How to name a cell or range in Excel

Excel offers several ways to name a cell or range. In the framework of this lesson, we will consider only the 2 most common ones, I think that each of them will definitely come in handy for you. But before looking at ways to name names in Excel, check out this lesson to remember a few simple but useful rules for creating a name.

Use the Name field

This method is the fastest way to name a cell or range in Excel. To use it, follow these steps:

1. Select the cell or range you want to name. In our case, this is the range B2:B13.
2. Click on the field First name and enter the desired name following the rules discussed here. Let this be the name Sales_by_month.
3. Press the key Enter, and the name will be generated.
4. If you click on the field dropdown First name, You will be able to see all the names generated in the given Excel workbook. In our case, this is just one name that we just created.
5. As an example, let’s create a formula using the name Sales_by_month. Let this be a formula that calculates the total amount of sales for the past year:
6. As you can see, if the cell or range referenced by the formula is given meaningful names, the formula will become much clearer.

Using the Create Name dialog box

To name a cell or range in this way, do the following:

1. Select the required area (at this stage, you can select any area, in the future you can redefine it). We will select cell C3 and then reset it.
2. Click the tab formula and select the command Assign a name.
3. A dialog box will open Create a name.
4. In the First name enter the required name. In our case, this is the name Coefficient. In some cases, Excel automatically substitutes the name based on data in adjacent cells. In our case, this is exactly what happened. If Excel didn’t do this or you don’t like this name, enter the name you need yourself.
5. Dropdown Area You can specify the scope of the generated name. The scope is the area where you can use the generated name. If you specify BOOK, then you can use the name throughout the Excel workbook (on all sheets), and if a specific sheet, then only within this sheet. As a rule, the scope is chosen – BOOK.
6. In the Note You can enter an explanation for the generated name. In some cases, it is recommended to do this, especially when there are too many names or when you are running a joint project with other people.
7. In the Range the address of the hotspot is displayed, i.e. the address of the cell or range we selected earlier. This range can be reset if necessary. To do this, place the cursor in the field Range, a dynamic border appears around the specified area.Select a new area with the mouse, or specify this area by entering the range directly into the text box. In our case, we will select cell D2.
8. If everything suits you, feel free to press OK. The name will be created.

In addition to naming cells and ranges, it’s sometimes useful to know how to name a constant. How to do this you can learn from this lesson.

So, in this lesson, you learned how to name a cell or range in Excel. For more information on naming, read the following articles:

• Introduction to cell and range names in Excel
• 5 Useful Rules and Guidelines for Creating Names in Excel
• Name Manager in Excel
• How to name constants in Excel?