Does this help explain how index works? (You don't need to number your columns, if excel asks you for a column reference it wants a number A=1, B=2 etc.)
[TABLE="width: 256"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD="width: 64"][/TD]
[TD="width: 64"]dogs[/TD]
[TD="width: 64"]cats[/TD]
[TD="width: 64"]fish[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]boys[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]girls[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]11[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]men[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[TD]12[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]women[/TD]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]boys[/TD]
[TD]cats[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD] =INDEX(1:5,MATCH(A8,A1:A5,0),MATCH(B8,1:1,0))[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]
You can use match for row and column references.