What to use as a key in a Dictionary

Hi

I've just started trying to understand Collections and Dictionaries. My question is;

If I had 50 thousand employees names and I wanted them in a Dictionary, with no unique key like a Dictionary requires. How would I go about assigning a unique key to them soo I could put them in a Dictionary rather than a Collection?

Thanks

In a database I would add it as an autonumber and set to a primary key.

I am having trouble understanding what you are trying to do. Are you saying you have 50,000 names and that is it... no other associated data with them? If so, what is your ultimate goal for these names? To me, a simple array might seem like the proper vehicle for them. By the way, where are these 50,000 names located at... on a worksheet, in a text file, somewhere else?