diff --git a/core/XdmfArrayType.cpp b/core/XdmfArrayType.cpp
index f21188dbe74a39d5fdb2cf51229127e8f7c11fab..22b661c8277f8d9480b347e00cddad0036bb83bb 100644
--- a/core/XdmfArrayType.cpp
+++ b/core/XdmfArrayType.cpp
@@ -172,6 +172,12 @@ XdmfArrayType::getElementSize() const
   return mPrecision;
 }
 
+std::string
+XdmfArrayType::getName() const
+{
+  return mName;
+}
+
 void
 XdmfArrayType::getProperties(std::map<std::string, std::string> & collectedProperties) const
 {
diff --git a/core/XdmfArrayType.hpp b/core/XdmfArrayType.hpp
index fd9d5cd74a8ecba9bcc229b0f40fb587d10b9904..6be1a644e42e90f45b164f9fefa3e5b6a3858064 100644
--- a/core/XdmfArrayType.hpp
+++ b/core/XdmfArrayType.hpp
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ public:
    */
   unsigned int getElementSize() const;
 
+  /**
+   * Get the name of the data type.
+   *
+   * @return the name of the data type.
+   */
+  std::string getName() const;
+  
   void
   getProperties(std::map<std::string, std::string> & collectedProperties) const;