Suppose that we have this cell array of data : a={43 432 2006; 254 12 2008; 65 35 2000; 64 34 2000; 23 23 2006; 64 2 2010; 32 5 2006; 22 2 2010} Last column of this cell array is years. I want classify data(rows) based on years like this : a_2006 = {43 432 2006; 32 5 2006; 32 5 2006} a_2008 = {254 12 2008}; a_2000 = {65 35 2000; 64 34 2000} a_2010 = {64 2 2010; 22 2 2010} I have different years in column three in every cell array (this cell array is a sample) so I want an automatic method to determine the years and classify them to a_yearA , a_yearB etc. or other naming that I can distinguish years and call data years easily. How can I do this? Thanks.da