Wordpress Find Category By Term Name

wp_find_category_by_name.php

/*
really cant believe this isn't native
*/
function get_category_by_term_name($categoryName=null){

	//if you get this via a tag it will have been html encoded		
	$string = preg_replace('/&(?!amp;)/', '&', $categoryName);
	$string = preg_replace('/#038;/', '', $string);

	$term = get_term_by('name',$string,'category');
	return get_category($term->term_id);
}