515

Is there a clever (i.e. optimized) way to rename a key in a javascript object?

A non-optimized way would be:

o[ new_key ] = o[ old_key ];
delete o[ old_key ];
17
  • 24
    What do you mean by "optimized"? I don't think it can get any more terse than that; there's no "rename" built-in operation. Commented Jan 10, 2011 at 14:30
  • 13
    That is all you can get. I would worry about other things in my application. And btw, you are dealing with objects, not arrays. There are no associative arrays in JavaScript (in a strict sense). Commented Jan 10, 2011 at 14:32
  • 5
    @Jean Vincent: Is it that slow? Commented Jan 10, 2011 at 14:32
  • 13
    this is the most optimized and basic version Commented Jan 10, 2011 at 14:34
  • 7
    your version is the fastest in all modern browsers except safari, sample test case @ jsperf.com/livi-006 Commented Jan 10, 2011 at 14:42

40 Answers 40

271

The most complete (and correct) way of doing this would be, I believe:

if (old_key !== new_key) {
    Object.defineProperty(o, new_key,
        Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(o, old_key));
    delete o[old_key];
}

This method ensures that the renamed property behaves identically to the original one.

Also, it seems to me that the possibility to wrap this into a function/method and put it into Object.prototype is irrelevant regarding your question.

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

9 Comments

This is a nice ES5-only solution with the real plus of preserving all properties. So this is not "optimized" but definitly more accurate on ES5.
upvoted with some skepticism toward writing_things_with_underscores, but of course that was due to the person asking the question. this is the correct response in my view.
In case it matters, I believe this particular usage of ES5 is an IE9-and-newer solution.
I suggest adding a validation that o.old_key exists. Changing: if (old_key !== new_key) to: if (old_key !== new_key && o[old_key])
I also suggest adding a validation that o.new_key already exists, for avoid overwriting. Changing: if (old_key !== new_key && o[old_key]) to if (old_key !== new_key && o[old_key] && !o[new_key])
|
208

If you're mutating your source object, ES6 can do it in one line.

delete Object.assign(o, {[newKey]: o[oldKey] })[oldKey];

Or two lines if you want to create a new object.

const newObject = {};
delete Object.assign(newObject, o, {[newKey]: o[oldKey] })[oldKey];

12 Comments

Try: delete Object.assign(o, {newKey: o.oldKey }).oldKey; Worked well for me
Why is there the square brace [] around newKey? The solution works without that actually.
Ok - I got my answer. It's the ES6 feature. For anyone else stumbled on this like me, here is a good answer.
This answer would be stronger if your variable names were more verbose.
NOTE: The use of Object.assign only does a shallow copy.
|
111

You could wrap the work in a function and assign it to the Object prototype. Maybe use the fluent interface style to make multiple renames flow.

Object.prototype.renameProperty = function (oldName, newName) {
     // Do nothing if the names are the same
     if (oldName === newName) {
         return this;
     }
    // Check for the old property name to avoid a ReferenceError in strict mode.
    if (this.hasOwnProperty(oldName)) {
        this[newName] = this[oldName];
        delete this[oldName];
    }
    return this;
};

ECMAScript 5 Specific

I wish the syntax wasn't this complex but it is definitely nice having more control.

Object.defineProperty(
    Object.prototype, 
    'renameProperty',
    {
        writable : false, // Cannot alter this property
        enumerable : false, // Will not show up in a for-in loop.
        configurable : false, // Cannot be deleted via the delete operator
        value : function (oldName, newName) {
            // Do nothing if the names are the same
            if (oldName === newName) {
                return this;
            }
            // Check for the old property name to 
            // avoid a ReferenceError in strict mode.
            if (this.hasOwnProperty(oldName)) {
                this[newName] = this[oldName];
                delete this[oldName];
            }
            return this;
        }
    }
);

10 Comments

@ChaosPandion sorry about that, but I'm really tired of bug ridden JS code, I'm currently writing a Guide (github.com/BonsaiDen/JavaScript-Garden) about all the quirks (including the one you now have fixed), this might have put me into some kind of rant mode ;) (Removed the -1 now)
@Ivo - Could you explain why you feel extending the prototype is bad? Prototypes were made for extending baby!
@Ivo - I agree that it is risky, but there is nothing that will stop me from extending the prototype if I felt it lead to more expressive code. Although I am coming from an ECMAScript 5 mindset where you can mark a property as non-enumerable via Object.defineProperty.
@Ivo - If it is proper practice to always use hasOwnProperty to check for properties and within for ... in loops, then why does it matter if we extend Object?
This code works but the caveat is that if the new key name already exists, its value is going to get down trodden: jsfiddle.net/ryurage/B7x8x
|
96

In case someone needs to rename a list of properties:

function renameKeys(obj, newKeys) {
  const keyValues = Object.keys(obj).map(key => {
    const newKey = newKeys[key] || key;
    return { [newKey]: obj[key] };
  });
  return Object.assign({}, ...keyValues);
}

Usage:

const obj = { a: "1", b: "2" };
const newKeys = { a: "A", c: "C" };
const renamedObj = renameKeys(obj, newKeys);
console.log(renamedObj);
// {A:"1", b:"2"}

2 Comments

this should be accepted answer, worked great for my use case. I had to convert an API response that was prefixing Country Names with unnecessary string. Turned Object into array of keys and mapped through each key with substring method and returned a new object with new key and value indexed by original key
This is nice as it doesn't delete the old key. Deleting the old key will remove the key entirely from the object if the key name hasn't changed. In my example, I was converting my_object_property to myObjectProperty, however, if my property was single-worded, then the key was removed. +1
51

To add prefix to each key:

const obj = {foo: 'bar'}

const altObj = Object.fromEntries(
  Object.entries(obj).map(([key, value]) => 
    // Modify key here
    [`x-${key}`, value]
  )
)

// altObj = {'x-foo': 'bar'}

2 Comments

This is by far the simplest in my opinion and should be the accepted answer. I used it to lower-case all my keys and substitute spaces with underscores.
This is the only one reserving the keys order.
35

A variation using object destructuring and spread operator:

const old_obj = {
    k1: `111`,
    k2: `222`,
    k3: `333`
};    

// destructuring, with renaming. The variable 'rest' will hold those values not assigned to kA, kB, or kC.
const {
    k1: kA, 
    k2: kB, 
    k3: kC,
    ...rest
} = old_obj;
    

// now create a new object, with the renamed properties kA, kB, kC; 
// spread the remaining original properties in the 'rest' variable
const newObj = {kA, kB, kC, ...rest};

For one key, this can be as simple as:

const { k1: kA, ...rest } = old_obj;
const new_obj = { kA, ...rest }

You may also prefer a more 'traditional' style:

const { k1, ...rest } = old_obj
const new_obj = { kA: k1, ...rest}

3 Comments

Perhaps you could explain what this is doing and how it works?
@JeffLowery what if it was an array of objects? Do I have to do a foreach or can I do with spread too?
@user3808307 You can do a spread on an array, and objects in the array.
34

If you don’t want to mutate your data, consider this function...

renameProp = (oldProp, newProp, { [oldProp]: old, ...others }) => ({
  [newProp]: old,
  ...others
})

A thorough explanation by Yazeed Bzadough https://medium.com/front-end-hacking/immutably-rename-object-keys-in-javascript-5f6353c7b6dd


Here is a typescript friendly version:

// These generics are inferred, do not pass them in.
export const renameKey = <
  OldKey extends keyof T,
  NewKey extends string,
  T extends Record<string, unknown>
>(
  oldKey: OldKey,
  newKey: NewKey extends keyof T ? never : NewKey,
  userObject: T
): Record<NewKey, T[OldKey]> & Omit<T, OldKey> => {
  const { [oldKey]: value, ...common } = userObject

  return {
    ...common,
    ...({ [newKey]: value } as Record<NewKey, T[OldKey]>)
  }
}

It will prevent you from clobbering an existing key or renaming it to the same thing

4 Comments

This is the best solution. But need some understand about spread operator.
Absolutely brilliant. Using the first parameter, oldProp, for some magical destructing in the 3rd param.
The ts example does not help, an example, further down is missing. See my comment
The TS version does not work... I try to activate using renameKey("oldkey", "newkey", object) and it says: Argument of type 'string' is not assignable to parameter of type 'never' as if my object contains the attribute "string" already, and therefor the second argument is always of type "never".
33

I would like just using the ES6(ES2015) way!

we need keeping up with the times!

const old_obj = {
    k1: `111`,
    k2: `222`,
    k3: `333`
};
console.log(`old_obj =\n`, old_obj);
// {k1: "111", k2: "222", k3: "333"}


/**
 * @author xgqfrms
 * @description ES6 ...spread & Destructuring Assignment
 */

const {
    k1: kA, 
    k2: kB, 
    k3: kC,
} = {...old_obj}

console.log(`kA = ${kA},`, `kB = ${kB},`, `kC = ${kC}\n`);
// kA = 111, kB = 222, kC = 333

const new_obj = Object.assign(
    {},
    {
        kA,
        kB,
        kC
    }
);

console.log(`new_obj =\n`, new_obj);
// {kA: "111", kB: "222", kC: "333"}

demo screen shortcut

4 Comments

Found this one as cleaner solution when you want to transform a malformed object to a brand new restructured one.
Good one, but I think const {k1: kA, k2: kB, k3: kC,} = old_obj is sufficient? no need to spread (unless you want a copy of old_obj).
@Hans, yeah you are right. But in this situation, I want to rename some keys, so I should to spread them.
This requires much more code, will be less efficient, and creates a new object. Renaming a property implies mutating the object. Newer is not always better.
27

Most of the answers here fail to maintain JS Object key-value pairs order. If you have a form of object key-value pairs on the screen that you want to modify, for example, it is important to preserve the order of object entries.

The ES6 way of looping through the JS object and replacing key-value pair with the new pair with a modified key name would be something like:

let newWordsObject = {};

Object.keys(oldObject).forEach(key => {
  if (key === oldKey) {
    let newPair = { [newKey]: oldObject[oldKey] };
    newWordsObject = { ...newWordsObject, ...newPair }
  } else {
    newWordsObject = { ...newWordsObject, [key]: oldObject[key] }
  }
});

The solution preserves the order of entries by adding the new entry in the place of the old one.

3 Comments

Thx a lot, I was getting confused by all the other answers. This one is simple and maintains the order. Exactly what I was looking for!
Yes man so simple and smart... im facinated how it isn't the top answear... good job!
sorry, but not the best practice to preserve insertion order in a hashmap...
19

You can try lodash _.mapKeys.

var user = {
  name: "Andrew",
  id: 25,
  reported: false
};

var renamed = _.mapKeys(user, function(value, key) {
  return key + "_" + user.id;
});

console.log(renamed);
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/lodash.js/4.17.11/lodash.js"></script>

1 Comment

This solution worked for me, but pay attention to always return a 'key' variable. Example: if(key === 'oldKey') { return 'newKey'; } return key;
14

Rename Key but Avoid changing original Objects parameters

oldJson=[{firstName:'s1',lastName:'v1'},
         {firstName:'s2',lastName:'v2'},
         {firstName:'s3',lastName:'v3'}]

newJson = oldJson.map(rec => {
  return {
    'Last Name': rec.lastName,
    'First Name': rec.firstName,  
     }
  })
output: [{Last Name:"v1",First Name:"s1"},
         {Last Name:"v2",First Name:"s2"},
         {Last Name:"v3",First Name:"s3"}]

better to have a new array

1 Comment

Nice, this suites my use case perfeclty
12

Yet another way with the most powerful REDUCE method.

data = {key1: "value1", key2: "value2", key3: "value3"}; 

keyMap = {key1: "firstkey", key2: "secondkey", key3: "thirdkey"};

mappedData = Object.keys(keyMap).reduce((obj,k) => Object.assign(obj, { [keyMap[k]]: data[k] }),{});

console.log(mappedData);
// { "firstkey": "value1", "secondkey": "value2", "thirdkey": "value3"}

1 Comment

and how to use it in typescript?
11

Personally, the most effective way to rename keys in object without implementing extra heavy plugins and wheels:

var str = JSON.stringify(object);
str = str.replace(/oldKey/g, 'newKey');
str = str.replace(/oldKey2/g, 'newKey2');

object = JSON.parse(str);

You can also wrap it in try-catch if your object has invalid structure. Works perfectly :)

8 Comments

ooops! var object = {b : '123', 'c' : 'bbb'}; var str = JSON.stringify(object); str = str.replace(/b/g, 'newKey'); str = str.replace(/c/g, 'newKey2'); object = JSON.parse(str);
How does this compare for speed?
Also runs into a potential issue of somewhere in the datavalues is the same string as the old key name.
"Works perfectly" for certain definitions of "perfectly". Try to rename 'a' in { a: 1, aa: 2, aaa: 3} or try to rename an object with values that are anything more than strings or numbers or booleans, or try with circular references.
if the object contains function or date object, this will not work
|
7

I'd do something like this:

function renameKeys(dict, keyMap) {
  return _.reduce(dict, function(newDict, val, oldKey) {
    var newKey = keyMap[oldKey] || oldKey
    newDict[newKey] = val 
    return newDict
  }, {})
}

1 Comment

Made an updated version of your solution that doesn't transform static keys to 'undefined' here: gist.github.com/diasdavid/f8997fb0bdf4dc1c3543 Nevertheless, it still doesn't over the problem of wanting to remap keys at several levels of the JSON object (remaping nested keys), ideas?
7

just try it in your favorite editor <3

const obj = {1: 'a', 2: 'b', 3: 'c'}

const OLD_KEY = 1
const NEW_KEY = 10

const { [OLD_KEY]: replaceByKey, ...rest } = obj
const new_obj = {
  ...rest,
  [NEW_KEY]: replaceByKey
}

2 Comments

i cant seem to understand this part const { [OLD_KEY]: replaceByKey, ...rest } = obj
read about destructuring of object. here
6

Another way to rename Object Key:

Let's consider this object:

let obj = {"name": "John", "id": 1, "last_name": "Doe"}

Let's rename name key to first_name:

let { name: first_name, ...rest } = obj;
obj = { first_name, ...rest }

Now the Object is:

{"first_name": "John", "id": 1, "last_name": "Doe"}

Comments

5

I would say that it would be better from a conceptual point of view to just leave the old object (the one from the web service) as it is, and put the values you need in a new object. I'm assuming you are extracting specific fields at one point or another anyway, if not on the client, then at least on the server. The fact that you chose to use field names that are the same as those from the web service, only lowercase, doesn't really change this. So, I'd advise to do something like this:

var myObj = {
    field1: theirObj.FIELD1, 
    field2: theirObj.FIELD2,
    (etc)
}

Of course, I'm making all kinds of assumptions here, which may not be true. If this doesn't apply to you, or if it's too slow (is it? I haven't tested, but I imagine the difference gets smaller as the number of fields increases), please ignore all of this :)

If you don't want to do this, and you only have to support specific browsers, you could also use the new getters to also return "uppercase(field)": see http://robertnyman.com/2009/05/28/getters-and-setters-with-javascript-code-samples-and-demos/ and the links on that page for more information.

EDIT:

Incredibly, this is also almost twice as fast, at least on my FF3.5 at work. See: http://jsperf.com/spiny001

2 Comments

Thank you very much for your efforts but the use case does not manipulate static objects as their structure and depth is unkown. So if possible I would like to stick to the original scope of the question.
now account for all that gc that has to be done as you're creating carbage every .. single .. time and you'll see that this is the least performant mo.. also change a value of first level property and see if it will sync with any reference you had to the old one somewhere else :)
5

While this does not exactly give a better solution to renaming a key, it provides a quick and easy ES6 way to rename all keys in an object while not mutating the data they contain.

let b = {a: ["1"], b:["2"]};
Object.keys(b).map(id => {
  b[`root_${id}`] = [...b[id]];
  delete b[id];
});
console.log(b);

2 Comments

Please use the edit link to explain how this code works and don't just give the code, as an explanation is more likely to help future readers. See also How to Answer. source
I agree. It does not answer the question specifically but it helped me in getting the job done as a solution for renaming all keys in the object. Maybe I missed the topic..
5

If you want to retain the iteration order (order of insertion), here is a suggestion:

const renameObjectKey = (object, oldName, newName) => {

  const updatedObject = {}

  for(let key in object) {
      if (key === oldName) {
          newObject[newName] = object[key]
      } else {
          newObject[key] = object[key]
      }
  }

  object = updatedObject
}

Comments

4

Some of the solutions listed on this page have some side-effects:

  1. affect the position of the key in the object, adding it to the bottom (if this matters to you)
  2. would not work in IE9+ (again, if this matters to you)

Here is a solution which keeps the position of the key in the same place and is compatible in IE9+, but has to create a new object and may not be the fastest solution:

function renameObjectKey(oldObj, oldName, newName) {
    const newObj = {};

    Object.keys(oldObj).forEach(key => {
        const value = oldObj[key];

        if (key === oldName) {
            newObj[newName] = value;
        } else {
            newObj[key] = value;
        }
    });

    return newObj;
}

Please note: IE9 may not support forEach in strict mode

Comments

3

c'mon in 2023 we should know better!

Sooo many answers completely neglect memory & retaining reference.. the former is where you actually 'optimize' you code.

The spread operator into an anon obj not only decouples the reference from the rest of your project, it also creates garbage the size of your object. Seeing jitters and stutters in your pixel perfect parralax animation? well, thats the gc cleaning that up for you.. 'Object.assign' would solve the reference thing, only it doesn't copy all props while also iterating over the whole thing..

back to basics people!

reassign -> delete is the most optimal, as you're only allocating a new pointer, while also deleting the old one

and if you really need a oneliner just parenwrap..

delete (o[new_key] = o[old_key], o)[old_key]

though the two liner is much more readable..

and don't rely on insertion order of a hashmap. use arrays with pointers for 'smaller' lists or linked list for larger ones

5 Comments

Thanks, I think this is the most useful answer in a very long time. I did not know that delete would reclaim the memory immediately, not relying and waiting on the garbage collector. This makes it effectively more optimized which was the stated goal of the question.
I fail to see how this answer is different from the top answers.
it's not, but the explanation is
@JeanVincent happy to oblige! ..might sound extremely pointer-outery, but might be good info for some.. the memory is marked as deleted, as is standard with any memory, free to be overwritten but effectively ignored by gc .. more often than not it'll remain allocated to your app. seems to vary dep on where the buffer lives, heap or stack, bit unsure here.. the guys at v8 did a ton of magic and I've yet to understand some of their spells
I've done some research, unfortunately was not able to find information about delete enabling to bypass GC. Could you point me to a source that shows this ? Thanks
2

Here is an example to create a new object with renamed keys.

let x = { id: "checkout", name: "git checkout", description: "checkout repository" };

let renamed = Object.entries(x).reduce((u, [n, v]) => {
  u[`__${n}`] = v;
  return u;
}, {});

Comments

2

Your way is optimized, in my opinion. But you will end up with reordered keys. Newly created key will be appended at the end. I know you should never rely on key order, but if you need to preserve it, you will need to go through all keys and construct new object one by one, replacing the key in question during that process.

Like this:

var new_o={};
for (var i in o)
{
   if (i==old_key) new_o[new_key]=o[old_key];
   else new_o[i]=o[i];
}
o=new_o;

Comments

2

Using delete will change the key sequence in object so I suggest using map and replace as many keys as you wish without any deleting.

keyMap = {old_key : new_key}
myObject = Object.fromEntries(
    Object.entries(myObject).map(([key, value]) => [keyMap[key] || key, value])
);

Ex.

myObject = {a: 'THIS', b: 'IS', c: 'TEST'}

keyMap = {a : 'X', c : 'Z'}
    myObject = Object.fromEntries(
        Object.entries(myObject).map(([key, value]) => [keyMap[key] || key, value])
    );
console.log(myObject);

OUTPUT >> {X: 'THIS', b: 'IS', Z: 'TEST'}

Comments

1

This is a small modification that I made to the function of pomber; To be able to take an Array of Objects instead of an object alone and also you can activate index. also the "Keys" can be assigned by an array

function renameKeys(arrayObject, newKeys, index = false) {
    let newArray = [];
    arrayObject.forEach((obj,item)=>{
        const keyValues = Object.keys(obj).map((key,i) => {
            return {[newKeys[i] || key]:obj[key]}
        });
        let id = (index) ? {'ID':item} : {}; 
        newArray.push(Object.assign(id, ...keyValues));
    });
    return newArray;
}

test

const obj = [{ a: "1", b: "2" }, { a: "5", b: "4" } ,{ a: "3", b: "0" }];
const newKeys = ["A","C"];
const renamedObj = renameKeys(obj, newKeys);
console.log(renamedObj);

Comments

1
  • You can use a utility to handle this.
npm i paix
import { paix } from 'paix';

const source_object = { FirstName: "Jhon", LastName: "Doe", Ignored: true };
const replacement = { FirstName: 'first_name', LastName: 'last_name' };
const modified_object = paix(source_object, replacement);

console.log(modified_object);
// { Ignored: true, first_name: 'Jhon', last_name: 'Doe' };

Comments

1

My way, adapting the good @Mulhoon typescript post, for changing multiple keys :

const renameKeys = <
    TOldKey extends keyof T,
    TNewkey extends string,
    T extends Record<string, unknown>
>(
  keys:  {[ key: string]: TNewkey extends TOldKey ? never : TNewkey },
  obj: T
) => Object
    .keys(obj)
    .reduce((acc, key) => ({
        ...acc,
        ...{ [keys[key] || key]: obj[key] }
    }), {});

renameKeys({id: 'value', name: 'label'}, {id: 'toto_id', name: 'toto', age: 35});

1 Comment

I got a working example: var arr = { id: 'toto_id', name: 'toto', age: 35 };var arr2 = renameKeys({ id: 'value', name: 'label' }, arr);console.log(arr2). How do you elaborate it to use an array of objects instead of a single object?
1

I'd like to do this

const originalObj = {
  a: 1,
  b: 2,
  c: 3, // need replace this 'c' key into 'd'
};

const { c, ...rest } = originalObj;

const newObj = { ...rest, d: c };

console.log({ originalObj, newObj });

2 Comments

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post; instead, provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker. - From Review
0

Trying using lodash transform.

var _ = require('lodash');

obj = {
  "name": "abc",
  "add": "xyz"
};

var newObject = _.transform(obj, function(result, val, key) {

  if (key === "add") {
    result["address"] = val
  } else {
    result[key] = val
  }
});
console.log(obj);
console.log(newObject);

Comments

0
const clone = (obj) => Object.assign({}, obj);

const renameKey = (object, key, newKey) => {

    const clonedObj = clone(object);
  
    const targetKey = clonedObj[key];
  
  
  
    delete clonedObj[key];
  
    clonedObj[newKey] = targetKey;
  
    return clonedObj;
     };

  let contact = {radiant: 11, dire: 22};





contact = renameKey(contact, 'radiant', 'aplha');

contact = renameKey(contact, 'dire', 'omega');



console.log(contact); // { aplha: 11, omega: 22 };

Comments

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