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

I wanted to add my own answer as I needed a robust toTitleCase function that takes into account grammar rules listed here (Google recommended article). There are various rules that depend on the length of the input string. Below is the function + unit tests.

The function also consolidates whitespace and removes special characters (modify regex for your needs)

toTitleCase Function

const toTitleCase = (str) => {
  const articles = ['a', 'an', 'the'];
  const conjunctions = ['for', 'and', 'nor', 'but', 'or', 'yet', 'so'];
  const prepositions = [
    'with', 'at', 'from', 'into','upon', 'of', 'to', 'in', 'for',
    'on', 'by', 'like', 'over', 'plus', 'but', 'up', 'down', 'off', 'near'
  ];

  // The list of spacial characters can be tweaked here
  const replaceCharsWithSpace = (str) => str.replace(/[^0-9a-z&/\\]/gi, ' ').replace(/(\s\s+)/gi, ' ');
  const capitalizeFirstLetter = (str) => str.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + str.substr(1);
  const normalizeStr = (str) => str.toLowerCase().trim();
  const shouldCapitalize = (word, fullWordList, posWithinStr) => {
    if ((posWithinStr == 0) || (posWithinStr == fullWordList.length - 1)) {
      return true;
    }

    return !(articles.includes(word) || conjunctions.includes(word) || prepositions.includes(word));
  }

  str = replaceCharsWithSpace(str);
  str = normalizeStr(str);

  let words = str.split(' ');
  if (words.length <= 2) { // Strings less than 3 words long should always have first words capitalized
    words = words.map(w => capitalizeFirstLetter(w));
  }
  else {
    for (let i = 0; i < words.length; i++) {
      words[i] = (shouldCapitalize(words[i], words, i) ? capitalizeFirstLetter(words[i], words, i) : words[i]);
    }
  }

  return words.join(' ');
}

Unit Tests to Ensure Correctness

import { expect } from 'chai';
import { toTitleCase } from '../../src/lib/stringHelper';

describe('toTitleCase', () => {
  it('Capitalizes first letter of each word irrespective of articles, conjunctions or prepositions if string is no greater than two words long', function(){
    expect(toTitleCase('the dog')).to.equal('The Dog'); // Capitalize articles when only two words long
    expect(toTitleCase('for all')).to.equal('For All'); // Capitalize conjunctions when only two words long
    expect(toTitleCase('with cats')).to.equal('With Cats'); // Capitalize prepositions when only two words long
  });

  it('Always capitalize first and last words in a string irrespective of articles, conjunctions or prepositions', function(){
    expect(toTitleCase('the beautiful dog')).to.equal('The Beautiful Dog');
    expect(toTitleCase('for all the deadly ninjas, be it so')).to.equal('For All the Deadly Ninjas Be It So');
    expect(toTitleCase('with cats and dogs we are near')).to.equal('With Cats and Dogs We Are Near');
  });

  it('Replace special characters with space', function(){
    expect(toTitleCase('[wolves & lions]: be careful')).to.equal('Wolves & Lions Be Careful');
    expect(toTitleCase('wolves & lions, be careful')).to.equal('Wolves & Lions Be Careful');
  });

  it('Trim whitespace at beginning and end', function(){
    expect(toTitleCase(' mario & Luigi superstar saga ')).to.equal('Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga');
  });

  it('articles, conjunctions and prepositions should not be capitalized in strings of 3+ words', function(){
    expect(toTitleCase('The wolf and the lion: a tale of two like animals')).to.equal('The Wolf and the Lion a Tale of Two like Animals');
    expect(toTitleCase('the  three Musketeers  And plus ')).to.equal('The Three Musketeers and Plus');
  });
});

Please note that I am removing quite a bit of special characters from the strings provided. You will need to tweak the regex to address the requirements of your project.

Answer 2

Try to apply the text-transform CSS style to your controls.

eg: (text-transform: capitalize);

Only use a JS approach when absolutely necessary.

Answer 3

I made this function which can handle last names (so it's not title case) such as "McDonald" or "MacDonald" or "O'Toole" or "D'Orazio". It doesn't however handle German or Dutch names with "van" or "von" which are often in lower-case... I believe "de" is often lower-case too such as "Robert de Niro". These would still have to be addressed.

function toProperCase(s)
{
  return s.toLowerCase().replace( /\b((m)(a?c))?(\w)/g,
          function($1, $2, $3, $4, $5) { if($2){return $3.toUpperCase()+$4+$5.toUpperCase();} return $1.toUpperCase(); });
}

Answer 4

This is based on my solution for FreeCodeCamp's Bonfire "Title Case", which requires you to first convert the given string to all lower case and then convert every character proceeding a space to upper case.

Without using regex:

function titleCase(str) {
 return str.toLowerCase().split(' ').map(function(val) { return val.replace(val[0], val[0].toUpperCase()); }).join(' ');
}

Answer 5

A slightly more elegant way, adapting Greg Dean's function:

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

Call it like:

"pascal".toProperCase();

Answer 6

For those of us who are scared of regular expressions (lol):

function titleCase(str)
{
    var words = str.split(" ");
    for ( var i = 0; i < words.length; i++ )
    {
        var j = words[i].charAt(0).toUpperCase();
        words[i] = j + words[i].substr(1);
    }
    return words.join(" ");
}