6 different ways to rename column names in pandas DataFrame

Renesh Bedre    2 minute read

In this article, I will discuss the different ways to rename the column names in pandas DataFrame

First, create a pandas DataFrame

import pandas as pd
df = pd.DataFrame({'col1':['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'], 'col2':[1, 2, 3, 4, 5], 'col3':[0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5]})
df.head(2)
# output
  col1  col2  col3
0    A     1   0.1
1    B     2   0.2

Now, let’s check different methods to rename the column names in pandas DataFrame

1. Rename column names using DataFrame columns attribute

In this method, you can rename all columns of pandas DataFrame

df.columns = ['A', 'B', 'C']
df.head(2)
# output
   A  B    C
0  A  1  0.1
1  B  2  0.2

2. Rename column names using DataFrame rename() function

In this method, you can rename all or specific columns of pandas DataFrame

Change column names for all columns,

df.rename(columns={"col1": "A", "col2": "B", "col3": "C"}, inplace=True) # use inplace=True to modify and update the current DataFrame
df.head(2)
# output
   A  B    C
0  A  1  0.1
1  B  2  0.2

Change column names for specific columns

df.rename(columns={"col1": "A", "col3": "C"}, inplace=True) # use inplace=True to modify and update the current DataFrame
df.head(2)
# output
   A  col2    C
0  A     1  0.1
1  B     2  0.2

Change column names to uppercase or lowercase letters

df.rename(columns=str.upper, inplace=True) # use columns=str.lower for lowercase letters
df.head(2)
# output
  COL1  COL2  COL3
0    A     1   0.1
1    B     2   0.2

3. Rename column names using DataFrame dfply package

dfply Python package is similar to R’s dplyr and supports the data manipulation with pipes on pandas DataFrame

rename() function will rename columns (as provided by key) corresponding to old columns (provided by values)

from dfply import *
# rename columns
df >> rename(A='col1', B='col2', C='col3') >> head(2)
   A  B    C
0  A  1  0.1
1  B  2  0.2

4. Rename column names using DataFrame set_axis() function 

df.set_axis(['A', 'B', 'C'], axis='columns', inplace=True)
df.head(2)
# output
   A  B    C
0  A  1  0.1
1  B  2  0.2

5. Rename column names using DataFrame add_prefix() and add_suffix() functions

Change column names by adding prefix or suffix to each column name

# add prefix
df = df.add_prefix('P_')
df.head(2)
# output
  P_col1  P_col2  P_col3
0      A       1     0.1
1      B       2     0.2

# add suffix
df = df.add_suffix('_S')
df.head(2)
# output
  col1_S  col2_S  col3_S
0      A       1     0.1
1      B       2     0.2

You can also use lambda function to add suffix or prefix to column names,

# add prefix
df.rename(columns=lambda c: 'P_'+c, inplace=True)
df.head(2)
# output
  P_col1  P_col2  P_col3
0      A       1     0.1
1      B       2     0.2

# add suffix
df.rename(columns=lambda c: c+'_S', inplace=True)
df.head(2)
# output
  col1_S  col2_S  col3_S
0      A       1     0.1
1      B       2     0.2

6. Replace specific texts of column names

In this method, you can replace specific strings in a column names

# replace col to COL
df.columns = df.columns.str.replace('col', 'COL')
df.head(2)
# output
  COL1  COL2  COL3
0    A     1   0.1
1    B     2   0.2

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If you have any questions, comments or recommendations, please email me at reneshbe@gmail.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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