How to extract the last name from a full name
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Pull just the last name out of a 'First Last' text string.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =MID(A2,FIND(" ",A2)+1,LEN(A2)) | Start one character after the space and take the rest. |
| Google Sheets | =MID(A2,FIND(" ",A2)+1,LEN(A2)) | Identical. TEXTAFTER(A2," ") also works in newer versions. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =MID(A2,FIND(" ",A2)+1,LEN(A2)) | Identical. |
How it works
FIND(" ",A2)+1 is the position just after the first space; MID takes from there through the end of the string (LEN as a safe length). For 'Jane Doe' it returns 'Doe'. Note this returns everything after the first space, so 'Jane Van Doe' would give 'Van Doe'.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =MID(A2,FIND(" ",A2)+1,LEN(A2)) in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned Doe — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.