How to Create Definable Names in Excel

Defining names in Excel is a great way to make formulas more user-friendly. They can help you refer to cells, a constant value, or a formula, and they’re easier to audit, update, and manage. You can create defined names in the Name Manager or by dragging them from the Name Box.

Create a dynamic named range from a table

A named range that refers to a table is a great way to make formulas work faster and more reliably. It automatically updates when new data is added to the table and doesn’t require you to update your formulas manually.

This is especially useful if you have multiple tables that you frequently use in your spreadsheets. For example, you may have a sales table that includes all the different items sold by a company. You can then add a defined named range that refers to the sales table, and your formulas will automatically refer to this new named range as soon as you update the data in your sales table.

Dynamic Named Ranges are a great way to keep your formulas up-to-date when you’re working with large or ever-expanding data sets. They are also a good choice when you’re creating dropdown lists or other forms of dynamic lists.

The first step in defining dynamic named ranges is to select the rows and columns that contain the desired range. Then, in the Formulas tab > Define Names group, click Create from Selection.

Once you’ve selected the rows and columns, use the Name box to type a name for the range that refers to it. You can then use this name in your formulas to refer to the range of cells that the range references.

In this tutorial, we’ll learn how to quickly create named ranges based on the labels of cells in a table. This is a fast, efficient method that can save you a lot of time in the long run.

1. Using the Labels to Create Named Ranges

When you’re working with a large set of data, it can be a bit tedious to rename each column or row individually. You can do this much more quickly if you name each cell based on the label of the cell in its corresponding column or row.

To do this, you can use the Create from Selection command in the Formulas tab on the left side of the Formula bar.

This will open a dialog box that lets you select the range of cells that contains the labels you want to name. Once you’ve selected the range of cells, you can use the Name box to type a name and then select the corresponding row or column in the Create from Selection dialog box.

2. Names can be under 255 characters long, but they must be continuous and must not contain spaces or most punctuation characters.

3. When you define a named range, it must be unique within its scope (the worksheet or workbook where the name is located). This prevents name conflicts from occurring and makes your formulas more consistent.