:

=COUNTIF(A1:A4,"*" & B1 & "*")

Thank you for all of you. Works like a charm