Extracting name from email subject line

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Posted on by cb23

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Hi there,

I am trying to extract a name from an email subject line. I have got as far as splitting something... but took off the first letter rather than the whole word. Please help!

The subject line is as follows:

Word Word Word Word FIRSTNAME LASTNAME number

I need the first name and last name (i.e. the 5th and 6th words put together). What's the best way to use an expression to get this?

Additionally, further down my flow I need to make sure that a flow doesn't trigger a second time if there are replies to an email (so RE or FW at the start). Is there a way to add a trigger condition or do something else so that this doesn't happen? Otherwise I am going to have duplicate rows.

Thank you 🙂

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trice602 16,034 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @cb23 ,

Here's the expression to dynamically get your first and last. Please mark as a solution and we can look at your second question.

slice(variables('Subject'), add(nthIndexOf(variables('Subject'), ' ', 4), 1), nthIndexOf(variables('Subject'), ' ', 6))

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rzaneti 4,483 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @cb23 ,

Assuming that the first and last names will always be the 5th and 6th words into the Subject Line, you can use this flow design:

Note: the variable 'text' is simulating your subject line. When applying this approach in your end, you don't need to create this first variable.

Expressions used
Variable 'array' expression: skip(split(variables('text'), ' '), 4) - make sure to replace the text in red for the dynamic content of your subject line.

Variable 'name' expressions: variables('array')[0] and variables('array')[1] - make sure to replace the variables('array' for the dynamic content of your 'array' variable, generated from the subject line.

Quick explanation about what is happening
We are first transforming your subject line into an array, by using the split expression. As we are using a blank space as separator, each word will be an array element. As we know that we will be using only the 5th and the 6th element, we are applying a skip method, to ignore the first 4 elements from the generated array. So the final output from 'array' variable will be the following:

In 'name' variable, we are accessing the first and the second elements from the array. We use [0] to access its first element, and [1] to access its second one. It happens because the arrays in Power Automate are 'zero-indexed', so the count starts in zero, and not in 1.

If this first approach works for you, we can move forward and work into the filter for the RE/FW!

Also, I recommend you these 2 articles that I recently wrote about text mining in Power Automate and working with arrays in Power Automate:
- http://digitalmill.net/2023/08/12/how-to-extract-and-clean-texts-with-power-automate/
- http://digitalmill.net/2023/07/12/using-loops-and-accessing-array-elements-in-power-automate/

Let me know if it works for you or if you need any additional help!

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cb23 326 on at

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Thanks so much Tom. That has worked!

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cb23 326 on at

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Hello @rzaneti , thank you so much for your detailed reply. The explanation is much appreciated. I tried @trice602's expression and this worked even though it is slightly different to what you recommended. Are there any differences in the approach that I should know about that are potential pros or cons? Thanks again.

I will check the RE/FW docs you shared tomorrow (I'm now finished work for the day!) 🙂

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cb23 326 on at

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Hi @trice602, just to follow this up - do you have any advice on the RE/FW element I mentioned? Thanks.

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trice602 16,034 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Hi @cb23 ,

I just tested this in a sample flow and it does identify the replies and forwards. Please mark this reply as a solution too!

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cb23 326 on at

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Perfect! Thanks so much @trice602

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trice602 16,034 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at

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Nice! Have a great week!

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