Convert Values in Column into Row Names of Data Frame in R (Example)

In this post you’ll learn how to use variable values as row names in R programming.

Table of contents:

• Creating Example Data
• Example 1: Use Variable Values as Row Names in R
• Video & Further Resources

With that, let’s start right away.

Creating Example Data

Let’s create an example data frame in R:

data <- data.frame(x1 = LETTERS[1:5],           # Create example data
                   x2 = 5:9)
data                                            # Print example data
#   x1 x2
# 1  A  5
# 2  B  6
# 3  C  7
# 4  D  8
# 5  E  9

As you can see based on the output of the RStudio console, our example data frame object contains five rows and two columns.

Example 1: Use Variable Values as Row Names in R

If we want to use the values stored in one of our variables as row names of our data frame (or a matrix), we can use the row.names function in R:

row.names(data) <- data$x1                      # Convert column to row names
data                                            # Print updated data
#   x1 x2
# A  A  5
# B  B  6
# C  C  7
# D  D  8
# E  E  9

Have a look at the previously shown output of the RStudio console. As you can see, the row names were changed from the default numeric range to the values of our column x1.

Video & Further Resources

Do you need more information on how to set the values in a column as row index names? Then I can recommend having a look at the following video of my YouTube channel. I’m explaining the content of this article in the video.

Also, you might have a look at some of the related articles on https://www.statisticsglobe.com/. Please find a selection of tutorials about the manipulation of data frames, matrices, data tables, and tibbles below.

• Convert Row Names into Column of Data Frame
• Export CSV File without Row Names in R
• Transpose Data Frame in R
• The R Programming Language

This tutorial illustrated how to define row names based on the elements of a variable in R. Let me know in the comments, if you have further questions.