Best way to remove items from list

Suppose I have a list of names starting cell A1 and listed downwards, e.g. "Sam" in A1, "Sally" in A2 etc. If I want to delete an entry from this list, what is the best way to then 'move up' the entries below the deleted one so that there is no gap in the list? I know I could use Delete Row but if there are lots of names and lots of entries being deleted (say by a VBA routine) won't this be slow?

Same with inputting a new entry...I could locate the correct row (say the names are alphabetical) so is the best way to insert the new name to first insert a new row?

In both cases I don't want to sort lists, I want the order to stay the same except for adding/deleting an entry.

Thanks
-Rob