Ok it has been over an hour with no reply so I am submitting the code that I wrote for this. This code will place a result in column B next to the value in Column A.
I have written 2 codes. One that will identify every duplicate to where you could sort and filter to identify which ones to remove and then another code that will identify just the duplicates. Meaning that if cell A3 has Jacob Parkar and cell A5 and A6 has Jacob Parkar or Parkar Jacob then only cells A5 and A6 will be identifed as duplicates. The only issue with this is that you may want the name with the last name starting as the original so play around with each and see which one works best.
As with all code be sure to back up your workbook and save before running.
Code:
Sub CheckAllDuplicates()
'Checks each name to see if there are duplicates
Dim ws As Worksheet, CheckRow As Long, FirstName As String, LastName As String
Dim LastRow As Long, NameString As String, CheckName As String, CheckString As String
Dim Counter As Integer
'Set the references
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1)
LastRow = ws.Range("A2").End(xlDown).Row
For CheckRow = 2 To LastRow
CheckString = ws.Range("A" & CheckRow).Value
CheckName = "<" & CheckString & ">"
FirstName = Mid(CheckString, 1, InStr(1, CheckString, " ") - 1)
LastName = Mid(CheckString, Len(FirstName) + 2)
'NameString = NameString & "<" & FirstName & " " & LastName & ">"
NameString = NameString & "<" & LastName & " " & FirstName & ">"
Next CheckRow
For CheckRow = 2 To LastRow
CheckString = ws.Range("A" & CheckRow).Value
CheckName = "<" & CheckString & ">"
Counter = 0
Counter = WorksheetFunction.CountIf(ws.Range("A2" & ":A" & LastRow), CheckString)
If InStr(1, NameString, CheckName) Then
Counter = Counter + 1
End If
If Counter <> 1 Then
Range("B" & CheckRow).Value = "Duplicate"
End If
Next CheckRow
End Sub
This one will show ONLY duplicates
Code:
Sub CountNameDuplicates()
'Checks each name to see if there are duplicates
Dim ws As Worksheet, CheckRow As Long, FirstName As String, LastName As String
Dim LastRow As Long, NameArray() As String, CheckName As String, CheckString As String
Dim Counter As Integer, arr As Long
'Set the references
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1)
LastRow = ws.Range("A2").End(xlDown).Row
ReDim NameArray(2 To LastRow) As String
For CheckRow = 2 To LastRow
CheckString = ws.Range("A" & CheckRow).Value
CheckName = "<" & CheckString & ">"
FirstName = Mid(CheckString, 1, InStr(1, CheckString, " ") - 1)
LastName = Mid(CheckString, Len(FirstName) + 2)
'NameString = NameString & "<" & FirstName & " " & LastName & ">"
NameArray(CheckRow) = "<" & LastName & " " & FirstName & ">"
Next CheckRow
For CheckRow = 2 To LastRow
CheckString = ws.Range("A" & CheckRow).Value
CheckName = "<" & CheckString & ">"
Counter = 0
Counter = WorksheetFunction.CountIf(ws.Range("A2" & ":A" & CheckRow), CheckString)
'Check the array
For arr = 2 To CheckRow
If NameArray(arr) = CheckName Then
Counter = Counter + 1
Exit For 'no need to grab more
End If
Next arr
'Check
If Counter <> 1 Then
Range("B" & CheckRow).Value = "Duplicate"
End If
Next CheckRow
End Sub
any questions please let me know.
To Bruno,
I appreciate the code that you wrote and effort you put forth. Charles and I were just unaware that you were going to provide a solution. I have had a time where I posted something without looking at the replies and caused unnecessary work for the person that was already working on it. Please let me know if you have any concerns regarding my comments.
Thanks so much.