title: Cypher query for all nodes that lack a certain property
body: <p>I have a <a href="http://neo4j.com" rel="nofollow">neo4j</a> database with some data in it. Most of the nodes have a <code>name</code> property, but not all of them; I'd like to construct a Cypher query to match and return all those that don't.</p>
  
  <p>I've tried all the following, but all of them give 0 results:</p>
  
  <pre><code>MATCH (n { name: NULL }) RETURN n
  MATCH (n { name: null }) RETURN n
  MATCH (n) WHERE n.name = NULL RETURN n
  MATCH (n) WHERE n.name = null RETURN n
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>However, I have at least one node with no <code>name</code> property specified, which I can prove either through</p>
  
  <pre><code>MATCH (n) WHERE id(n) = 4 RETURN n
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>and examining the node in the results view, or by noting that</p>
  
  <pre><code>MATCH (n) WHERE id(n) = 4 RETURN n.name
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>returns <code>null</code>.</p>
  
  <p><strong>How do I match <em>all</em> the nodes that <em>don't</em>  have a <code>name</code> property?</strong></p>