Spreadsheet Practice

How to get the initials of a full name in Excel

Excel formula

=UPPER(CONCAT(LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1)))

In Excel 365, split the name into words and keep each first letter: =UPPER(CONCAT(LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1))).

Result on the example
one result per row in B2, filled down to B7
Works in
Microsoft 365 only
Google Sheets
Different formula, see below

See it work

The formula is already in B2, filled down to B7. Change any input and the result updates, or edit the formula to experiment.

How it works

TEXTSPLIT turns "Mary Ann Smith" into three words, LEFT takes the first letter of each, and CONCAT joins them into "MAS". UPPER fixes names typed in lowercase.

In Google Sheets, REGEXREPLACE keeps the first character of each word (the part in brackets) and drops the rest of the word and the space after it.

=UPPER(CONCAT(LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1)))

Result"ML"

  1. A2"Maria Lopez"

    The value in A2.

  2. TEXTSPLIT(A2," "){1 row × 2 cols} "Maria", "Lopez"

    TEXTSPLIT: Splits text across columns, and rows, at the delimiters you give.

    • textA2"Maria Lopez"
    • col_delimiter" "
  3. LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1){1 row × 2 cols} "M", "L"

    LEFT: Characters from the start of text.

    • textTEXTSPLIT(A2," "){1 row × 2 cols} "Maria", "Lopez"
    • num_chars1
  4. CONCAT(LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1))"ML"

    CONCAT: Joins text and ranges.

    • text1LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1){1 row × 2 cols} "M", "L"
  5. UPPER(CONCAT(LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1)))"ML"

    UPPER: Converts to uppercase.

    • textCONCAT(LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1))"ML"

In Google Sheets

Google Sheets needs a different formula: =UPPER(REGEXREPLACE(A2,"(\S)\S*\s*","$1")). On the same data it gives the same result. Here it is running in Google Sheets mode.

Other ways to do it

Each one was run on the same example sheet.

FormulaResultWhen to use it
=UPPER(LEFT(A2,1)&MID(A2,FIND(" ",A2)+1,1))ML, JO, MA…Different resultWorks in every version for two-part names: the first letter, plus the letter after the first space. Takes only two initials, so "Mary Ann Smith" gives MA.

Common mistakes

  • Hyphenated names count as one word: "Jean-Luc Picard" gives JP. Add the hyphen as a second delimiter if you want JLP: TEXTSPLIT(A2,{" ","-"}).
  • CONCAT and TEXTSPLIT need Excel 365 (CONCAT alone needs 2019). In older versions, use the two-initial formula.

Try it yourself

Same data, empty answer cell. Your formula is graded instantly, then re-checked on changed data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

Get the initials of a full name

In B2, return the initials of the name in capital letters (one letter per word) and fill down to B7.

Questions

How do I add a period after each initial?

Join a period to each letter before CONCAT: =UPPER(CONCAT(LEFT(TEXTSPLIT(A2," "),1)&".")) gives "M.L.".

Can I make an acronym from a phrase the same way?

Yes. The formula works on any words: "Annual General Meeting" gives AGM.

Checked by running on 2026-10-30: every formula and result on this page was calculated by the Spreadsheet Practice formula engine, in both Excel and Google Sheets modes.