In Excel 2007, how can you create a hash total off of a column of text information?

To clarify, this would be for a column of alpha-text information, not "text representations" of a number. I can get an ASCII code of the first character, or return a number for the length of the text string, but I'd like to be able to know if a text entry like "Bob" gets changed to "Bobb", "Bib", etc ... thus the desire for a hash total. Any idea how to create a unique numerical representation of a text field?