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)
df2 = df.rename({'a': 'X', 'b': 'Y'}, axis='columns')
df2 = df.rename(columns={'a': 'X', 'b': 'Y'}) 

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
 

You can specify errors='raise' to raise errors if an invalid column-to-rename is specified.

Reassign Column Headers

Use df.set_axis() with axis=1.

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

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

Headers can be assigned 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