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How to split full name to first and last name in Excel?

Supposing you have a name roster as the first screen shot shows in single column below, and you need to split the full name to the first name column， middle name column and last name column as the following screenshot shown. Here are some tricky methods to help you solve this problem:

doc split full names 1

Split full name to first and last name with formulas

Split full name to first and last name with Text to Column command

Split full name to first and last name with Kutools for Excel quickly

Split full names to first and last names by comma or other delimiters

Split full name to first and last name with formulas

Split full names to first and last names:

You can use the Left function, Right function and Find function to spit a full name to the first name and last name with following steps:

1. Enter the formula of =LEFT(A2,FIND(" ",A2,1)-1) in a blank cell, says Cell C2 in this case, and then drag the fill handle down to the cells which you want to fill this formula, and all first names have been extracted at once, see screenshot:

doc split full names 2

2. Then enter the formula of =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND(" ",A2,1)) in another blank cell, Cell D2, and drag the fill handle down to the cells which you want to apply this formula, and all last names have been extracted in column D as following screenshot shown:

doc split full names 3

Split full names to first, middle and last names:

If you want to split full names to first, middle and last names into separate columns, the following formulas may do you a favor.

1. Enter this formula: =LEFT(A2,SEARCH(" ",A2)) into a blank cell C2, and then drag the fill handle down to the cells to apply this formula, and all first names have been split into column C, see screenshot:

doc split full names 4

2. Then enter this formula: =MID(A2,SEARCH(" ",A2,1)+1,SEARCH(" ",A2,SEARCH(" ",A2,1)+1)-SEARCH(" ",A2,1)) into a blank cell D2, and then drag the fill handle down to the cells to apply this formula, and all middle names have been split into column D, see screenshot:

doc split full names 5

3. At last, enter this formula: =RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-SEARCH(" ",A2,SEARCH(" ",A2,SEARCH(" ",A2)+1))) into a blank cell E2, and then drag the fill handle down to the cells to apply this formula, and all first names have been split into column E, see screenshot:

doc split full names 6

Split full name to first and last name with Text to Column command

It is not easy to remember the function. Please do not worry about it. The second way will guild you to split the full name column easily.

1. Select the column that you will split, in this case it is A2:A13.

2. Click the Text to Columns button under Data Tab.

doc split full names 7

3. In the Convert Text to Columns Wizard – Step 1 of 3 dialog box, check the Delimited option, and click Next button.

doc split full names 8

4. In the Step 2 of 3 wizard, only check the Space option in the Delimiters section, and click Next button.

doc split full names 9

5. In the following wizard, check the Text option in the Column data format section, and specify the Destination cell where you want to put the results. See screenshot:

doc split full names 10

6. Click the Finish button. Then you will see the full name column has been separated into first name column, middle name column  and last name column at once.

Split full name to first and last name with Kutools for Excel quickly and easily

If you are tired with the above two methods, here, I can recommend you a useful tool – Kutools for Excel, with its Split Names feature, you can quickly split the full names to first and last names, or split full names to first, middle and last names as you need.

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After installing Kutools for Excel, please do as follows:

1. Select the name range that you want to split.

2. Click Kutools > Merge & Split > Split Names, in the Split Names dialog box, specify the Split types you want, if you want to split the full name to first and last name, please check First name and Last name, see screenshot:

3. Then click OK button, and another dialog will appear, please select a cell where you want to put the result in the dialog, see screenshot:

doc split full names 12

4. And click OK button, the full names have been split into first name column and last name column, see screenshot:

doc split full names 13

Note: If your full name contains first, middle and last names needed to be split into three columns separately, you just need to check First name, Middle name and Last name in the Split Names dialog box and you will get the following result:

doc split full names 14

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Split full names to first and last names by comma or other delimiters:

If your full names are separated by comma or other delimiters in cell,Kutools for Excel' Split Cells feature also can do you a favor, see screenshot:

doc split full names 15

Kutools for Excel: with more than 300 handy Excel add-ins, free to try with no limitation in 30 days. Download and free trial Now!

Split full name to first and last name with Kutools for Excel quickly

Kutools for Excel: with more than 300 handy Excel add-ins, free to try with no limitation in 30 days. Download and free trial Now!

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Comments (88)
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Rochelley
Rochelley
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I am able to, using Kutools, split First and Last names into two separate cells, but only on one worksheet at a time. I want to split First and Last names in same cells on 50 different worksheets within the same workbook. Is that possible? I've tried and the Kutools options for doing this become inoperable (greyed out). Please help! I don't want to have to do these one at a time. Thank you!
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Amanda Lee
Amanda Lee     Rochelley
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Hi there,

Plesae insert the below VBA code into a module in your Excel workbook:
Sub split_names()

'Update by ExtendOffice 2022/09/23

    Dim xArray As Variant
    Dim xValue As Variant
    Dim xSplit As Variant
    Dim xRg As Range
    Dim xSaveRg As Range

    With ThisWorkbook
        xArray = Array(.Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:A11"), .Sheets("Sheet2").Range("B1:B10"), .Sheets("Sheet3").Range("A1:A10"))
    End With

    For i = LBound(xArray, 1) To UBound(xArray, 1)
        
        Set xRg = Application.Range(xArray(i).Address(True, True, xlA1, True))
        Set xSaveRg = xRg.Offset(0, xRg.Columns.Count + 1)
        xValue = xRg.Value
        
        For b = LBound(xValue, 1) To UBound(xValue, 1)
            
            xSplit = Split(xValue(b, 1), " ")
            xSaveRg(b, 1).Value = xSplit(0)
            xSaveRg(b, 2).Value = xSplit(UBound(xSplit))
        
        Next
         
    Next
    
End Sub

Note:
1. In the 12th row of the code, you should change the sheet names and corresponding column ranges to the actual names and column ranges where full names are.
2. After inserting the code and pressing F5 to run the code, the first and last names will apprear in two columns next to the original full names column. If there are data in the output columns, make sure to move them to other columns, otherwise the data will be overwritten.
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Steven Dubnoff
Steven Dubnoff
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I downloaded and installed your utility, but the "Split Names" function was not on the "Text" submenu. I could not find it elsewhere. What gives?
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skyyang
skyyang     Steven Dubnoff
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Hello, Steven,
We have moved this feature under the Merge & Split, please view the screenshot:

Sorry for this inconvenience.
Please try, thank you!
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Marilyn
Marilyn
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It was incredibly helpful Thank you very much! I would never be able to figure it our on my own. All your formulas work! Marilyn
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Charles
Charles
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This worked perfectly! Thanks!
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Spanish Guy
Spanish Guy
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Works for people with 2 or 3 names. In some countries, people have 4 or more names. Creating a formula that split a FullName into FirstName, LastName and Middle Names, that's a real challenge...
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yasin
yasin
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thanks alot :D
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Jennifer Roxy Hughes
Jennifer Roxy Hughes
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Any news on a hyphenated last name, keeping them together?
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Matt Larson
Matt Larson
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Thank You - incredibly helpful
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pia
pia
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beautiful, that was a good show
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mia
mia
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Thank you, this was really helpful, and your answer to one of the questions below, about copying and pasting the values to get rid of the equation was equally helpful!
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