Dates & Time

Excel formula for Get the month name from a date

Convert a date into its month name like "January" using TEXT.

Copy this formula

=TEXT(A2, "mmmm")

How the formula works

TEXT formats a date as text using a pattern. "mmmm" gives the full month name, "mmm" gives the short name (Jan), and "mm" gives the two-digit number.

=TEXT("2026-06-23", "mmmm")→June

Returns the full month name.

=TEXT(DATE(2026,3,5), "mmm")→Mar

Three-letter month abbreviation.

=TEXT(DATE(2026,3,5), "mmmm yyyy")→March 2026

Month name and year together.

Day of week name

=TEXT(A2, "dddd")

Returns the weekday, e.g. Tuesday.

I want the month number, not the name.

Use =MONTH(A2) to return 1–12 as a number.

How do I turn a month number into a month name?

Use =TEXT(DATE(2026, A2, 1), "mmmm"), where A2 holds a number from 1 to 12.

How do I show the month name in another language?

Add a locale code to the format: =TEXT(A2, "[$-es-ES]mmmm") returns the month in Spanish.

Can I sort by the month name returned by TEXT?

It sorts alphabetically because the result is text. Sort by the original date, or add a helper column with =MONTH(A2).

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