Excel: comparing names in two different sheets - excel

Question

I have two excel sheets with about 500 rows each. Worksheet A has a name column E) and worksheet B has two name columns for small and large names(H&I). I want to create a loop that goes through and compares these columns and should it find a match paste this match onto a new worksheet.
Further clarification:
On worksheet B the two name columns are akin to Cigna and Cigna Co for example so they are not always the same name repeated, and on Worksheet A the name may be Cigna, so they are not always exact though. But the name of Worksheet A must match 1 or both names on Worksheet B.

Answer 1

Something like this is an easy loop and record, then see if anything from the first sheet is on the second.
Not sure what your small and large names situation is, so I checked both columns
In you VBA IDE go to the tools menu and selecte references. Select "Microstoft ActiveX data objects 2.8 Library. This will be used for the recordset.
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
Dim rs As New ADODB.Recordset
Dim ws As Excel.Worksheet
Dim ws2 As Excel.Worksheet
Dim lRow As Long
Dim lRowOut As Long
Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1")
ws.Activate
Set ws2 = ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet3")
'Add fields to your recordset for storing data.
With rs
.Fields.Append "Row", adInteger
.Fields.Append "Name", adChar, 25
.Open
End With
'Loop through and record the name
lRow = 1
Do While lRow <= ws.UsedRange.Rows.count
rs.AddNew
rs.Fields("Row").Value = lRow
rs.Fields("Name").Value = ws.Range("E" & lRow).Value
rs.Update
lRow = lRow + 1
ws.Range("A" & lRow).Activate
Loop
If rs.EOF = False Then
rs.MoveFirst
End If
'Switch to the second worksheet
Set ws = Nothing
Set ws = ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet2")
ws.Activate
'Loop through and see if anything on this sheet was on the first sheet.
lRow = 1
lRowOut = 1
Do While lRow <= ws.UsedRange.Rows.count
'Check if the column H name was recorded from the first sheet
rs.Filter = ""
rs.Filter = "Name='" & ws.Range("H" & lRow).Value & "'"
If rs.RecordCount = 0 Then
rs.Filter = ""
rs.Filter = "Name='" & ws.Range("I" & lRow).Value & "'"
If rs.RecordCount > 0 Then
'It has a date, delete the current row
ws2.Range("A" & lRowOut).Value = rs.Fields("Name").Value
lRowOut = lRowOut + 1
End If
ElseIf rs.RecordCount > 0 Then
'It has a date, delete the current row
ws2.Range("A" & lRowOut).Value = rs.Fields("Name").Value
lRowOut = lRowOut + 1
End If
lRow = lRow + 1
ws.Range("A" & lRow).Activate
Loop
End Sub
If you want to look for a part of the name as you say in your comment, you can use a like. Change the filter lines to something like this.
rs.Filter = "Name LIKE '%" & ws.Range("I" & lRow).Value & "%'"

Answer 2

Doing this with formulas, instead of VBA, I would stick a formula in A1 of your new workbook like the following. Assuming that your "Worksheet A" is in Book1 on Sheet1 and your H and I columns from "Worksheet B" are Book2 on Sheet1:
=if(countif([Book2]Sheet1!H:I, [Book1]Sheet1!E1)>1, [Book1]Sheet1!A1, "")
This says "If, in my columns H and I in Sheet1 of Book2 there is at last one match on the name from Cell E1 in Sheet1 of Book1, then grab the name from Cell E1 on Sheet1 of Book1"
This will leave a good number of blanks, but at that point you can just filter or sort them out.
If the requirements are more complicated than that, like any match across any of three columns, then you can just add the results of multiple CountIf() formulas and test them for > 1, or do a single Countif() for each column and then union the results, sort/filter, and Bob's your uncle.
If this is going to be something you do often, then it may be worth investing in the VBA route as that will take the little bit of manual work out of it.