Returns a nodelist collection with a given name in the (X)HTML document.

Syntax

elements = document.getElementsByName(name)
  • elements is a live NodeList Collection
  • name is the value of the name attribute of the element.

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
 ...
</head>

<body>
<form name="up"><input type="text"></form>
<div name="down"><input type="text"></div>

<script>
var up_forms = document.getElementsByName("up");
console.log(up_forms[0].tagName); // returns "FORM"
</script>
</body>
</html>

Notes

The name attribute is only applicable to (X)HTML documents. The method returns a live NodeList Collection that contains all elements with a given value for the name attribute, such as <meta> or <object> or even if name is placed on elements which do not support a name attribute at all.

The getElementsByName method works differently in different browsers. In IE & Opera, getElementsByName() method will also return elements that have an id attribute with the specified value. so you should be careful not to use the same string as both a name and an ID.

Specifications

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'Document.getElementsByName()' in that specification.		 Living Standard  
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 HTML Specification
The definition of 'Document.getElementsByName()' in that specification.		 Recommendation Initial definition

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

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 Last updated by: cvrebert,