Lodash _.camelCase() Method

What You’ll Learn

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll convert messy string labels into clean camelCase identifiers using Lodash’s _.camelCase() method.

What Is _.camelCase()?

_.camelCase() converts a string into camelCase—the JavaScript convention where the first word is lowercase and each following word starts with an uppercase letter. Lodash strips non-word separators, splits the string into words, lowercases them, then joins without spaces.

You will see this everywhere: mapping database column names to object keys, generating variable names from user labels, and cleaning up config keys from third-party APIs.

📝 Syntax

Pass any string (or omit it for an empty default):

_.camelCase([string=''])

Syntax Rules

• string — the input to convert. Defaults to '' when omitted.
• Separators — spaces, hyphens, underscores, and most punctuation act as word breaks.
• Return value — a new camelCase string; the original is not modified.
• Numbers — digits can appear inside words (e.g. version2Name).
• Acronyms — consecutive capitals may be split differently than you expect; test edge cases.

import camelCase from "lodash/camelCase";

const kebab = "hello-world";
const result = camelCase(kebab);
// -> "helloWorld"

Examples Gallery

Practical _.camelCase() patterns with copy-ready code, sample output, and interactive Try It Yourself labs.

import camelCase from "lodash/camelCase";

const kebabCaseString = "hello-world";
const camelCaseString = camelCase(kebabCaseString);

console.log(camelCaseString);
// -> "helloWorld"

camelCaseString: "helloWorld"

import camelCase from "lodash/camelCase";

const raw = "my_variable-name";
const result = camelCase(raw);

console.log(result);
// -> "myVariableName"

result: "myVariableName"

import camelCase from "lodash/camelCase";

const apiResponse = {
  user_name: "Ada",
  account_id: 7
};

const normalized = {};
for (const key of Object.keys(apiResponse)) {
  normalized[camelCase(key)] = apiResponse[key];
}

console.log(normalized);
// -> { userName: "Ada", accountId: 7 }

normalized: { userName: "Ada", accountId: 7 }

import camelCase from "lodash/camelCase";

const label = "First Name";
const fieldName = camelCase(label);
// -> "firstName"

fieldName: "firstName"

import camelCase from "lodash/camelCase";

const headers = ["order-id", "ship_date", "Customer Name"];
const keys = headers.map(camelCase);
// -> ["orderId", "shipDate", "customerName"]

keys: ["orderId", "shipDate", "customerName"]

import camelCase from "lodash/camelCase";
import kebabCase from "lodash/kebabCase";
import snakeCase from "lodash/snakeCase";

const input = "Foo Bar";
console.log(camelCase(input));   // -> "fooBar"
console.log(kebabCase(input));   // -> "foo-bar"
console.log(snakeCase(input));   // -> "foo_bar"

// Edge case: acronyms may split unexpectedly—always test real data
console.log(camelCase("XMLHttpRequest"));

camelCase: "fooBar"
kebabCase: "foo-bar"
snakeCase: "foo_bar"
XMLHttpRequest: "xmlHttpRequest" (verify acronym strings)

📝 Notes

• _.camelCase() returns a new string—the original is untouched.
• It is ideal for identifiers, not for sentence capitalization (use _.capitalize()).
• Acronyms and consecutive capitals may produce surprising splits—always test your real data.
• Already camelCase strings may still be re-processed; guard with a check if idempotency matters.
• Pair with object mapping when normalizing API payloads with snake_case keys.
• Import only lodash/camelCase to keep bundles small.

💡 Best Practices