Grouping

[si_pooh]

Hi-

I have about 3,000 rows of data in col A and I want to assign some common names in col B. For example:

Col A ColB
Box1 Box
Box2 Box
Box3 Box
Chair A1 Chair
Chair A2 Chair
Chair A3 Chair

and the list goes on...

Can I automate this process without having to fill in col B manually?
or maybe I can do this in Access?

Any help is really appreciated.

 

[Crow_23]

How random are the names that you want in column B? Lie for instance to get Box in column B from Box1 in column A you need the =LEFT(A1,3) formula but it would be different for the chairs. Basically, how random are the names being placed in column B...is there some type of structure you are looking for?