Well what it does is first find the row index of the concatenated last and
first names in the concatenated lists in columns M & N. It returns that
index to the INDEX function which uses it to retrieve the corresponding
entry in column O.

--

HTH

RP
(remove nothere from the email address if mailing direct)


"James" wrote in message
...
Hi Bob,
thanks for replying!

could you explain this a little more? I've never used the INDEX function.
i will try to learn more about the INDEX and MATCH formulas while i wait
for
your response. Thanks again!!

JAMES


"Bob Phillips" wrote in message
...
You could lookup on a combination of last and first names, like

=INDEX(O2:O100,MATCH(A1&B1,M2:M100&N2:N100,0))

which is an array formula so commit with Ctrl-Shift-Enter

--

HTH

RP
(remove nothere from the email address if mailing direct)


"James" wrote in message
...
Hi Everyone!

I'm using VLOOKUP to match last names. The problem i'm having is
multiple
people with the same name. VLOOKUP returns the fist match, what are
some
suggestions and ideas so that i can get a list to choose from?
Also, is there a way to do wildcard searches in excel in a VLOOKUP or
does
it absolutely have to be an exact match?

any ideas?

TIA

James