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In order to convert numbers 1-12 to their corresponding month names in Excel, you can use the “TEXT” function. This function allows you to convert numbers into different formats, including month names. Simply enter the number you want to convert in the first argument of the function, and “mmm” (short for month name) in the second argument. This will return the corresponding month name in the desired format. For example, entering “3” in the first argument and “mmm” in the second argument will result in “Mar” being displayed, representing the month of March. This method can be used to quickly and accurately convert numbers to their corresponding month names in Excel.
Excel: Convert Numbers 1-12 to Month Name
You can use the following formula in Excel to convert a number between 1 and 12 to a month name:
=TEXT(A2*28,"mmmm")
This particular formula converts the number in cell A2 to a month name.
For example, if cell A2 contains the number 8 then then this formula will return August, since the eighth month of the year is August.
The following examples show how to use each formula in practice.
Example: Convert Numbers 1-12 to Month Name in Excel
Suppose we have the following column of month numbers in Excel:
We can type the following formula into cell B2 to convert the number in cell A2 to a month name:
=TEXT(A2*28,"mmmm")
We can then drag and fill this formula down to each remaining cell in column B:
Column B now displays the month name for each month number in column A.
If you would instead like to display the abbreviated month name then you can use “mmm” in the TEXT function instead:
=TEXT(A2*28,"mmm")
The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:
How This Formula Works
Recall the formula that we used to convert the number in cell A2 to a month name:
=TEXT(A2*28,"mmmm")
First, we multiply the value in cell A2 by 28.
For example, we in cell A2 we get 1 * 28 = 28.
By default, Excel uses serial numbers to represent dates as the number of days since 1/1/1900.
Thus, 28 is interpreted as 1/29/1900.
Then we use the TEXT function to format this date as a full month name by specifying “mmmm” as the format code.
The same step is repeated for each numeric value in column A to return the correct month name.
Note that you could also multiply by 29 and the formula would return the correct month name.
However, any number besides 28 and 29 will not return the correct month names for each month.
Additional Resources
The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Excel: