name ="bar" list = [["foo", 1], ["bar", 2], ["baz", 3]] new_list=[] for item in list: new_list.append(item[0]) print(new_list) try: location= new_list.index(name) except: location=-1 print (location) This accounts for if the string is not in the list too, if it isn't in the list then location = -1location = -1