1, 'name' => 'Arlind Nushi'), array('id' => 2, 'name' => 'Art Ramadani'), array('id' => 3, 'name' => 'Ylli Pylla'), array('id' => 4, 'name' => 'Eroll Maxhuni'), array('id' => 5, 'name' => 'Gent Uka'), array('id' => 6, 'name' => 'Arjan Halili'), array('id' => 7, 'name' => 'Art Nushi'), array('id' => 8, 'name' => 'Shkumbin Gerguri'), array('id' => 9, 'name' => 'John Doe'), ); $q = isset($_REQUEST['q']) ? $_REQUEST['q'] : ''; // Searching if(trim($q)) { $data = array_filter($data, 'filter_by_name'); } $data = array_values($data); function filter_by_name($el) { global $q; return stristr($el['name'], $q) ? true : false; } echo json_encode($data);