@mkmanning
many thanks!! All i needed to do is add a text box with a keyup event and change the regular expression to match everything and not just the first beginning of the last name. Here is the solution in case anyone else is searching. Thanks again. <html> <head> <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js";></script> <script> $(document).ready(function(){ //cache the original select and options var selList = $('select'), opts = selList.find('option'); //filters by first letter of last name as option text function filterList(ltr){ selList.empty(); if(ltr==='All' || ltr==''){ selList.append(opts); return; } // var re = new RegExp("^"+ltr,"i");//, newopts = ''; var re = new RegExp(ltr,"i"); $.each($.grep(opts,function(o,i){return re.test($ (o).text());}), function(){ selList.append(this); }); } $('#search').keyup(function(){ filterList( $('#search').val() ); }); }); </script> </head> <body> <!-- <span>All</span> <span>Be</span> ... <span>W</span> --> <input type="text" id="search" " ></input> <select size="6"> <option>Bellucci, Monica</option> <option>Bernhardt, Daniel</option> <option>Chou, Collin</option> <option>Fishburne, Laurence</option> <option>Gaye, Nona</option> <option>Hulme, Lachy</option> <option>Lees, Nathaniel</option> <option>Lennix, Harry J.</option> <option>McColm, Matt</option> <option>Moss, Carrie-Anne</option> <option>O'Reilly, Genevieve</option> <option>Perrineau, Harold Jr.</option> <option>Pinkett Smith, Jada</option> <option>Rayment, Adrian</option> <option>Rayment, Neil</option> <option>Reeves, Keanu</option> <option>Spence, Bruce</option> <option>Weaving, Hugo</option> <option>Wilson, Lambert</option> <option>Wong, Anthony</option> </select> </body> </html>
