How to Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame

Puneet Dobhal Feb 02, 2024
  1. Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame Using the DataFrame.columns Method
  2. Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame Using DataFrame.rename() Method
  3. Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame Using DataFrame.set_axis() Method
How to Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame

Often we need to rename a column in Pandas when performing data analysis. This article will introduce different methods to rename Pandas column names in Pandas DataFrame.

Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame Using the DataFrame.columns Method

This method is pretty straightforward and lets you rename columns directly. We can assign a list of new column names using DataFrame.columns attribute as follows:

import pandas as pd

example_df = pd.DataFrame(
    [["John", 20, 45], ["Peter", 21, 62], ["Scot", 25, 68]],
    index=[0, 1, 2],
    columns=["Name", "Age", "Marks"],
)

print "\nOriginal DataFrame"
print (pd.DataFrame(example_df))
example_df.columns = ["Name", "Age", "Roll_no"]

print "\nModified DataFrame"
print (pd.DataFrame(example_df))

Output:

Original DataFrame
    Name  Age  Marks
0   John   20     45
1  Peter   21     62
2   Scot   25     68

Modified DataFrame
    Name  Age  Roll_no
0   John   20       45
1  Peter   21       62
2   Scot   25       68

One drawback of this approach is that you have to list the entire column even if only one of the columns needs to be renamed. Specifying the entire column list becomes impractical when you have a large number of columns.

Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame Using DataFrame.rename() Method

The alternative approach to the previous method is using DataFrame.rename() method. This method is quite handy when we need not rename all columns.

We will need to specify the old column name as key and new names as values.

import pandas as pd

example_df = pd.DataFrame(
    [["John", 20, 45, 78], ["Peter", 21, 62, 68], ["Scot", 25, 68, 95]],
    index=[0, 1, 2],
    columns=["Name", "Age", "Marks", "Roll_no"],
)

print "\nOriginal DataFrame"
print (pd.DataFrame(example_df))
example_df.rename(columns={"Marks": "Roll_no", "Roll_no": "Marks"}, inplace=True)

print "\nModified DataFrame"
print (pd.DataFrame(example_df))

Output:

Original DataFrame
    Name  Age  Marks  Roll_no
0   John   20     45       78
1  Peter   21     62       68
2   Scot   25     68       95

Modified DataFrame
    Name  Age  Roll_no  Marks
0   John   20       45     78
1  Peter   21       62     68
2   Scot   25       68     95

The most significant advantage of this method is that you can specify as many columns as you want. It is quite useful when you need to rename specific columns and unlike previous methods no need to list the entire column list for the DataFrame.

You might notice that in the DataFrame.rename() function call, we have specified the inplace parameter as True. inplace parameter is by default False and determines whether to return a new pandas DataFrame or not.

Specifying it as True means function call doesn’t return a new pandas DataFrame but changes the existing DataFrame in place.

Rename Columns in Pandas DataFrame Using DataFrame.set_axis() Method

Another convenient method to rename columns of pandas DataFrame. We have to specify the entire column list while using this method.

import pandas as pd

example_df = pd.DataFrame(
    [["John", 20, 45, 78], ["Peter", 21, 62, 68], ["Scot", 25, 68, 95]],
    index=[0, 1, 2],
    columns=["Name", "Age", "Marks", "Roll_no"],
)

print "\nOriginal DataFrame"
print (pd.DataFrame(example_df))

example_df.set_axis(["Name", "Age", "Roll_no", "Marks"], axis="columns", inplace=True)

print "\nModified DataFrame"
print (pd.DataFrame(example_df))

Output:

Original DataFrame
    Name  Age  Marks  Roll_no
0   John   20     45       78
1  Peter   21     62       68
2   Scot   25     68       95

Modified DataFrame
    Name  Age  Roll_no  Marks
0   John   20       45     78
1  Peter   21       62     68
2   Scot   25       68     95

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