using rename with a name stored in an object

[remsssteack]

Hello,

I am trying to rename a variable inside a data frame with a name that is store in an R object as so :

iris1 <- iris # the df with the variable that I want to change the name
New_name <- "my nicer name"

iris1 <- rename(iris1, New_name = Species)

But this code doesn't work and the variable is simply rename as "New_name" ...

How can I do this ?

Thanks,

[AlexisW]

You can use:

library(dplyr) |> suppressPackageStartupMessages()

iris1 <- iris # the df with the variable that I want to change the name
New_name <- "my nicer name"

iris1 <- rename(iris1, {{New_name}} := Species)

head(iris1)
#>   Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width my nicer name
#> 1          5.1         3.5          1.4         0.2        setosa
#> 2          4.9         3.0          1.4         0.2        setosa
#> 3          4.7         3.2          1.3         0.2        setosa
#> 4          4.6         3.1          1.5         0.2        setosa
#> 5          5.0         3.6          1.4         0.2        setosa
#> 6          5.4         3.9          1.7         0.4        setosa

^{Created on 2023-08-18 with reprex v2.0.2}

This is explained in more details here.

[M_AcostaCH]

With base code you could make this:

iris1 <- iris 
New_name <- "my nicer name"
names(iris1)[5] <- New_name  # 5 is the position of column for change the name
head(iris1)

#  Sepal.Length Sepal.Width Petal.Length Petal.Width my nicer name
#1          5.1         3.5          1.4         0.2        setosa
#2          4.9         3.0          1.4         0.2        setosa
#3          4.7         3.2          1.3         0.2        setosa
#4          4.6         3.1          1.5         0.2        setosa
#5          5.0         3.6          1.4         0.2        setosa
#6          5.4         3.9          1.7         0.4        setosa