How can excel list how many times an entry is in the database?

I have a list of names and I want excel to give me a new list with each name and how many times it is in the database. Is this possible?

For example:

John
Pete
John
Brad
John
Pete

would have to become:

John 3
Pete 2
Brad 1

thx for the help

Hi,

In my opinion, the best solution is the one proposed by Debra ...

http://www.contextures.com/xlPivot07.html#Unique

HTH
Carim

I don't see how that works in this situation. I must say I'm not 2 good with excel, but isn't this a totally different database with a totally different problem?

Hi,

See attached sample ...

HTH
Carim

thx, I think I found out how it works. Not that I understand what I'm doing, but at least I get the result I want.

Learning XL or pivot tables comes like anything else ... with some practice ...

Thanks for the feedback

Carim

What carim has sugested is the best solution, which uses pivot tables, takes some time to learn but it is worth the effort since it makes life so simple.

you can also try the following formula:

assuming that your data is in A1:A6


=COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6,"john")

You will need 3 of these to take care of all the names, also when you add a new name, you will have to add another formula.

To start with you will have three formulas:

=COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6,"john")
=COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6,"pete")
=COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6,"brad")

hope this helps and is easier to understand

Cheers
Saurabh