diff --git a/js/Name.js b/js/Name.js
index 1d28a81..5d6d4cb 100644
--- a/js/Name.js
+++ b/js/Name.js
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 
 	for(var i=0;i<name.length;i++){
 		if(typeof name[i] == 'string')
-			blobArrays[i]= DataUtils.toNumbersFromString( name[i] );
+			blobArrays[i]= DataUtils.stringToUtf8Array(name[i]);
 		else if(typeof name[i] == 'object')
 			blobArrays[i]= name[i] ;
 		else 
diff --git a/js/encoding/DataUtils.js b/js/encoding/DataUtils.js
index eee178a..c725209 100644
--- a/js/encoding/DataUtils.js
+++ b/js/encoding/DataUtils.js
@@ -284,6 +284,13 @@
 }
 
 /*
+ * Encode str as utf8 and return as Uint8Array.
+ */
+DataUtils.stringToUtf8Array = function(str) {
+    return DataUtils.toNumbersFromString(str2rstr_utf8(str));
+}
+
+/*
  * Return a new Uint8Array which is the Uint8Array concatenated with raw String str. 
  */
 DataUtils.concatFromString = function(array, str) {
diff --git a/js/testing/test-put-async.html b/js/testing/test-put-async.html
index 315dec8..f41658c 100644
--- a/js/testing/test-put-async.html
+++ b/js/testing/test-put-async.html
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 				var si = new SignedInfo();
 				si.setFields();
 				
-				var answer = DataUtils.toNumbersFromString(content);
+				var answer = DataUtils.stringToUtf8Array(content);
 				
 				var co = new ContentObject(new Name(nameStr), si, answer, new Signature()); 
 				co.sign();