How to change column names of Pandas DataFrames

There are 2 methods of changing the column names of Pandas Dataframes. The following shows the basic Python code syntax for changing column names of Pandas Dataframes.

Method 1:

df.rename(columns={‘old_name_1′:’new_name_1’, ‘old_name_2′:’new_name_2’}, inplace=True)

Method 2:

df = df.rename({‘old_name_1′:’new_name_1’, ‘old_name_2′:’new_name_2’}, axis=1)

Example 1 of changing column names of Pandas DataFrames (Method 1)

The following is the first example of changing column names of Pandas DataFrames.

import pandas as pd

# Create a sample DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame({'col1': [3, 5], 'col2': [13, 14]})

# print out the old dataframe
print("Dataframe with old names:\n",df)

# Change the column names
df.rename(columns={'col1': 'column1', 'col2': 'column2'}, inplace=True)

# print out the new dataframe
print("Dataframe with new names:\n",df)

Dataframe with old names:
    col1  col2
0     3    13
1     5    14

Dataframe with new names:
    column1  column2
0        3       13
1        5       14

Example 2 of changing column names of Pandas DataFrames (Method 2)

The following is the second example of changing the column names of Pandas DataFrames.

import pandas as pd

# Create a sample DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame({'col1': [3, 5], 'col2': [13, 14]})

# print out the old dataframe
print("Dataframe with old names:\n",df)

# Change the column names
df=df.rename({'col1': 'column1', 'col2': 'column2'}, axis=1)

# print out the new dataframe
print("Dataframe with new names:\n",df)

Dataframe with old names:
    col1  col2
0     3    13
1     5    14

Dataframe with new names:
    column1  column2
0        3       13
1        5       14