I assumed headers in row 1 and the name in column A.

I inserted a new column A (moving the name to column B).

I put =b2 in A2.

Then I put =IF(MOD(ROW(),3)=2,B3,A2&"x")
in B3 and dragged down.

I started with names like:
Name
aaa
aaa
aaa
eee
eee
eee
bbb
bbb
bbb
ccc
ccc
ccc

My new columns A:B looked like
Key Name
aaa aaa
aaax aaa
aaaxx aaa
eee eee
eeex eee
eeexx eee
bbb bbb
bbbx bbb
bbbxx bbb
ccc ccc
cccx ccc
cccxx ccc

Then I converted column A to values (edit|copy, edit|paste special|values).

Then sorted by that helper column.

When I was done, I deleted column A.


steve wrote:

i need to keep three rows together while i sort by column. so it will be
groups of three.

i thought to copy the name down three times, but is there a way i can
automate this? this is a sheet that gets updated everyday.

thank you

--

Dave Peterson