Whether you were a stats lover (or a not-so-stats-lover) during school times, it is going to follow you everywhere.
Common symbols from stats include letters or sometimes characters combined with a bar or a hat.
Remember some symbols from that looked like below.
That’s what we call the P-hat symbol (notice the triangular hat above P). It is often used to represent the sample proportion.
Table of Contents
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (1) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (1)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-1.png)
Just like P-hat, the symbol below is called the Y-hat symbol. It represents the predicted value of the dependent variable (y).
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (2) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (2)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-2.png)
Similarly, stats would offer you a variety of such symbols with a hat on the top like p-hat, r-hat, and x-hat, etc.
Done with the caps – here is the X-bar symbol (with a bar on top of x). It represents the mean of a distribution.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (3) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (3)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-3.png)
Not only X-bar, but you’d see many other symbols like the Y-bar, m-bar, etc.
After we have revisited some of our statistical symbols, let us now see if you can insert these in Excel. Don’t go searching for your keypad already; you won’t find them there. However, you can still add them to your spreadsheet.
How? Let’s go straight into the tutorial below to learn that.
Insert a Bar Symbol In Excel
The bar symbol is represented by a bar ( __ ) on top of a letter. For example, an X-bar looks like a bar on top of the letter “x”.
Symbols with a bar on the top often represent the mean of a given data distribution (or averages). It is commonly used in statistics, and you’d need it in Excel for a variety of purposes. Like writing up statistical formulas, functions, or sometimes, signs.
As these symbols are not readily available on your keypad or in Excel, you’d have to follow a quick science to have them in your spreadsheet.
This section will teach us how to add a bar symbol on the top of a letter/character in Excel.
TIP!Some of the most commonly used bar symbols of Excel are produced below. If in a rush, simply copy them from here and paste them into your spreadsheet!
x̄ | X̅ |
y̅ | Y̅ |
r̄ | R̄ |
z̄ | Z̄ |
Need a longer-term solution? Continue reading to learn how you can insert these in Excel.
- Activate a cell in your spreadsheet and insert the character on top of which you need a bar inserted.
We will use the “x” letter in this example to achieve the x-bar symbol.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (4) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (4)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-4.png)
- Select the cell (where “x” is typed).
- Go to the Insert tab > Symbols.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (5) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (5)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/How-to-Insert-Sigma-in-Excel-7.jpg)
- Against the Font, select Normal Text.
- Against the subset, select Combining Diacritical Marks.
- Find the top bar from the symbols and select it
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (6) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (6)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-7-1.png)
TIP!Hard to find the bar symbol? Type in 0305 in the Character Code box below - the symbol dialog box will automatically select it for you.
- Hit Insert to have the symbol inserted in the selected cell. In the image below, the bar symbol is added on top of “x”.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (7) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (7)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-8.png)
That way, we have the X-bar symbol created in Excel.
What if you don’t need the x-bar but other symbols like the R-bar of the Y-bar? Just change the character in the cell before you perform the above steps.
Add a bar to the top of each letter following the same steps as above to create any bar symbol as below.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (8) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (8)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-9.png)
Doesn’t that make adding X-bar and other related symbols in Excel easy!
Insert a Hat Symbol in Excel
The Hat symbol looks like an up-headed triangle “^”. It is mostly used to represent an estimated or predicted value.
Y-hat represents the predicted value of the dependent variable in an equation. How do you achieve hat-based symbols in Excel?
The easiest and shortest way might be to copy and paste them from below simply.
x̂ | X̂ |
p̂ | P̂ |
d̂ | D̂ |
ŷ | Ŷ |
However, this method might not suit you the best if you need to insert hat-based symbols in your spreadsheets quite often.
To learn how you can add the hat symbol in Excel, follow these steps.
- Activate a cell in your spreadsheet and insert the character on top of which you need the hat symbol inserted.
Let’s just use the letter “y” for now to achieve a Y-hat.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (9) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (9)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-10.png)
- Select the cell (where “Y” is typed).
- Go to the Insert tab > Symbols.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (10) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (10)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/How-to-Insert-Sigma-in-Excel-7-1.jpg)
- Against the Font, select Normal Text.
- Against the subset, select Combining Diacritical Marks.
- Find the hat symbol from the symbols and select it
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (11) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (11)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-11-1.png)
TIP!Type in the character code 0302 in the Character Code box below if you cannot find the hat symbol otherwise.
- Hit Insert to have the symbol inserted in the selected cell.
In the image below, the hat symbol (^) is added on top of “y”.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (12) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (12)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-12.png)
And so, we have the Y-hat symbol ready in Excel.
Using the same steps as above, you can literally create any hat-based symbol like P-Hat, r-hat, x-hat, you name it.
![Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (13) Type Statistical Symbols in Excel (X-Bar, Y-Bar, P-Hat...) (13)](https://i0.wp.com/excelmono.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Staistical-Symbols-13.png)
Creating statistical symbols in Excel is not as difficult as it looks like it’d be, right?
Conclusion
The guide above summarizes different methods of how you can add the X-bar and Y-hat symbols in Excel. Using the same methods, you can create any kind of bar or hat-based symbols.
And why only bar or hat symbols? Following the steps above, you can add any symbol (with any character) in your spreadsheet. Practice adding these symbols a couple of times and soon you will be able to insert them with your eyes closed.
Continue learning and go on spreadsheeting seamlessly!