How to Sort in Excel by Name (3+ Methods)

Data sorting in Excel is an essential part of data analysis. We need to use the sorting technique every now and then in our workplace. In this article, I am going to show you 3 simple and quick ways that will help you to sort in Excel by name alphabetically. Besides, you will learn some additional methods relating to sorting in Excel. So, let’s get started.

Most Popular Method to Sort in Excel by Name

To sort in Excel by name,

• Select your data first.
• Go to the Data tab.
• Click on the A to Z or Z to A icon to sort data by name alphabetically.

The result is in the following image:

If you are looking for keyboard shortcut keys to sort in Excel by name,

• Press ALT > A > S > A sequentially to sort in A to Z order.
• Press ALT > A > S > D sequentially to sort in Z to A order.

Alternative Method #1: Sort in Excel by Name Alphabetically Using the Sort & Filter Command

You can also sort data in Excel from the Home tab. Check out the following usage guide to learn in detail.

Usage Guide

• Go to the Home tab.
• Then hit Sort & Filter drop-down from the Editing group.
• Now select Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A as per your preference.

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Alternative Method #2: Use the Filter Command to Sort in Excel by Name Alphabetically

Applying a Filter will also assist in arranging a column with names in Excel.

Usage Guide

• Select any column header by clicking any one of them.
• Then click on the Home tab, and then select Sort & Filter drop-down, and again click on the Filter command.

You can also find the Filter command from the Data tab > Sort & Filter group > Filter.

You will see drop-down arrows that will show up beside your column header(s).

• Click on the drop-down arrow of your selected column and choose either Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A.

How to Sort Alphabetically in Excel and Keep Rows Together

If you want to rearrange the rows alphabetically in your data table, here is how to do that. 

Usage Guide

• Select the data table and go to the Data tab.
• Then under Sort & Filter group, click A-Z or Z-A command.

This will sort your data alphabetically in Excel and keep all the rows together.

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How to Sort in Excel by Last Name

Sorting text data by their last words can be done very easily using a formula. I will use the RIGHT function, LEN function, and FIND function to create the formula.

Usage Guide 

• Select a cell to insert the sorting formula. In this case, I choose cell F2 for that.
• Now write this formula in that empty cell:

=RIGHT(C2,LEN(C2)-FIND(" ",C2))

Formula Explanation

• C2 is the cell address where you’ve stored the full name.
• LEN(C2) calculates the total number of characters in cell C2.
• FIND(” “,C2) finds out the position of the first space in cell C2.
• RIGHT(C2,LEN(C2)-FIND(” “,C2)) returns only the right part of the whole text in cell C2 after the first space is encountered.

Now press ENTER and drag the Fill Handle icon from cell F2 to F10 to apply the above formula all around the cell range.

After following the above steps the resulting table will look like the image below:

Conclusion

In this article, I tried to assist you sort in Excel by names. If you find any issue regarding sorting in Excel, feel to let me know in the comment section. I will try to come up with solutions. Thanks.