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Post History
A Q on Stack Exchange from a very long time ago included: I have first names in one column and second names in another, I want to create a third column that contains the first character from the...
#5: Post edited
by
ArtOfCode
·
2023-06-20T20:04:27Z (over 1 year ago)
#4: Post edited
by
Alexei
·
2020-11-01T07:00:18Z (about 4 years ago)
replaced tags with more meaningful ones
#3: Post edited
by
pnuts
·
2020-10-04T13:17:05Z (about 4 years ago)
- A [Q](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/534062/revisions) on Stack Exchange from a very long time ago included:
- >I have first names in one column and second names in another, I want to create a third column that contains the first character from the first name and add it to the surname creating first initial + surname.
- The user asked "*How can I do this using Excel?*" and gave this example:
- >John & Smith = jsmith
- So far there have been six As posted, of which only one seems fully to respect the given requirements (though it was another A that was 'Accepted'):
- =CONCATENATE(LOWER(MID(A1,1,1)),LOWER( B1))
- This makes standard assumptions about the location of the data (A1 for first name, B1 for surname) and the delimiter (comma).
- The formula works but seems uncharacteristically lengthy for such a simple requirement, and is perhaps more opaque than necessary.
- Is there a shorter and/or clearer formula to the same effect?
- A [Q](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/534062/revisions) on Stack Exchange from a very long time ago included:
- >I have first names in one column and second names in another, I want to create a third column that contains the first character from the first name and add it to the surname creating first initial + surname.
- The user asked "*How can I do this using Excel?*" and gave this example:
- >John & Smith = jsmith
- So far there have been six As posted, of which only one seems fully to respect the given requirements (though it was another A that was 'Accepted'):
- =CONCATENATE(LOWER(MID(A1,1,1)),LOWER( B1))
- This makes standard assumptions about the location of the data (A1 for first name, B1 for surname) and the delimiter (comma).
- The formula works but seems uncharacteristically lengthy for such a simple requirement, and is perhaps more opaque than necessary.
- Is there a shorter and/or clearer formula to the same effect?
#2: Post edited
by
pnuts
·
2020-10-04T13:14:12Z (about 4 years ago)
#1: Initial revision
by
pnuts
·
2020-10-04T12:29:02Z (about 4 years ago)
Combine the first character of a cell with another cell
A [Q](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/534062/revisions) on Stack Exchange from a very long time ago included:
>I have first names in one column and second names in another, I want to create a third column that contains the first character from the first name and add it to the surname creating first initial + surname.
The user asked "*How can I do this using Excel?*" and gave this example:
>John & Smith = jsmith
So far there have been six As posted, of which only one seems fully to respect the given requirements (though it was another A that was 'Accepted'):
=CONCATENATE(LOWER(MID(A1,1,1)),LOWER( B1))
This makes standard assumptions about the location of the data (A1 for first name, B1 for surname) and the delimiter (comma).
The formula works but seems uncharacteristically lengthy for such a simple requirement, and is perhaps more opaque than necessary.
Is there a shorter and/or clearer formula to the same effect?