Reverse First Last Names with Excel Formula

Reverse First Last Names with Excel Formula

If names are in Last, First order in an Excel workbook, use this MID formula to reverse them, in another cell. This short video shows the steps, and how the formula works. There’s a longer video too, that shows a different formula you can use.

Video: Reverse First Last Names with Excel Formula

This short video shows the steps to build a MID formula in Excel, to reverse first and last names, and shows how the formula works.

There are written steps, and other ways to split or reverse names. on to the Split or Reverse Names page on my Contextures site

Video Timeline

  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 00:22 Reverse Names
  • 00:47 Get the Text String
  • 01:35 Get 2 Numbers
  • 01:53 Start Number
  • 02:35 Number of Characters
  • 03:02 MID Function
  • 03:32 Test the Formula
  • 03:47 Get the Workbook

MID Formula to Reverse Names

The formula shown in the video uses the MID function, and the video shows how to build the 3 arguments that the MID function needs.

  • =MID(text, start_num, num_chars)

And here’s the completed formula from the video, where the name is in cell B2

  • =MID(B2&” “&B2,FIND(“, “,B2)+2,LEN(B2)-1)
mid function arguments
MID function arguments

Longer Formula to Reverse Names

The MID formula is much shorter than the old formula that I used to reverse names in Excel, way back in 2015. Here’s the formula, and you can see all the gory details of building it, in the 8-minute-long video below. The formula still works, but takes a lot more effort to build!

  • =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2) – (SEARCH(“,”,A2,1) + 1))
    & ” ”
    & LEFT(A2,SEARCH(“,”,A2,1) -1)

Video Timeline

  • 00:00    Introduction
  • 00:18    View the Formula
  • 00:40    Find the Comma
  • 01:13    Formula for Comma
  • 02:34    Get the Last Name Length
  • 03:01    Get the Last Name
  • 03:43    Add a Space
  • 04:25    Begin the First Name Formula
  • 05:52    How to Calculate Length of First Name
  • 06:41    Formula for First Name Length
  • 07:03    Get Space Position
  • 07:27    Length of First Name
  • 08:05    Review the Formula
  • 08:42    Get the Sample File

Get the Workbook

To get the Reverse Names with Excel MID Function workbook, go to the Split or Reverse Names page on my Contextures site.

The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

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Reverse First Last Names with Excel Formula

Reverse First Last Names with Excel Formula

Reverse First Last Names with Excel Formula

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One thought on “Reverse First Last Names with Excel Formula”

  1. The math game of LEN minus (SEARCH plus one) can be very frustrating because the parentheses are critical. So anyone who wants to avoid that when taking the longer approach, or if the MID trick is confusing, might consider using REPLACE instead. Rather than taking something from the right side, just replace the left side with nothing.
    =REPLACE(A2,1,FIND(“,”,A2)+1,””)&” “&LEFT(A2,FIND(“,”,A2)-1)

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