Personalizing email sent to a distribution list

Is it possible to have a merge field, "first" (for first name) for example to
display each recipients name?

When I send to a distribution list all the recipients see is the name of the
merge field. It looks like this:

Dear <<First>>, and not as it should - Dear Bill,

I also can't seem to pick the name of my distribution list from the
recipients list if I'm doing an email mail merge. All I can choose from are
individual email addresses.

Bill

If you want a coherent answer to your question, you will need to post all of the relevant information which is missing from this post.

Version of Office/Outlook? How are you starting the mail merge? What is the source for your contact information? Did you expand your Distribution list? What is the default email client.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.

After furious head scratching, Bill asked:

| Is it possible to have a merge field, "first" (for first name) for
| example to display each recipients name?
|
| When I send to a distribution list all the recipients see is the name
| of the merge field. It looks like this:
|
| Dear <<First>>, and not as it should - Dear Bill,
|
| I also can't seem to pick the name of my distribution list from the
| recipients list if I'm doing an email mail merge. All I can choose
| from are individual email addresses.
|
| Bill