Naming Your Pioneers, Part 1: Printing Name Tags with Mail Merge

by | Jul 31, 2026 | Word Processing, Spreadsheets

Sample of four personalized Pioneer Trek name tags in a grid, labeled "Mail Merge: Standard Avery Labels"

Recently, I had the chance to help a group of high school students get ready for their Pioneer Trek — a multi-day experience where youth walk part of the same trail their pioneer ancestors once did, often pulling handcarts just as those pioneers did nearly 175 years ago. As part of the preparation, each student needed a name tag showing their own name alongside the name of one of their pioneer ancestors — a small detail that turned out to mean a lot, connecting each young person to their own family's history before they ever took a step on the trail.

With over 50 students to prepare for, creating each name tag by hand would have taken hours. Instead, a single tool in Microsoft Word made quick work of it: Mail Merge.

Mail Merge isn't just for pioneer treks — it's just as useful any time you need to print a batch of personalized name tags, whether for a conference, a training event, a company retreat, or a church or community activity.

Step 1: Build Your List in Excel

  1. Create a simple spreadsheet with one column for each piece of information you want on the tag — for example, Student Name and Ancestor Name (or Name and Title for a business event).
  2. Give each column a clear header, since Word will use these headers during the merge.
  3. Save the file somewhere you'll remember, such as your Documents folder.

Outcome: You now have a clean, reusable list that can generate name tags for any number of people in seconds.

Step 2: Start Mail Merge with a Standard Avery Label Template

  1. In Word, go to the Mailings tab and select Start Mail Merge > Labels.
  2. Choose Avery US Letter (or your label brand) from the Label vendors list, then pick the product number printed on your label package, such as Avery 5392 (a common name tag size).
  3. Click OK — Word will lay out a grid matching your label sheet.

Outcome: Word now knows the exact size and spacing of your labels, so your text will line up correctly when printed.

Step 3: Connect Your List and Insert the Merge Fields

  1. Go to Mailings > Select Recipients > Use an Existing List, and choose your Excel file.
  2. Click inside the first label, then go to Mailings > Insert Merge Field and add Student Name. Press Enter, then insert Ancestor Name below it.
  3. Format the text how you'd like it to appear — larger font for the name, italics for the ancestor's name, for example.
  4. Go to Mailings > Update Labels to copy your layout to every label on the sheet.

Outcome: Every label is now set up to pull the right name and ancestor automatically — no retyping required.

Step 4: Preview and Print

  1. Go to Mailings > Preview Results to check that names are appearing correctly.
  2. Go to Mailings > Finish & Merge > Print Documents, then choose All.
  3. Load your Avery label sheets into the printer and print.

Outcome: In just a few minutes, you have a full sheet of professional, personalized name tags — ready to cut apart and hand out.

Watching each student find their tag — and their ancestor's name printed right beside their own — was a reminder that even a simple piece of technology can help connect us to something bigger than ourselves. Next time, in Part 2, we'll look at what to do when your name tags don't match a standard label size, and you need to build your own custom label from scratch.

Need help setting up a Mail Merge project for your next event? Reach out to us and let us know how we can help.