Randomly Assigning Names to Items

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 4, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021


5

Gary has two lists in a worksheet. One of them, in column A, contains a list of surplus items in our company and the other, in column G, contains a list of names. There is nothing in columns B:F. Gary would like to assign names, randomly, to the list of items. Each name from column G should be assigned only once. If there are more names than items, then some names won't get used. If there are fewer names than items, then some items won't have associated names.

There are a couple of ways that this can be done. Perhaps the easiest, though, is to simply assign a random number to each item in column A. Assuming that the first item is in cell A1, put the following in cell B1:

=RAND()

Double-click the fill handle in cell B1, and you should end up with a random number (between 0 and 1) to the right of each item in column A.

Now, select all the cells in column B and press Ctrl+C to copy them to the Clipboard. Use Paste Special to paste values right back into those cells in column B. (This converts the cells from formulas to actual static values.)

Sort columns A and B in ascending order based on the values in column B. If you look across the rows, you'll now have items (column A) associated randomly with a name (column G).

Even though it is not necessary, you could also follow these same steps to add a random number to the right of each name and then sort the names. (I say it isn't necessary because randomizing the items should be enough to assure that there are random items associated with each name.)

The technique discussed so far works great if you have to do the random pairing only once in a while. If you need to do it quite often, then a macro may be a better approach. There are, of course, many different macro-based approaches you could use. The following approach assumes the item list is in column A and the name list in column G. It also assumes that there are header cells in row 1 for each column.

Sub AssignNames()
    Set srItems = Range("A2").CurrentRegion
    Set srNames = Range("G2").CurrentRegion
    NameCount = srItems.Rows.Count - 1
    ItemCount = srNames.Rows.Count - 1

    'Randomize Names
    ReDim tempArray(NameCount, 2)
    For x = 0 To NameCount - 1
        tempArray(x, 0) = Range("G2").Offset(x, 0)
        tempArray(x, 1) = Rnd()
    Next x

    'Bubble Sort
    For i = 0 To NameCount - 2
        For j = i To NameCount - 1
            If tempArray(i, 1) > tempArray(j, 1) Then
                tempItem = tempArray(j, 0)
                tempName = tempArray(j, 1)
                tempArray(j, 0) = tempArray(i, 0)
                tempArray(j, 1) = tempArray(i, 1)
                tempArray(i, 0) = tempItem
                tempArray(i, 1) = tempName
            End If
        Next j
    Next i

    'AssignNames
    Range("B2") = "Assigned"
    AssignCount = NameCount
    If NameCount > ItemCount Then AssignCount = ItemCount
        For x = 0 To AssignCount
        Range("B2").Offset(x, 0) = tempArray(x, 0)
    Next x
End Sub

If there are more names than items the macro randomly assigns names to items. If there are more items than names it randomly assigns some items to names and randomly leaves "holes" (items without names). It stores them in column B, overwriting whatever was there.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (5682) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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Comments

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What is 2 + 8?

2023-11-26 15:50:39

J. Woolley

The AssignNames5 macro in my most recent comment below randomly shuffles the List array. My Excel Toolbox now includes the following function to return a range or array with all rows and/or columns randomly shuffled:
    =Shuffle(RangeArray, [RowsOnly], [ColsOnly])
If RowsOnly is True, columns will remain with their shuffled rows.
If ColsOnly is True, rows will remain with their shuffled columns.
Default for both RowsOnly and ColsOnly is FALSE. An error is returned if both are TRUE; otherwise, they apply only when RangeArray is 2D.
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox/


2023-11-24 12:25:19

J. Woolley

Re. the AssignNamesX macros in my three previous comments below, here is yet another version. This one is the simplest.

Sub AssignNames5()
    Dim ItemCount, NameCount, ListCount, List, Temp, i, n
    If Range("A2") = "" Or Range("G2") = "" Then Exit Sub
    ItemCount = Range("A2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    NameCount = Range("G2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    ListCount = IIf(NameCount < ItemCount, ItemCount, NameCount)
    List = Range("G2").Resize(ListCount).Value '2D base-1 column of names
    List = WorksheetFunction.Transpose(List) '1D base-1 array (row vector)
    'When more items than names, assign blank names
    For i = NameCount + 1 To ListCount 'Skipped if ListCount = NameCount
        List(i) = ""
    Next i
    'Randomly shuffle the values in List array
    For i = 1 To ListCount
        n = Int((ListCount * Rnd) + 1) 'Random number 1 to ListCount
        Temp = List(i)
        List(i) = List(n)
        List(n) = Temp
    Next i
    'Assign randomized values from List to items
    For i = 1 To ItemCount
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = List(i)
    Next i
    'Clear any remainder plus one cell
    For i = ItemCount + 1 To ListCount + 1
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = ""
    Next i
End Sub

See http://www.cpearson.com/excel/ShuffleArray.aspx


2023-11-13 10:01:34

J. Woolley

Re. the AssignNames3 macro in my previous comment below, here is yet another version. This one uses a SortedList that is automatically sorted by its random number Keys.

Sub AssignNames4()
    Const REPEAT_NAMES = False 'True to repeat names; False to assign blanks
    Dim ItemCount, NameCount, ListCount, Key, i, n
    If Range("A2") = "" Or Range("G2") = "" Then Exit Sub
    ItemCount = Range("A2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    NameCount = Range("G2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    ListCount = IIf(NameCount < ItemCount, ItemCount, NameCount)
    Dim List As Object
    Set List = CreateObject("System.Collections.SortedList")
    'Associate each name with a random number Key in List sorted by Key
    For i = 1 To ListCount
        Do
            Key = Rnd 'Random number 0 to 1
        Loop While List.ContainsKey(Key) 'Avoid duplicate Key
        If i > NameCount Then
            If REPEAT_NAMES Then
                'When more items than names, randomly repeat names
                n = Int((NameCount * Rnd) + 1) 'Random number 1 to NameCount
                List.Add Key, Range("G1").Offset(n)
            Else
                'When more items than names, assign blank names
                List.Add Key, ""
            End If
        Else 'Next name in column G
            List.Add Key, Range("G1").Offset(i)
        End If
    Next i
    'Assign randomized names (List is base-0 sorted by random number Keys)
    For i = 1 To ItemCount
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = List.GetByIndex(i - 1)
    Next i
    'Clear any remainder plus one cell
    For i = ItemCount + 1 To ListCount + 1
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = ""
    Next i
End Sub

If there is any difficulty with the following statement
    Set List = CreateObject("System.Collections.SortedList")
enable Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 using Control Panel as described here:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/install/dotnet-35-windows


2023-11-08 14:59:22

J. Woolley

Re. the AssignNames2 macro in my previous comment below, if the list of names (NameCount) is less than the list of items (ItemCount), then random names are assigned to the first NameCount items and blank names are assigned to the remaining items. The following AssignNames3 version assigns the blank names for this case randomly as suggested in the Tip's last paragraph.

Sub AssignNames3()
    Const REPEAT_NAMES = False 'True to repeat names; False to assign blanks
    Dim ItemCount, NameCount, NumberCount, i, j, k, temp
    If Range("A2") = "" Or Range("G2") = "" Then Exit Sub
    ItemCount = Range("A2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    NameCount = Range("G2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    NumberCount = IIf(NameCount < ItemCount, ItemCount, NameCount)
    'Associate a random number with each name
    ReDim tempArray(1 To NumberCount, 1 To 2)
    For i = 1 To NumberCount
        If i > NameCount Then
            If REPEAT_NAMES Then
                'When more items than names, randomly repeat names
                k = Int((NameCount * Rnd) + 1) 'Random number 1 to NameCount
                tempArray(i, 1) = Range("G1").Offset(k)
            Else
                'When more items than names, assign blank names
                tempArray(i, 1) = ""
            End If
        Else
            tempArray(i, 1) = Range("G1").Offset(i) 'Name from list
        End If
        tempArray(i, 2) = Rnd 'Random number 0 to 1
    Next i
    'Bubble sort random number values to randomize associated names
    For i = 1 To NumberCount - 1
        For j = i + 1 To NumberCount
            If tempArray(i, 2) > tempArray(j, 2) Then
                For k = 1 To 2
                    temp = tempArray(j, k)
                    tempArray(j, k) = tempArray(i, k)
                    tempArray(i, k) = temp
                Next k
            End If
        Next j
    Next i
    'Assign randomized names
    For i = 1 To ItemCount
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = tempArray(i, 1)
    Next i
    'Clear any remainder plus one cell
    For i = ItemCount + 1 To NumberCount + 1
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = ""
    Next i
End Sub

Notice the method for randomizing names assures a name is only assigned once as specified in the Tip's first paragraph. But if the following statement
    Const REPEAT_NAMES = False 'True to repeat names; False to assign blanks
is replaced by this statement
    Const REPEAT_NAMES = True 'True to repeat names; False to assign blanks
then when NameCount is less than ItemCount, names will be repeated randomly to avoid assigning any blank names to the remaining items. REPEAT_NAMES is ignored if NameCount >= ItemCount.


2023-11-06 10:10:39

J. Woolley

The Tip's macro has several issues. Here is an improved version:

Sub AssignNames2()
    Dim ItemCount, NameCount, AssignCount, i, j, k, temp
    If Range("A2") = "" Or Range("G2") = "" Then Exit Sub
    ItemCount = Range("A2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    NameCount = Range("G2").End(xlDown).Row - 1
    'Randomize Names
    ReDim tempArray(1 To NameCount, 1 To 2)
    For i = 1 To NameCount
        tempArray(i, 1) = Range("G1").Offset(i)
        tempArray(i, 2) = Rnd()
    Next i
    'Bubble Sort
    For i = 1 To NameCount - 1
        For j = i + 1 To NameCount
            If tempArray(i, 2) > tempArray(j, 2) Then
                For k = 1 To 2
                    temp = tempArray(j, k)
                    tempArray(j, k) = tempArray(i, k)
                    tempArray(i, k) = temp
                Next k
            End If
        Next j
    Next i
    'AssignNames
    AssignCount = IIf(NameCount > ItemCount, ItemCount, NameCount)
    For i = 1 To AssignCount
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = tempArray(i, 1)
    Next i
    k = IIf(NameCount < ItemCount, ItemCount, NameCount)
    For i = AssignCount + 1 To k + 1
        Range("B1").Offset(i) = ""
    Next i
End Sub

This macro assumes the following:
1. Row 1 has column headings assigned by the user.
2. The list of items is from cell A2 to the first blank cell in column A.
3. The list of names is from cell G2 to the first blank cell in column G.
4. The list of names assigned to items is in column B starting at cell B2 overwriting any previous content including blank cells down to one row below the list of items and names.


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