Rename List Elements in R (2 Examples)

In this R programming tutorial you’ll learn how to modify the names of lists.

Table of contents:

Let’s dig in…

Creation of Example Data

We use the following data as basement for this R programming tutorial:

my_list <- list(1:4,                               # Create example list
                letters[5:1],
                "XXX")
my_list                                            # Print example list
# [[1]]
# [1] 1 2 3 4
# 
# [[2]]
# [1] "e" "d" "c" "b" "a"
# 
# [[3]]
# [1] "XXX"

The previous output of the RStudio console reveals the structure of our example list: It has three list elements without names for the list elements.

We can also double-check that using the names function:

names(my_list)                                     # Check names of example list
# NULL

Let’s add some names to our list!

Example 1: Changing Names of All List Elements

This example illustrates how to modify names of all list items. For this, we have to assign a vector of names to our list as shown below:

names(my_list) <- c("Name_1", "Name_2", "Name_3")  # Rename list elements
my_list                                            # Print updated list
# $Name_1
# [1] 1 2 3 4
# 
# $Name_2
# [1] "e" "d" "c" "b" "a"
# 
# $Name_3
# [1] "XXX"
#

Have a look at the output of the RStudio console: It shows that the names of our list elements were changed.

Example 2: Changing Name of Only One List Element

Example 2 explains how to adjust the name of only one specific list element:

names(my_list)[2] <- "This is another name"        # Rename only one list element
my_list                                            # Print updated list
# $Name_1
# [1] 1 2 3 4
# 
# $`This is another name`
# [1] "e" "d" "c" "b" "a"
# 
# $Name_3
# [1] "XXX"
#

Only the second list item name was replaced.

Video & Further Resources

Have a look at the following video of my YouTube channel. I’m explaining the R programming codes of the present article in the video.

In addition, you may want to have a look at the other tutorials of this website. I have published numerous tutorials on topics such as extracting data, numeric values, counting, and lists:

• Select Multiple Elements from List
• Count Number of List Elements in R
• How to Add New Elements to a List in R
• All R Programming Examples

In this tutorial, I have explained how to exchange the names of list variables and items in the R programming language. Let me know in the comments section, in case you have additional questions.