HTML DOM nodeName Property

Element Object

Example

Get the node name of a <p> element:

var x = document.getElementById("myP").nodeName;

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More "Try it Yourself" examples below.

Definition and Usage

The nodeName property returns the name of the specified node.

If the node is an element node, the nodeName property will return the tag name.

If the node is an attribute node, the nodeName property will return the name of the attribute.

For other node types, the nodeName property will return different names for different node types.

Tip: You can also use the tagName property to return the tag name of an element. The difference is that tagName only return tag names, while nodeName returns the name of all nodes (tags, attributes, text, comments).

This property is read-only.

Browser Support

Property
nodeName	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Syntax

node.nodeName

Technical Details

Return Value:	A String, representing the name of the node. Possible values: Returns the tagname for element nodes, in uppercase Returns the name of the attribute for attribute nodes Returns "#text" for text nodes Returns "#comment" for comment nodes Returns "#document" for document nodes
DOM Version	Core Level 1 Node Object

Return Value:

A String, representing the name of the node.

Possible values:

Returns the tagname for element nodes, in uppercase
Returns the name of the attribute for attribute nodes
Returns "#text" for text nodes
Returns "#comment" for comment nodes
Returns "#document" for document nodes

DOM Version

Core Level 1 Node Object

More Examples

Example

Get the node name of the <body> element:

var x = document.body.nodeName;

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Example

Get the node names of the <body> element's child nodes:

var c = document.body.childNodes;
var txt = "";
var i;
for (i = 0; i < c.length; i++) {
txt = txt + c[i].nodeName + "<br>";
}

document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = txt;

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Example

Get the node name, node value and the node type of the <div> element's first child node:

<div id="myDIV">This is a div element.</div>

<script>
var x = document.getElementById("myDIV").firstChild;
var txt = "";
txt += "The node name: " + x.nodeName + "<br>";
txt += "The node value: " + x.nodeValue + "<br>";
txt += "The node type: " + x.nodeType;
</script>

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HTML DOM reference: element.tagName Property

HTML DOM reference: node.nodeType Property

HTML DOM reference: node.nodeValue Property

HTML DOM reference: node.childNodes Property

Element Object