hi there,

the issue is that Excel 2007 onwards, REF1 refers to an actual cell address, because there are 16384 columns - up to letters XFD. that wasn't an issue in 2003 since it had only 256 columns - up to letters IV.

Excel will not allow a NamedRange to have a "name" that can also refer to a cell's address. hence, it is asking for the name to be prefixed with an underscore.