A function to parse names into an object with Javascript.

Parse Names into an object, Javascript

var name_obj 	= {},
    prefixes  	= ["Ms.", "Miss.", "Mrs.", "Mr."],
    suffixes	= ["Esq.", "Jr.", "Sr."];

function parse(value) {

    /* -----------------------------------------------
     * depending on the requirements you might need to
     * remove punctuation and/or change to lowercase
     * for easier searching
     * -----------------------------------------------
     *  // search in lowercase
     *  value = value.toLowerCase();
     *  // remove periods
     *  value = value.replace(/\./g, "");
     */
    
    // split the string into an array
    var str_array = value.split(" ");
    
    // see if the first element is a prefix
    if ( prefixes.indexOf(str_array[0]) >= 0 ) {
        name_obj.prefix = str_array.shift();
    } else {
        name_obj.prefix = null;
    }

    // see if the last element is a suffix
    if ( suffixes.indexOf(str_array[str_array.length-1]) >= 0 ) {
        name_obj.suffix = str_array.pop(); 
    } else {
        name_obj.suffix = null;
    }

    // assume that the first element is the first name
    // and the last element is the last name
    name_obj.first = str_array.shift();
    name_obj.last  = str_array.pop();
    
    // might as well save everything that's left over
    name_obj.middle_etc = str_array.join(" ");

    console.log(name_obj);
}

parse("Mr. Matt Wayne Theodore McClard Esq.");
// alert(name_obj.first);
// alert(name_obj.last);

parse("Matt McClard Sr.");
// alert(name_obj.first);
// alert(name_obj.last);