A single space separates the two names.Ĭopy the cells in the table and paste into an Excel worksheet at cell A1. This example separates two components: first name and last name. You can also split text into different columns with the Convert Text to Columns Wizard This article shows you how to extract various components from a variety of name formats using these handy functions. Some names in your list may contain a middle name, in which case, the last name begins after the second instance of a space. The positions of the spaces within the text string are also important because they indicate the beginning or end of name components in a string.įor example, in a cell that contains only a first and last name, the last name begins after the first instance of a space. The key to distributing name components with text functions is the position of each character within a text string. For example, you can distribute the first, middle, and last names from a single cell into three separate columns.

You can use the LEFT, MID, RIGHT, SEARCH, and LEN text functions to manipulate strings of text in your data. Excel for Microsoft 365 Excel for Microsoft 365 for Mac Excel for the web Excel 2021 Excel 2021 for Mac Excel 2019 Excel 2019 for Mac Excel 2016 Excel 2016 for Mac Excel 2013 Excel Web App Excel 2010 Excel 2007 Excel for Mac 2011 More.