Naming in Excel
Excel Objects and Names
• Every Excel object is contained in a workbook
• A workbook is divided into worksheets
(individual spreadsheets); it can also contain
charts, macros (Excel VBA programs) and
other objects
• Each object has to be identifiable by a name
• We’ll start by looking at cells
Built-in Names
• In Excel, columns are named with letters such
as A, B, etc; if you need more than 26 columns
then you get names like AA, AB, and so on
• Rows are numbered
• The default way of referring to a cell is by its
column and row, as B12, for example
Cell B12 is highlighted
Cell Names in Formulas
• The most common reason to use cell names is in
creating formulas
• Cell names can be relative (or partially so) or
absolute
• Use a relative name when you want copies of the
formula to adjust depending on what row or
column they’re in
• Use an absolute name when you want to always
refer to the same cell in every copy of the
formula
Formula Using a Relative Name
Writing a Relative Name
• The name A1 is relative: this is the default
choice
• This formula says to add 3 to A1. Since it is in
cell B1, that is where the answer will show up.
After pushing the enter key…
Copy the formula
and paste it down the column
Each copy refers to its own row
Built-in Functions
• Excel comes with lots of very useful functions
built in
• The next slide shows an example using the
function AVERAGE
• Note the use of A1:A8 to name the range of
cells in column A from position 1 to 8 inclusive
A10 is the Average of A1 to A8
Subtract the Average from A1: Note
the $ used to create an absolute name
Pasting down the column: The relative
reference changes, but not the absolute
Copying a Copy…
In the next example, I used a relative formula
to add three to each element in A, and store
the result in B. I then copied the same formula
into column C. Note that it uses the values in
B; the idea of the relative reference is to use
the column to the left of the current column
Formula for Column B
Same formula copied to C
Fixing just the column
• Suppose I want the formula to change to the
current row, but keep using column A.
• I can do that by just putting a $ in front of the
A: instead of $A$1, use $A1
Column Absolute, Row Relative
Meaningful Names
• I can also give a meaningful (user-defined)
name to a cell
• User-defined names are always absolute
• I’ll name the cell A10 as colAvg, then use that
name in a formula (note I actually used
colAavg due to a typo)
Type the name and press enter
The formula using the name
The Name Manager (Windows)
• If you use a lot of names you might forget
exactly what some are or what they refer to
• If you go to the Formula tab in Excel, and click
on the Name Manager, it will show you all
your names, with their definitions and current
values
• You do this a different way on the Mac; we’ll
look at that afterwards
Name Manager Example
Sorting out Names
• There is a cell named A1 on every worksheet
in the workbook.
• Within a worksheet, the name is unique and
there is no problem
• To refer to cell A1 on another sheet, say
Sheet2, use the name of the sheet as in
Sheet2!A1
An Analogy
• You can think of cell names on a worksheet as being
like names in a family
• In a regular family each person usually has a unique
name that everyone uses
• But if we consider a class in school, there are likely to
be several people with the same given name. In that
case the teacher uses family names as well
• The sheet name is like the family name: it makes it
clear exactly which A1 we mean, as in Sheet1!A1. But
within a sheet, like within a family, there is no need for
the family name
Scope
• So the scope of a name is the part of the
workbook where the name has a unique
meaning and can be used without
modification
• The scope of a name (like colAvg) that we give
to an object is the whole workbook; you do
not need to use the sheet name when
referring to it on another sheet, and the name
can only be defined one time in a workbook
Naming a Range
• Highlight the cells you want to name
• Go to the Formulas tab and find the Define
Names panel; click on Define Name
• Type the name you want to use in the window
that comes up
Click on Define Name
Put the name here and click OK
Use it in a formula
New View of Name Manager
Notice how the defined names are
absolute references
Finding Definitions on the Mac
• In the Windows version (Excel 2010) there is a
Name Manager
• Finding definitions in the Mac version (Excel
2011) is a little trickier
• We’ll start by defining a couple of named
ranges, and then show how to find the names
I just named cell A1 “root”
Cell A1 is selected, and I typed
the name “root” in the name
box at the upper left, and hit
return
Create a list of powers of root…
The formula in cell B1 is “=root”
The formula in B2 is “=B1*root”
This formula is copied down the
column to create the list of
powers of root
Create a named range “powers”
I selected the range and typed
the name “powers” in the
name box
To find the list of definitions…
• Using the Insert menu, follow the entries
Insert -> Name -> Define
• (see the next slide)
The resulting definition list…
I selected “powers” in the list box and it is
showing me the definition of powers: (note
the use of absolute addresses)
=Sheet1!$B$1:$B$11
Why use Defined Names?
• It can make your spreadsheets much more
readable and less error-prone
• This is especially true if you use lots of
formulas