Convert string to title case with JavaScript

Question

Is there a simple way to convert a string to title case? E.g. john smith becomes John Smith. I'm not looking for something complicated like John Resig's solution, just (hopefully) some kind of one- or two-liner.

Answer 1

As full featured as John Resig's solution, but as a one-liner: (based on this github project)

function toTitleCase(e){var t=/^(a|an|and|as|at|but|by|en|for|if|in|of|on|or|the|to|vs?\.?|via)$/i;return e.replace(/([^\W_]+[^\s-]*) */g,function(e,n,r,i){return r>0&&r+n.length!==i.length&&n.search(t)>-1&&i.charAt(r-2)!==":"&&i.charAt(r-1).search(/[^\s-]/)<0?e.toLowerCase():n.substr(1).search(/[A-Z]|\../)>-1?e:e.charAt(0).toUpperCase()+e.substr(1)})};

console.log( toTitleCase( "ignores mixed case words like iTunes, and allows AT&A and website.com/address etc..." ) );

Answer 2

Prototype solution of Greg Dean's solution:

String.prototype.capitalize = function() {
  return this.replace(/\w\S*/g, function(txt){return txt.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + txt.substr(1).toLowerCase();});
}

Answer 3

ES 6

str.split(' ')
   .map(s => s.slice(0, 1).toUpperCase() + s.slice(1).toLowerCase())
   .join(' ')

else

str.split(' ').map(function (s) {
    return s.slice(0, 1).toUpperCase() + s.slice(1).toLowerCase();
}).join(' ')

Answer 4

Here is my function that is taking care of accented characters (important for french !) and that can switch on/off the handling of lowers exceptions. Hope that helps.

String.prototype.titlecase = function(lang, withLowers = false) {
    var i, string, lowers, uppers;

    string = this.replace(/([^\s:\-'])([^\s:\-']*)/g, function(txt) {
        return txt.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + txt.substr(1).toLowerCase();
    }).replace(/Mc(.)/g, function(match, next) {
        return 'Mc' + next.toUpperCase();
    });

    if (withLowers) {
        if (lang == 'EN') {
            lowers = ['A', 'An', 'The', 'At', 'By', 'For', 'In', 'Of', 'On', 'To', 'Up', 'And', 'As', 'But', 'Or', 'Nor', 'Not'];
        }
        else {
            lowers = ['Un', 'Une', 'Le', 'La', 'Les', 'Du', 'De', 'Des', 'À', 'Au', 'Aux', 'Par', 'Pour', 'Dans', 'Sur', 'Et', 'Comme', 'Mais', 'Ou', 'Où', 'Ne', 'Ni', 'Pas'];
        }
        for (i = 0; i < lowers.length; i++) {
            string = string.replace(new RegExp('\\s' + lowers[i] + '\\s', 'g'), function(txt) {
                return txt.toLowerCase();
            });
        }
    }

    uppers = ['Id', 'R&d'];
    for (i = 0; i < uppers.length; i++) {
        string = string.replace(new RegExp('\\b' + uppers[i] + '\\b', 'g'), uppers[i].toUpperCase());
    }

    return string;
}

Answer 5

Here’s my function that converts to title case but also preserves defined acronyms as uppercase and minor words as lowercase:

String.prototype.toTitleCase = function() {
  var i, j, str, lowers, uppers;
  str = this.replace(/([^\W_]+[^\s-]*) */g, function(txt) {
    return txt.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + txt.substr(1).toLowerCase();
  });

  // Certain minor words should be left lowercase unless 
  // they are the first or last words in the string
  lowers = ['A', 'An', 'The', 'And', 'But', 'Or', 'For', 'Nor', 'As', 'At', 
  'By', 'For', 'From', 'In', 'Into', 'Near', 'Of', 'On', 'Onto', 'To', 'With'];
  for (i = 0, j = lowers.length; i < j; i++)
    str = str.replace(new RegExp('\\s' + lowers[i] + '\\s', 'g'), 
      function(txt) {
        return txt.toLowerCase();
      });

  // Certain words such as initialisms or acronyms should be left uppercase
  uppers = ['Id', 'Tv'];
  for (i = 0, j = uppers.length; i < j; i++)
    str = str.replace(new RegExp('\\b' + uppers[i] + '\\b', 'g'), 
      uppers[i].toUpperCase());

  return str;
}

For example:

"TO LOGIN TO THIS SITE and watch tv, please enter a valid id:".toTitleCase();
// Returns: "To Login to This Site and Watch TV, Please Enter a Valid ID:"

Answer 6

Without using regex just for reference:

String.prototype.toProperCase = function() {
  var words = this.split(' ');
  var results = [];
  for (var i=0; i < words.length; i++) {
      var letter = words[i].charAt(0).toUpperCase();
      results.push(letter + words[i].slice(1));
  }
  return results.join(' ');
};

'john smith'.toProperCase();