A106 Step-by-step: Naming Cells and Ranges

Microsoft Excel 4.0 for Macintosh

While they does not really give you any new power, named cells and ranges can make your formulas vastly easier to read. For example, if you are computing the area of a circle, it is much nicer to be able to say

=pi*(radius^2)

than

=$D$1*(E5^2)

To name a cell or range of cells

1. Select the cell or cells you want to name

Remember to use the white + here. Also, be sure not to select any labels, such as column headings.

2. Choose `Define Name...` from the `Formula` menu

This gives you a dialog box. Notice that all of the names you have defined so far are listed here.

3. Type the name you want

What you type will appear in the white box under Name.

You are not allowed to use spaces in names. If you feel that a space would make your name much clearer, you can use the underbar to make names like average_income. You can type an underbar by holding down shift and pressing the hyphen key next to the zero (but not the one on the numeric keypad).

4. Click on `OK`

Your cell or range of cells has now been named, and you can refer to it in formulas, such as =mass*acceleration or =hat_size*price_of_tea_in_China.

The behavior of named ranges can be confusing. A good rule of thumb is that the name refers to the whole range only where that would make sense; otherwise, it refers to the cell corresponding to (e.g., in the same row as) the cell containing the formula. For example, if we give a column of numbers the name cost, then the formula =cost*0.10 located a few columns over would compute 10% of the cost on that line. On the other hand, =sum(cost) would add up all of the numbers in the named range.