SQL Query to get the names that start with A or B or C.. to F

Question

I have a table that has a column 'name' (varchar)
I want to get all the rows having a name that starts with 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e,' OR 'f'.
I've built the query as following:
WHERE LEFT(u.name, 1)='a' OR LEFT(u.name, 1)='b' OR LEFT(u.name, 1)='c' OR LEFT(u.name, 1)='d' OR LEFT(u.name, 1)='e' OR LEFT(u.name, 1)='f'

Is there a better way? using regular expressions maybe?
and let's say I had to do it for wider ranges (A to M) would it slow the query?

Answer 1

There are almost too many ways to do this :) In addition to the other answers, any of these will work:

u.name >= 'a' AND u.name < 'g'

or

LEFT(u.name, 1) BETWEEN 'a' AND 'g'

or with a regex:

u.name REGEXP '^[a-f].*'

Answer 2

what's wrong with u.name < 'g'?

Answer 3

try using IN

WHERE LEFT(u.name, 1) IN ('a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f')

in this way you can define any starting character you want even if it's not in sequence.