 <p><strong>Example:</strong> <a href="http://jsfiddle.net/EpbVc/" rel="nofollow">http://jsfiddle.net/EpbVc/</a></p> <pre><code>var value = $('#personName').val().split(' '); var firstName = value.shift(); var restOfNames = value.join(' '); </code></pre> <p>Uses <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/split" rel="nofollow"><code>.split()</code></a> to split on a single space. If there could be multiple spaces, you could use <code>.split(/\s+/)</code>. </p> <p>Then it uses <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/shift" rel="nofollow"><code>.shift()</code></a> to remove the first item from the Array, and assign it to <code>firstName</code>.</p> <p>Finally it uses <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/join" rel="nofollow"><code>.join()</code></a> to join the rest of the Array into a string using a single space as the separator.</p>