My table lettering was misleading since the format changed after I
posted it. The names are in column A, a 5-character alphanumeric value
is in column B and a 2-digit alphanumeric value is in column C.

"BOB, BETTY B" 04941 02
"BOB, BILLY BO" 09498 01
"BOB, SUSIE Q" 01842 01

I guess I was working from the the view that alphanumeric values could
be searched in the same was as numeric values but that may not be the
case.

Perhaps there's a way to strip out punctuation characters and extra
spaces to try and make the data more uniform as the analysis happens.
I don't have access to modify the reference table, only view and
reference the existing data.

The exception is to make sure all the symbols dividing first and last
name are commas. I have asked for this to be uniform and that change
has been made, though the periods after initials, etc, are still not
consistent.