Define and use names in formulas
By using names, you can make your formulas much easier to understand and maintain. You can define a name for a cell range, function, constant, or table. Once you adopt the practice of using names in your workbook, you can easily update, audit, and manage these names.
What do you want to do?
Learn more about using names
A name is a meaningful shorthand that makes it easier to understand the purpose of a cell reference, constant, formula, or table, each of which may be difficult to comprehend at first glance. The following information shows common examples of names and how they can improve clarity and understanding.
| Example Type | Example with no name | Example with a name |
| Reference | =SUM(C20:C30) | =SUM(FirstQuarterSales) |
| Constant | =PRODUCT(A5,8.3) | =PRODUCT(Price,WASalesTax) |
| Formula | =SUM(VLOOKUP(A1,B1:F20,5,FALSE), -G5) | =SUM(Inventory_Level,-Order_Amt) |
| Table | C4:G36 | =TopSales06 |
Types of names
There are several types of names that you can create and use.
Defined name A name that represents a cell, range of cells, formula, or constant value. You can create your own defined name, and Microsoft Office Excel sometimes creates a defined name for you, such as when you set a print area.
Table name A name for an Excel table, which is a collection of data about a particular subject that is stored in records (rows) and fields (columns). Excel creates a default Excel table name of Table1, Table2, and so on, each time that you insert an Excel table, but you can change a table's name to make it more meaningful. For more information about Excel tables, see Using structured references with Excel tables.
The scope of a name
All names have a scope, either to a specific worksheet (also called the local worksheet level) or to the entire workbook (also called the global workbook level). The scope of a name is the location within which the name is recognized without qualification. For example:
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If you have defined a name, such as Budget_FY08, and its scope is Sheet1, that name, if not qualified, is recognized only in Sheet1, but not in other sheets without qualification.
To use a local worksheet name in another worksheet, you can qualify it by preceding it with the worksheet name, as the following example shows:
Sheet1!Budget_FY08
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If you have defined a name, such as Sales_Dept_Goals, and its scope is the workbook, that name is recognized for all worksheets in that workbook, but not for any other workbook.
A name must always be unique within its scope. Excel prevents you from defining a name that is not unique within its scope. However you can use the same name in different scopes. For example, you can define a name, such as GrossProfit that is scoped to Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3 in the same workbook. Although each name is the same, each name is unique within its scope. You might do this to ensure that a formula that uses the name, GrossProfit, is always referencing the same cells at the local worksheet level.
You can even define the same name, GrossProfit, for the global workbook level, but again the scope is unique. In this case, however, there can be a name conflict. To resolve this conflict, by default Excel uses the name that is defined for the worksheet because the local worksheet level takes precedence over the global workbook level. If you want to override the precedence and you want to use the workbook name, you can disambiguate the name by prefixing the workbook name as the following example shows:
WorkbookFile!GrossProfit
You can override the local worksheet level for all worksheets in the workbook, with the exception of the first worksheet, which always uses the local name if there is a name conflict and cannot be overridden.
Defining and entering names
You define a name by using the:
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Name box on the formula bar This is best used for creating a workbook level name for a selected range.
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Create a name from selection You can conveniently create names from existing row and column labels by using a selection of cells in the worksheet.
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New Name dialog box This is best used for when you want more flexibility in creating names, such as specifying a local worksheet level scope or creating a name comment.
Note: By default, names use absolute cell references.
You can enter a name by:
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Typing Typing the name, for example, as an argument to a formula.
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Using Formula AutoComplete Use the Formula AutoComplete drop-down list, where valid names are automatically listed for you.
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Selecting from the Use in Formula command Select a defined name from a list available from the Use in Formula command in the Defined Names group on the Formulas tab.
Auditing names
You can also create a list of defined names in a workbook. Locate an area with two empty columns on the worksheet (the list will contain two columns, one for the name and one for a description of the name). Select a cell that will be the upper-left corner of the list. On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Use in Formula, click Paste and then, in the Paste Names dialog box, click Paste List.
Learn about syntax rules for names
The following is a list of syntax rules that you need to be aware of when you create and edit names.
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Valid characters The first character of a name must be a letter, an underscore character (_), or a backslash (\). Remaining characters in the name can be letters, numbers, periods, and underscore characters.
Tip: You cannot use the uppercase and lowercase characters "C", "c", "R", or "r" as a defined name, because they are all used as a shorthand for selecting a row or column for the currently selected cell when you enter them in a Name or Go To text box.
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Cell references disallowed Names cannot be the same as a cell reference, such as Z$100 or R1C1.
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Spaces are not valid Spaces are not allowed as part of a name. Use the underscore character (_) and period (.) as word separators, such as, Sales_Tax or First.Quarter.
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Name length A name can contain up to 255 characters.
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Case sensitivity Names can contain uppercase and lowercase letters. Excel does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase characters in names. For example, if you created the name Sales and then create another name called SALES in the same workbook, Excel prompts you to choose a unique name.
Define a name for a cell or cell range on a worksheet
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Select the cell, range of cells, or nonadjacent selections that you want to name.
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Click the Name box at the left end of the formula bar.
Name box
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Type the name that you want to use to refer to your selection. Names can be up to 255 characters in length.
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Press ENTER.
Note: You cannot name a cell while you are changing the contents of the cell.
Define a name by using a selection of cells in the worksheet
You can convert existing row and column labels to names.
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Select the range that you want to name, including the row or column labels.
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On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Create from Selection.
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In the Create Names from Selection dialog box, designate the location that contains the labels by selecting the Top row, Left column, Bottom row, or Right column check box. A name created by using this procedure refers only to the cells that contain values and does not include the existing row and column labels.
Define a name by using the New Name dialog box
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On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Define Name.
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In the New Name dialog box, in the Name box, type the name that you want to use for your reference.
Note: Names can be up to 255 characters in length.
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To specify the scope of the name, in the Scope drop-down list box, select Workbook or the name of a worksheet in the workbook.
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Optionally, in the Comment box, enter a descriptive comment up to 255 characters.
Note: If you save the workbook to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Excel Services, and you specify one or more parameters, the comment is used as a ScreenTip in the Parameters Task Pane.
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In the Refers to box, do one of the following:
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To enter a cell reference, type the cell reference.
Tip: The current selection is entered by default. To enter other cell references as an argument, click Collapse Dialog
(which temporarily shrinks the dialog box), select the cells on the worksheet, and then click Expand Dialog 
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To enter a constant, type = (equal sign) and then type the constant value.
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To enter a formula, type = and then type the formula.
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To finish and return to the worksheet, click OK.
Tip: To make the New Name dialog box wider or longer, click and drag the grip handle at the bottom.
Manage names by using the Name Manager dialog box
Use the Name Manager dialog box to work with all of the defined names and table names in the workbook. For example, you may want to find names with errors, confirm the value and reference of a name, view or edit descriptive comments, or determine the scope. You can also sort and filter the list of names, and easily add, change, or delete names from one location.
To open the Name Manager dialog box, on the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Name Manager.
View names
The Name Manager dialog box displays the following information about each name in a list box:
| This Column: | Displays: | ||
| Icon and Name | One of the following:
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| Value | The current value of the name, such as the results of a formula, a string constant, a cell range, an error, an array of values, or a placeholder if the formula cannot be evaluated. The following are representative examples:
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| Refers To | The current reference for the name. The following are representative examples:
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| Scope |
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| Comment | Additional information about the name up to 255 characters. The following are representative examples:
Note: If you save the workbook to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Excel Services, and you specify one or more parameters, the comment is used as a ScreenTip in the Parameters Task Pane. |
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You cannot use the Name Manager dialog box while you are changing the contents of the cell.
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The Name Manager dialog box does not display names defined in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), or hidden names (the Visible property of the name is set to "False").
Resize columns
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To automatically size the column to fit the largest value in that column, double-click the right side of the column header.
Sort names
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To sort the list of names in ascending or descending order, alternately click the column header.
Filter names
Use the commands in the Filter drop-down list to quickly display a subset of names. Selecting each command toggles the filter operation on or off, which makes it easy to combine or remove different filter operations to get the results that you want.
To filter the list of names, do one or more of the following:
| Select: | To: |
| Names Scoped To Worksheet | Display only those names that are local to a worksheet. |
| Names Scoped To Workbook | Display only those names that are global to a workbook. |
| Names With Errors | Display only those names with values that contain errors (such as #REF, #VALUE, or #NAME). |
| Names Without Errors | Display only those names with values that do not contain errors. |
| Defined Names | Display only names defined by you or by Excel, such as a print area. |
| Table Names | Display only table names. |
Change a name
If you change a defined name or table name, all uses of that name in the workbook are also changed.
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On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Name Manager.
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In the Name Manager dialog box, click the name that you want to change, and then click Edit.
Tip: You can also double-click the name.
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In the Edit Name dialog box, in the Name box, type the new name for the reference.
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In the Refers to box, change the reference , and then click OK.
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In the Name Manager dialog box, in the Refers to box, change the cell, formula, or constant represented by the name.
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To cancel unwanted or accidental changes, click Cancel
, or press ESC. -
To save changes, click Commit
, or press ENTER.
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The Close button only closes the Name Manager dialog box. It is not required to commit changes that have already been made.
Delete one or more names
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On the Formulas tab, in the Defined Names group, click Name Manager.
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In the Name Manager dialog box, click the name that you want to change.
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Select one or more names by doing one of the following:
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To select a name, click it.
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To select more than one name in a contiguous group, click and drag the names, or press SHIFT and click the mouse button for each name in the group.
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To select more than one name in a noncontiguous group, press CTRL and click the mouse button for each name in the group.
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Click Delete. You can also press DELETE.
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Click OK to confirm the deletion.
The Close button only closes the Name Manager dialog box. It is not required to commit changes that have already been made.
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