Yes A1 is selected and displayed after typing a1:a30 in name box, Ta Pecoflyer that's something new for me, as that's where you type the formula. Then CTRL-Enter fills the formula to the selected cells.

Not sure how that would work for an autofill that isn't a formula, ie fill A1=1 A2=2 to a30

I don't know what version of excel you're on but *Dates are used to translate to a new locale.
Typing 1/1 or 31-Jan or 1/1/14 and then 2/1 (as per original) will autofill when the handle is dragged or you use CTRL-downarrow.

I've only ever seen the problem with filling dates in any format when you've pasted or imported the dates and Excel is confused about the format. Format cells and selecting dd/mm or dd/mmm/yy ofn doesn't work. Best way I've found to get Excel unconfused is to
1. select the text to be filled and then paste values or
2. select the Use Text wizard option when you paste.
3. Sometimes the Error box allows changing to dates but that's usually for numbers stored as text.