Error.prototype.name

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The name data property of Error.prototype is shared by all Error instances. It represents the name for the type of error. For Error.prototype.name, the initial value is "Error". Subclasses like TypeError and SyntaxError provide their own name properties.

Value

A string. For Error.prototype.name, the initial value is "Error".

Property attributes of Error.prototype.name
Writable yes
Enumerable no
Configurable yes

Description

By default, Error instances are given the name "Error". The name property, in addition to the message property, is used by the Error.prototype.toString() method to create a string representation of the error.

Examples

Throwing a custom error

js
const e = new Error("Malformed input"); // e.name is 'Error'

e.name = "ParseError";
throw e;
// e.toString() would return 'ParseError: Malformed input'

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript Language Specification
# sec-error.prototype.name

Browser compatibility

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See also