I know you posted this in the Worksheet Functions forum, but I think a Pivot
Table might give you what you're looking for more easily:

Select your column of data (Make sure it has a col heading, I'll assume
"Type")

DataPivot Table
Use: Excel List
Range: If not already selected, select your data
Click the [Layout] button
-ROW: Type
-DATA: Count of Type
Select a destination for the Pivot Table
Click [OK]

Next, on the Pivot Table, double-click on the Type heading to view the
settings dialog.
Click the [dvance]button
Set Autosort: Descending
Using field: Count of Type
Click [OK]

That will list each unique item in the list in descending order of its count.

Does that help?

***********
Regards,
Ron

XL2002, WinXP-Pro


"Ralph" wrote:

Hi,

Is there a way to select a table and have excel produce a list ranking the #
of times each item shows up in the list, i.e.

dog 5
cat 2
bird 1
???

Thanks