How can I keep a running data tally in excel?

How can I take data from one column and have it added to a running total to another column. i.e. I have a column with ages. As I add new rows, I want to take a cell with an age i.e 18 and have it automatically add it to another cell that keeps track of how many "18"s there are in the column. The other thing is that I keep adding rows as new clinets come in. I.e. I tally a client's age, race, etc. in rows. Then somewhere on the sheet I would like to add how many of each category as I keep adding info, not summ the the actual numbers. Again, let's take race. I want to take all the letter "h"s and have them go to a total cell where it adds up how many "h'" there are. Any help?