If you have to deal with loads of columns named by the providing system out of your control, I came up with the following approach that is a combination of a general approach and specific replacements in one go.

First create a dictionary from the dataframe column names using regular expressions in order to throw away certain appendixes of column names and then add specific replacements to the dictionary to name core columns as expected later in the receiving database.

This is then applied to the dataframe in one go.

dict = dict(zip(df.columns, df.columns.str.replace('(:S$|:C1$|:L$|:D$|\.Serial:L$)', '')))
dict['brand_timeseries:C1'] = 'BTS'
dict['respid:L'] = 'RespID'
dict['country:C1'] = 'CountryID'
dict['pim1:D'] = 'pim_actual'
df.rename(columns=dict, inplace=True)

Column names vs Names of Series

I would like to explain a bit what happens behind the scenes.

Dataframes are a set of Series.

Series in turn are an extension of a numpy.array.

numpy.arrays have a property .name.

This is the name of the series. It is seldom that Pandas respects this attribute, but it lingers in places and can be used to hack some Pandas behaviors.

Naming the list of columns

A lot of answers here talks about the df.columns attribute being a list when in fact it is a Series. This means it has a .name attribute.

This is what happens if you decide to fill in the name of the columns Series:

df.columns = ['column_one', 'column_two']
df.columns.names = ['name of the list of columns']
df.index.names = ['name of the index']

name of the list of columns     column_one  column_two
name of the index
0                                    4           1
1                                    5           2
2                                    6           3

Note that the name of the index always comes one column lower.

Artefacts that linger

The .name attribute lingers on sometimes. If you set df.columns = ['one', 'two'] then the df.one.name will be 'one'.

If you set df.one.name = 'three' then df.columns will still give you ['one', 'two'], and df.one.name will give you 'three'.

BUT

pd.DataFrame(df.one) will return

    three
0       1
1       2
2       3

Because Pandas reuses the .name of the already defined Series.

Multi-level column names

Pandas has ways of doing multi-layered column names. There is not so much magic involved, but I wanted to cover this in my answer too since I don't see anyone picking up on this here.

    |one            |
    |one      |two  |
0   |  4      |  1  |
1   |  5      |  2  |
2   |  6      |  3  |

This is easily achievable by setting columns to lists, like this:

df.columns = [['one', 'one'], ['one', 'two']]

My method is generic wherein you can add additional delimiters by comma separating delimiters= variable and future-proof it.

Working Code:

import pandas as pd
import re


df = pd.DataFrame({'$a':[1,2], '$b': [3,4],'$c':[5,6], '$d': [7,8], '$e': [9,10]})

delimiters = '$'
matchPattern = '|'.join(map(re.escape, delimiters))
df.columns = [re.split(matchPattern, i)[1] for i in df.columns ]

Output:

>>> df
   $a  $b  $c  $d  $e
0   1   3   5   7   9
1   2   4   6   8  10

>>> df
   a  b  c  d   e
0  1  3  5  7   9
1  2  4  6  8  10

Note that the approaches in previous answers do not work for a MultiIndex. For a MultiIndex, you need to do something like the following:

>>> df = pd.DataFrame({('$a','$x'):[1,2], ('$b','$y'): [3,4], ('e','f'):[5,6]})
>>> df
   $a $b  e
   $x $y  f
0  1  3  5
1  2  4  6
>>> rename = {('$a','$x'):('a','x'), ('$b','$y'):('b','y')}
>>> df.columns = pandas.MultiIndex.from_tuples([
        rename.get(item, item) for item in df.columns.tolist()])
>>> df
   a  b  e
   x  y  f
0  1  3  5
1  2  4  6

df = pd.DataFrame({'$a': [1], '$b': [1], '$c': [1], '$d': [1], '$e': [1]})

If your new list of columns is in the same order as the existing columns, the assignment is simple:

new_cols = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
df.columns = new_cols
>>> df
   a  b  c  d  e
0  1  1  1  1  1

If you had a dictionary keyed on old column names to new column names, you could do the following:

d = {'$a': 'a', '$b': 'b', '$c': 'c', '$d': 'd', '$e': 'e'}
df.columns = df.columns.map(lambda col: d[col])  # Or `.map(d.get)` as pointed out by @PiRSquared.
>>> df
   a  b  c  d  e
0  1  1  1  1  1

If you don't have a list or dictionary mapping, you could strip the leading $ symbol via a list comprehension:

df.columns = [col[1:] if col[0] == '$' else col for col in df]

You could use str.slice for that:

df.columns = df.columns.str.slice(1)

df.columns = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']

It will replace the existing names with the names you provide, in the order you provide.

If you've got the dataframe, df.columns dumps everything into a list you can manipulate and then reassign into your dataframe as the names of columns...

columns = df.columns
columns = [row.replace("$", "") for row in columns]
df.rename(columns=dict(zip(columns, things)), inplace=True)
df.head() # To validate the output

Best way? I don't know. A way - yes.

A better way of evaluating all the main techniques put forward in the answers to the question is below using cProfile to gage memory and execution time. @kadee, @kaitlyn, and @eumiro had the functions with the fastest execution times - though these functions are so fast we're comparing the rounding of 0.000 and 0.001 seconds for all the answers. Moral: my answer above likely isn't the 'best' way.

import pandas as pd
import cProfile, pstats, re

old_names = ['$a', '$b', '$c', '$d', '$e']
new_names = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
col_dict = {'$a': 'a', '$b': 'b', '$c': 'c', '$d': 'd', '$e': 'e'}

df = pd.DataFrame({'$a':[1, 2], '$b': [10, 20], '$c': ['bleep', 'blorp'], '$d': [1, 2], '$e': ['texa$', '']})

df.head()

def eumiro(df, nn):
    df.columns = nn
    # This direct renaming approach is duplicated in methodology in several other answers:
    return df

def lexual1(df):
    return df.rename(columns=col_dict)

def lexual2(df, col_dict):
    return df.rename(columns=col_dict, inplace=True)

def Panda_Master_Hayden(df):
    return df.rename(columns=lambda x: x[1:], inplace=True)

def paulo1(df):
    return df.rename(columns=lambda x: x.replace('$', ''))

def paulo2(df):
    return df.rename(columns=lambda x: x.replace('$', ''), inplace=True)

def migloo(df, on, nn):
    return df.rename(columns=dict(zip(on, nn)), inplace=True)

def kadee(df):
    return df.columns.str.replace('$', '')

def awo(df):
    columns = df.columns
    columns = [row.replace("$", "") for row in columns]
    return df.rename(columns=dict(zip(columns, '')), inplace=True)

def kaitlyn(df):
    df.columns = [col.strip('$') for col in df.columns]
    return df

print 'eumiro'
cProfile.run('eumiro(df, new_names)')
print 'lexual1'
cProfile.run('lexual1(df)')
print 'lexual2'
cProfile.run('lexual2(df, col_dict)')
print 'andy hayden'
cProfile.run('Panda_Master_Hayden(df)')
print 'paulo1'
cProfile.run('paulo1(df)')
print 'paulo2'
cProfile.run('paulo2(df)')
print 'migloo'
cProfile.run('migloo(df, old_names, new_names)')
print 'kadee'
cProfile.run('kadee(df)')
print 'awo'
cProfile.run('awo(df)')
print 'kaitlyn'
cProfile.run('kaitlyn(df)')

Another way we could replace the original column labels is by stripping the unwanted characters (here '$') from the original column labels.

This could have been done by running a for loop over df.columns and appending the stripped columns to df.columns.

Instead, we can do this neatly in a single statement by using list comprehension like below:

df.columns = [col.strip('$') for col in df.columns]

(strip method in Python strips the given character from beginning and end of the string.)

It is real simple. Just use:

df.columns = ['Name1', 'Name2', 'Name3'...]

And it will assign the column names by the order you put them in.

Since you only want to remove the $ sign in all column names, you could just do:

df = df.rename(columns=lambda x: x.replace('$', ''))

OR

df.rename(columns=lambda x: x.replace('$', ''), inplace=True)

Use:

old_names = ['$a', '$b', '$c', '$d', '$e'] 
new_names = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
df.rename(columns=dict(zip(old_names, new_names)), inplace=True)

This way you can manually edit the new_names as you wish. It works great when you need to rename only a few columns to correct misspellings, accents, remove special characters, etc.

As documented in Working with text data:

df.columns = df.columns.str.replace('$', '')

Just assign it to the .columns attribute:

>>> df = pd.DataFrame({'$a':[1,2], '$b': [10,20]})
>>> df
   $a  $b
0   1  10
1   2  20

>>> df.columns = ['a', 'b']
>>> df
   a   b
0  1  10
1  2  20

RENAME SPECIFIC COLUMNS

Use the df.rename() function and refer the columns to be renamed. Not all the columns have to be renamed:

df = df.rename(columns={'oldName1': 'newName1', 'oldName2': 'newName2'})
# Or rename the existing DataFrame (rather than creating a copy) 
df.rename(columns={'oldName1': 'newName1', 'oldName2': 'newName2'}, inplace=True)

Minimal Code Example

df = pd.DataFrame('x', index=range(3), columns=list('abcde'))
df

   a  b  c  d  e
0  x  x  x  x  x
1  x  x  x  x  x
2  x  x  x  x  x

The following methods all work and produce the same output:

df2 = df.rename({'a': 'X', 'b': 'Y'}, axis=1)  # new method
df2 = df.rename({'a': 'X', 'b': 'Y'}, axis='columns')
df2 = df.rename(columns={'a': 'X', 'b': 'Y'})  # old method  

df2

   X  Y  c  d  e
0  x  x  x  x  x
1  x  x  x  x  x
2  x  x  x  x  x

Remember to assign the result back, as the modification is not-inplace. Alternatively, specify inplace=True:

df.rename({'a': 'X', 'b': 'Y'}, axis=1, inplace=True)
df

   X  Y  c  d  e
0  x  x  x  x  x
1  x  x  x  x  x
2  x  x  x  x  x
 

From v0.25, you can also specify errors='raise' to raise errors if an invalid column-to-rename is specified. See v0.25 rename() docs.

---

REASSIGN COLUMN HEADERS

Use df.set_axis() with axis=1 and inplace=False (to return a copy).

df2 = df.set_axis(['V', 'W', 'X', 'Y', 'Z'], axis=1, inplace=False)
df2

   V  W  X  Y  Z
0  x  x  x  x  x
1  x  x  x  x  x
2  x  x  x  x  x

This returns a copy, but you can modify the DataFrame in-place by setting inplace=True (this is the default behaviour for versions <=0.24 but is likely to change in the future).

You can also assign headers directly:

df.columns = ['V', 'W', 'X', 'Y', 'Z']
df

   V  W  X  Y  Z
0  x  x  x  x  x
1  x  x  x  x  x
2  x  x  x  x  x

The rename method can take a function, for example:

In [11]: df.columns
Out[11]: Index([u'$a', u'$b', u'$c', u'$d', u'$e'], dtype=object)

In [12]: df.rename(columns=lambda x: x[1:], inplace=True)

In [13]: df.columns
Out[13]: Index([u'a', u'b', u'c', u'd', u'e'], dtype=object)

Assuming you can use a regular expression, this solution removes the need of manual encoding using a regular expression:

import pandas as pd
import re

srch = re.compile(r"\w+")

data = pd.read_csv("CSV_FILE.csv")
cols = data.columns
new_cols = list(map(lambda v:v.group(), (list(map(srch.search, cols)))))
data.columns = new_cols

Let's say this is your dataframe.

You can rename the columns using two methods.

1. Using dataframe.columns=[#list]

   df.columns=['a','b','c','d','e']
   

   

   The limitation of this method is that if one column has to be changed, full column list has to be passed. Also, this method is not applicable on index labels. For example, if you passed this:

   df.columns = ['a','b','c','d']
   

   This will throw an error. Length mismatch: Expected axis has 5 elements, new values have 4 elements.

2. Another method is the Pandas rename() method which is used to rename any index, column or row

   df = df.rename(columns={'$a':'a'})
   

   

Similarly, you can change any rows or columns.

Here's a nifty little function I like to use to cut down on typing:

def rename(data, oldnames, newname):
    if type(oldnames) == str: # Input can be a string or list of strings
        oldnames = [oldnames] # When renaming multiple columns
        newname = [newname] # Make sure you pass the corresponding list of new names
    i = 0
    for name in oldnames:
        oldvar = [c for c in data.columns if name in c]
        if len(oldvar) == 0:
            raise ValueError("Sorry, couldn't find that column in the dataset")
        if len(oldvar) > 1: # Doesn't have to be an exact match
            print("Found multiple columns that matched " + str(name) + ": ")
            for c in oldvar:
                print(str(oldvar.index(c)) + ": " + str(c))
            ind = input('Please enter the index of the column you would like to rename: ')
            oldvar = oldvar[int(ind)]
        if len(oldvar) == 1:
            oldvar = oldvar[0]
        data = data.rename(columns = {oldvar : newname[i]})
        i += 1
    return data

Here is an example of how it works:

In [2]: df = pd.DataFrame(np.random.randint(0, 10, size=(10, 4)), columns = ['col1', 'col2', 'omg', 'idk'])
# First list = existing variables
# Second list = new names for those variables
In [3]: df = rename(df, ['col', 'omg'],['first', 'ohmy'])
Found multiple columns that matched col:
0: col1
1: col2

Please enter the index of the column you would like to rename: 0

In [4]: df.columns
Out[5]: Index(['first', 'col2', 'ohmy', 'idk'], dtype='object')

Another option is to rename using a regular expression:

import pandas as pd
import re

df = pd.DataFrame({'$a':[1,2], '$b':[3,4], '$c':[5,6]})

df = df.rename(columns=lambda x: re.sub('\$','',x))
>>> df
   a  b  c
0  1  3  5
1  2  4  6

df.rename(index=str, columns={'A':'a', 'B':'b'})

pandas.DataFrame.rename

Pandas 0.21+ Answer

There have been some significant updates to column renaming in version 0.21.

• The rename method has added the axis parameter which may be set to columns or 1. This update makes this method match the rest of the pandas API. It still has the index and columns parameters but you are no longer forced to use them.
• The set_axis method with the inplace set to False enables you to rename all the index or column labels with a list.

Examples for Pandas 0.21+

Construct sample DataFrame:

df = pd.DataFrame({'$a':[1,2], '$b': [3,4], 
                   '$c':[5,6], '$d':[7,8], 
                   '$e':[9,10]})

   $a  $b  $c  $d  $e
0   1   3   5   7   9
1   2   4   6   8  10

Using rename with axis='columns' or axis=1

df.rename({'$a':'a', '$b':'b', '$c':'c', '$d':'d', '$e':'e'}, axis='columns')

or

df.rename({'$a':'a', '$b':'b', '$c':'c', '$d':'d', '$e':'e'}, axis=1)

Both result in the following:

   a  b  c  d   e
0  1  3  5  7   9
1  2  4  6  8  10

It is still possible to use the old method signature:

df.rename(columns={'$a':'a', '$b':'b', '$c':'c', '$d':'d', '$e':'e'})

The rename function also accepts functions that will be applied to each column name.

df.rename(lambda x: x[1:], axis='columns')

or

df.rename(lambda x: x[1:], axis=1)

---

Using set_axis with a list and inplace=False

You can supply a list to the set_axis method that is equal in length to the number of columns (or index). Currently, inplace defaults to True, but inplace will be defaulted to False in future releases.

df.set_axis(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'], axis='columns', inplace=False)

or

df.set_axis(['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'], axis=1, inplace=False)

---

Why not use df.columns = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']?

There is nothing wrong with assigning columns directly like this. It is a perfectly good solution.

The advantage of using set_axis is that it can be used as part of a method chain and that it returns a new copy of the DataFrame. Without it, you would have to store your intermediate steps of the chain to another variable before reassigning the columns.

# new for pandas 0.21+
df.some_method1()
  .some_method2()
  .set_axis()
  .some_method3()

# old way
df1 = df.some_method1()
        .some_method2()
df1.columns = columns
df1.some_method3()

Renaming columns in Pandas is an easy task.

df.rename(columns={'$a': 'a', '$b': 'b', '$c': 'c', '$d': 'd', '$e': 'e'}, inplace=True)

I needed to rename features for XGBoost, and it didn't like any of these:

import re
regex = r"[!\"#$%&'()*+,\-.\/:;<=>?@[\\\]^_`{|}~ ]+"
X_trn.columns = X_trn.columns.str.replace(regex, '_', regex=True)
X_tst.columns = X_tst.columns.str.replace(regex, '_', regex=True)

Let's understand renaming by a small example...

1. Renaming columns using mapping:

    df = pd.DataFrame({"A": [1, 2, 3], "B": [4, 5, 6]}) # Creating a df with column name A and B
    df.rename({"A": "new_a", "B": "new_b"}, axis='columns', inplace =True) # Renaming column A with 'new_a' and B with 'new_b'
   
    Output:
   
       new_a  new_b
    0  1       4
    1  2       5
    2  3       6
   

2. Renaming index/Row_Name using mapping:

    df.rename({0: "x", 1: "y", 2: "z"}, axis='index', inplace =True) # Row name are getting replaced by 'x', 'y', and 'z'.
   
    Output:
   
           new_a  new_b
        x  1       4
        y  2       5
        z  3       6
   

In addition to the solution already provided, you can replace all the columns while you are reading the file. We can use names and header=0 to do that.

First, we create a list of the names that we like to use as our column names:

import pandas as pd

ufo_cols = ['city', 'color reported', 'shape reported', 'state', 'time']
ufo.columns = ufo_cols

ufo = pd.read_csv('link to the file you are using', names = ufo_cols, header = 0)

In this case, all the column names will be replaced with the names you have in your list.

If you already have a list for the new column names, you can try this:

new_cols = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']
new_names_map = {df.columns[i]:new_cols[i] for i in range(len(new_cols))}

df.rename(new_names_map, axis=1, inplace=True)

Many of pandas functions have an inplace parameter. When setting it True, the transformation applies directly to the dataframe that you are calling it on. For example:

df = pd.DataFrame({'$a':[1,2], '$b': [3,4]})
df.rename(columns={'$a': 'a'}, inplace=True)
df.columns

>>> Index(['a', '$b'], dtype='object')

Alternatively, there are cases where you want to preserve the original dataframe. I have often seen people fall into this case if creating the dataframe is an expensive task. For example, if creating the dataframe required querying a snowflake database. In this case, just make sure the the inplace parameter is set to False.

df = pd.DataFrame({'$a':[1,2], '$b': [3,4]})
df2 = df.rename(columns={'$a': 'a'}, inplace=False)
df.columns
    
>>> Index(['$a', '$b'], dtype='object')

df2.columns

>>> Index(['a', '$b'], dtype='object')

If these types of transformations are something that you do often, you could also look into a number of different pandas GUI tools. I'm the creator of one called Mito. Its a spreadsheet that automatically converts your edits to python code.

Suppose your dataset name is df, and df has.

df = ['$a', '$b', '$c', '$d', '$e']`

So, to rename these, we would simply do.

df.columns = ['a','b','c','d','e']

If you just want to remove the '$' sign then use the below code

df.columns = pd.Series(df.columns.str.replace("$", ""))

# This way it will work
import pandas as pd

# Define a dictionary 
rankings = {'test': ['a'],
        'odi': ['E'],
        't20': ['P']}

# Convert the dictionary into DataFrame
rankings_pd = pd.DataFrame(rankings)

# Before renaming the columns
print(rankings_pd)

rankings_pd.rename(columns = {'test':'TEST'}, inplace = True)