Keeping Things Proper

Having a list of names imported from a source other than Excel can result in all upper-case, all lower-case, or even a mixture of both! Whereas this may not affect recordkeeping or data calculations, it certainly doesn’t look very professional.

So what do you do when you download 5,000 names that are in something other than proper case? (You sure don’t want to change everything manually…). The answer is, of course, use the PROPER function!

It is so simple, you will laugh:

Let’s say that you list of names runs from A2 to A5002. In cell B2, insert the following formula:

     =PROPER(A2)

Then simply copy this formula down to the bottom of your data with a quick double-click. Voila! Proper Names!

One final note of caution, if your database list contains names such as McCarthy or MacNamara in it, you will probably need to change those manually. And if you have any really Odd Names like DeLaMartre, then you will for sure need to make some adjustments by hand…

Cheers for your holidays!

Bob DeLaMartre