Combine First and Last Names

Excel & Google Sheets

How it works

The & operator glues text together, so A2&" "&B2 joins the first name, a space, and the last name. It's the fastest way to combine two columns. When some cells might be empty — a missing middle name, say — TEXTJOIN is smarter: =TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2,B2,C2) joins everything with single spaces and the TRUE tells it to skip blanks entirely, so you never get doubled spaces.

A2

The first name.

&" "&

Glues a literal space between the parts.

B2

The last name.

When to use it

Use & for a quick two-column join. Switch to TEXTJOIN when combining three or more parts, or when any part might be blank.

Common mistakes

• ✕Forgetting the space between names.

  ✓=A2&B2 produces "AnaTorres". Always include the separator: =A2&" "&B2.

• ✕Blank middle columns create double spaces.

  ✓=A2&" "&B2&" "&C2 leaves two spaces when B2 is empty. Use =TEXTJOIN(" ",TRUE,A2,B2,C2) to skip blanks.