For question 1:

I don;t think you can define a name as per your desires. You actually
need a formula:

=INDEX(what,MATCH(1,(first="Kostis")*(last="Vezeri des")*(age=45),0))

it is assumed that what, first, last and age are named ranges of the
same length (or you can use the actual range references). This is an
*array* formula hence it must be commited with Ctrl+Shift+Enter.

Question 2 is a simpler version of the multicriteria formula that I
gave you:

=INDEX(phones,MATCH("myname",names,0))

VLOOKUP is a more compact version of the 2nd formula (only). If you
are only referring to a 2-col table (A:B) you can lookup the phone
number with:

=VLOOKUP("myname",A:B,2,FALSE)

HTH
Kostis Vezerides

On Feb 14, 5:55 pm, "HK" wrote:
It's been years since I've really dug into a spreadsheet with lots of
formulas. I've forgotten how much fun it is. I used to be a Lotus 1-2-3
Release 1A wizard. That's how long it's been since I've built spreadsheets
with even a medium complexity.

So excuse this if these are dumb questions:

1) Can you name a cell with a formula? For instance, let's say there's an
column for age. Each cell, I want to name by adding FIRSTNAME + LASTNAME +
"AGE". Then I can refer to that cell by name instead of by cell address in
later formulas.

2) How do I return a value from column B based on matching a value in column
A? For instance, if A is NAME and B is AGE, in a formula, I want to say
"get a person's age if NAME is equal to N". Just a function name would
suffice. I'm pretty good at figuring things out once I get a pointer.

TIA,

HK