It is a bit baffling, but as of 2023 and the time of this article, Power Automate still doesn’t have toProper() function. There are multiple ways to work around that, to name a few: Select action, Apply to each (loop) action, Azure Automate (PowerShell in the cloud). Personally, I would use Azure Automation (especially when formatting something more than people names) but that would be a more complex approach. The method below works in a pinch.

You may ask why one would need to format names to a proper case. Well, when you are dealing with older databases, it’s possible the data is formatted with UPPERCASE.

Pros:

• simple and works within Select actions;
• very fast and doesn’t require looping or Azure Automation;
• handles “up to” triple barrel names;
• works well in a real life scenario.

Cons:

• only handles “up to” triple barrel names (anything more complex will not be properly converted);
• a bit ugly and is pretty much hardcoding.

1) Initialize variable action –  varFirstNames variable (Array type). Value:

[
  "PAUL",
  "J",
  "GAIUS JULIUS CEASAR",
  "AMELIA ROSE",
  "ELLIE-MAY",
  "ELLA KISSI-DEBRA",
  "ANTONY-CHARLES-ROBERT"
]

2) Select action. From:

variables('varFirstNames')

Select:

toLower(item())

3) Select action. From:

body('toLower')

Select:

if(
    equals(item(),''),
    '',
    if(
        equals(length(split(item(),' ')),2),
        concat(
            if(
                equals(length(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')),2),
                concat(
                    if(equals(length(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[0]),1),first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[0])),concat(first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[0])),substring(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[0],1,sub(length(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[0]),1)))),
                    '-',
                    if(equals(length(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[1]),1),first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[1])),concat(first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[1])),substring(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[1],1,sub(length(split(split(item(),' ')[0],'-')[1]),1))))
                ),
                if(equals(length(split(item(),' ')[0]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[0])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[0])),substring(split(item(),' ')[0],1,sub(length(split(item(),' ')[0]),1))))
            ),
            ' ',
            if(
                equals(length(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')),2),
                concat(
                    if(equals(length(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[0]),1),first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[0])),concat(first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[0])),substring(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[0],1,sub(length(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[0]),1)))),
                    '-',
                    if(equals(length(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[1]),1),first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[1])),concat(first(toupper(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[1])),substring(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[1],1,sub(length(split(split(item(),' ')[1],'-')[1]),1))))
                ),
                if(equals(length(split(item(),' ')[1]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[1])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[1])),substring(split(item(),' ')[1],1,sub(length(split(item(),' ')[1]),1))))
            )
        ),
        if(
            equals(length(split(item(),' ')),3),
            concat(
                if(equals(length(split(item(),' ')[0]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[0])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[0])),substring(split(item(),' ')[0],1,sub(length(split(item(),' ')[0]),1)))),
                ' ',
                if(equals(length(split(item(),' ')[1]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[1])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[1])),substring(split(item(),' ')[1],1,sub(length(split(item(),' ')[1]),1)))),
                ' ',
                if(equals(length(split(item(),' ')[2]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[2])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[2])),substring(split(item(),' ')[2],1,sub(length(split(item(),' ')[2]),1))))
                    
            ),
            if(
                equals(length(split(item(),'-')),2),
                concat(
                    if(equals(length(split(item(),'-')[0]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[0])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[0])),substring(split(item(),'-')[0],1,sub(length(split(item(),'-')[0]),1)))),
                    '-',
                    if(equals(length(split(item(),'-')[1]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[1])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[1])),substring(split(item(),'-')[1],1,sub(length(split(item(),'-')[1]),1))))
                ),
                if(
                    equals(length(split(item(),'-')),3),
                    concat(
                        if(equals(length(split(item(),'-')[0]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[0])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[0])),substring(split(item(),'-')[0],1,sub(length(split(item(),'-')[0]),1)))),
                        '-',
                        if(equals(length(split(item(),'-')[1]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[1])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[1])),substring(split(item(),'-')[1],1,sub(length(split(item(),'-')[1]),1)))),
                        '-',
                        if(equals(length(split(item(),'-')[2]),1),first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[2])),concat(first(toupper(split(item(),'-')[2])),substring(split(item(),'-')[2],1,sub(length(split(item(),'-')[2]),1))))
                    ),
                    if(
                        equals(length(item()),1),
                        toUpper(item()),
                        concat(first(toupper(split(item(),' ')[0])),substring(split(item(),' ')[0],1,sub(length(split(item(),' ')[0]),1)))
                    )
                )
            )
        )
    )
)

RESULT

[
  "Paul",
  "J",
  "Gaius Julius Ceasar",
  "Amelia Rose",
  "Ellie-May",
  "Ella Kissi-Debra",
  "Antony-Charles-Robert"
]