How to get the name of an element with Javascript?

Question

I'm trying to get the name of an element in Javascript. Meaning if the element is <div />, then "div" would be returned. If it's <img src="" /> then "img" would be returned. I'm using jquery to select a bunch of elements and then calling a custom function on all of them. Within that function I want to know what I'm dealing with. How do I do this?

Seems like a simple thing. And I think I've done it before but I just can't find it. Google results keep giving me "get element by name" no matter how I phrase it.

Answer 1

Use nodeName (see this note about tagName):

"My advice is not to use tagName at all. nodeName contains all functionalities of tagName, plus a few more. Therefore nodeName is always the better choice."