How to rename a column name of a DataFrame in pandas ?

Examples of how to rename a column name of a DataFrame in pandas:

Rename a column name using rename()

Let's consider the following dataframe

>>> import numpy as np
>>> import pandas as pd
>>> import numpy as np
>>> data = np.random.randint(100, size=(5,5))
>>> df = pd.DataFrame(data=data,columns=['c1','c2','c3','c4','c5'])
>>> df
   c1  c2  c3  c4  c5
0  33  93  44  10  38
1  77  27  78  15  84
2  33  50  42  30  63
3  35  54  39   8  21
4  77  11   3  89  41

To rename for example the column called 'c1' a solution is to use the pandas function rename():

>>> df.rename(columns={'c1': 'Price'})
   Price  c2  c3  c4  c5
0     33  93  44  10  38
1     77  27  78  15  84
2     33  50  42  30  63
3     35  54  39   8  21
4     77  11   3  89  41

Note: the edit here is not saved:

>>> df
   c1  c2  c3  c4  c5
0  33  93  44  10  38
1  77  27  78  15  84
2  33  50  42  30  63
3  35  54  39   8  21
4  77  11   3  89  41

To save the edit, it is necessary to add inplace=True:

>>> df.rename(columns={'c1': 'Price'}, inplace=True)
>>> df
   Price  c2  c3  c4  c5
0     33  93  44  10  38
1     77  27  78  15  84
2     33  50  42  30  63
3     35  54  39   8  21
4     77  11   3  89  41

Rename multiple column names

It is also possible to rename multiple column names:

>>> df.rename(columns={'c2': 'Product', 'c3':'Tag'}, inplace=True)
>>> df
   Price  Product  Tag  c4  c5
0     33       93   44  10  38
1     77       27   78  15  84
2     33       50   42  30  63
3     35       54   39   8  21
4     77       11    3  89  41

Add a prefix to column names

To add a prefix to all the column names a solution is to use add_prefix(), example

>>> df.add_prefix('data_')
   data_price  data_product  data_tag  data_c4  data_c5
0          33            93        44       10       38
1          77            27        78       15       84
2          33            50        42       30       63
3          35            54        39        8       21
4          77            11         3       89       41

Add a suffix to column names

To add a suffix to all the column names a solution is to use add_suffix, example:

>>> df.add_suffix('_vol')
   price_vol  product_vol  tag_vol  c4_vol  c5_vol
0         33           93       44      10      38
1         77           27       78      15      84
2         33           50       42      30      63
3         35           54       39       8      21
4         77           11        3      89      41

References