» Finding the Maximal / Minimal String, Based on Alphabetic Order

Problem:

Finding the maximal and minimal name (text) within List1 (column A), based on alphabetic order of the first character of each name (text).

Solution:

To retrieve the maximal name within column A, use the INDEX, MATCH, MAX, and COUNTIF functions as shown in the following Array formula:
{=INDEX(A2:A8,MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(A2:A8,"<"&A2:A8)),COUNTIF(A2:A8,"<"&A2:A8),0))}

To retrieve the minimal name within column A, use the INDEX, MATCH, MIN, and COUNTIF functions as shown in the following Array formula:
{=INDEX(A2:A8,MATCH(MIN(COUNTIF(A2:A8,"<"&A2:A8)),COUNTIF(A2:A8,"<"&A2:A8),0))}