element.name

name gets or sets the name property of an element in the DOM. It only applies to the following elements: <a>, <applet>, <button>, <form>, <frame>, <iframe>, <img>, <input>, <map>, <meta>, <object>, <param>, <select>, and <textarea>.

name can be used in the document.getElementsByName() method, a form and with the form elements collection. When used with a form or elements collection, it may return a single element or a collection.

Syntax

HTMLElement.name = string;
var elName = HTMLElement.name;

var fControl = HTMLFormElement.elementName;
var controlCollection = HTMLFormElement.elements.elementName;

Example

<form action="" name="formA">
  <input type="text" value="foo">
</form>

<script type="text/javascript">

  // Get a reference to the first element in the form
  var formElement = document.forms['formA'].elements[0];

  // Give it a name
  formElement.name = 'inputA';

  // Show the value of the input
  alert(document.forms['formA'].elements['inputA'].value);
 
</script>

Notes

In Internet Explorer (IE), the name property of DOM objects created using document.createElement() can't be set or modified.

Specification

W3C DOM 2 HTML Specification:

• Anchor
• Applet
• Button
• Form
• Frame
• iFrame
• Image
• Input
• Map
• Meta
• Object
• Param
• Select
• Textarea

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub