element.tagName

Returns the name of the element.

Syntax

elementName = element.tagName;

• elementName is a string containing the name of the current element.

Notes

In XML (and XML-based languages such as XHTML), tagName preserves case. On HTML elements in DOM trees flagged as HTML documents, tagName returns the element name in the uppercase form. The value of tagName is the same as that of nodeName.

Example

HTML content

<span id="born">When I was born...</span>

JavaScript content

var span = document.getElementById("born");
console.log(span.tagName);

In XHTML (or any other XML format), "span" would be output. In HTML, "SPAN" would be output instead.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification The definition of 'Element.tagName' in that specification.	Recommendation	No change
Document Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Core Specification The definition of 'Element.tagName' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility