# Is it possible to rename a field in ES?
**URL:** https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397
**Category:** Elasticsearch
**Created:** [September 16, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397 "2011-09-16T19:13:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@datadev](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/datadev)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397/1 "2011-09-16T19:13:12Z")
Suppose I create an index X with type Y and add 100,000 documents containing
a field 'foo'.
Is there a command I can use to atomically rename the field name from 'foo'
to 'bar', or would I have to reindex all 100,000 documents with the new
field name?
Thanks.
---
### Author:  [@danoyoung](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/danoyoung)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397/2 "2011-09-16T19:16:03Z")
I believe you'll need to reindex.
On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 1:13 PM, datadev [nji@adinfocenter.com](mailto:nji@adinfocenter.com) wrote:
> Suppose I create an index X with type Y and add 100,000 documents
> containing a field 'foo'.
>
> Is there a command I can use to atomically rename the field name from 'foo'
> to 'bar', or would I have to reindex all 100,000 documents with the new
> field name?
>
> Thanks.
---
### Author:  [@kimchy](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/kimchy)
#### Post date: [September 16, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397/3 "2011-09-16T21:59:11Z")
Yes, once a field is set, there is no way to rename it.
On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 10:16 PM, Dan Young [danoyoung@gmail.com](mailto:danoyoung@gmail.com) wrote:
> I believe you'll need to reindex.
>
> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 1:13 PM, datadev [nji@adinfocenter.com](mailto:nji@adinfocenter.com) wrote:
>
> > Suppose I create an index X with type Y and add 100,000 documents
> > containing a field 'foo'.
> >
> > Is there a command I can use to atomically rename the field name from
> > 'foo' to 'bar', or would I have to reindex all 100,000 documents with the
> > new field name?
> >
> > Thanks.
---
### Author:  [@Johnny\_Wang](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Johnny_Wang)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397/4 "2015-04-02T05:25:46Z")
Or can I add an alias for 'foo'?
On Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 5:59:11 AM UTC+8, kimchy wrote:
> Yes, once a field is set, there is no way to rename it.
>
> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 10:16 PM, Dan Young \<[dano...@gmail.com](mailto:dano...@gmail.com)
> \\> wrote:
>
> > I believe you'll need to reindex.
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 1:13 PM, datadev \<[n...@adinfocenter.com](mailto:n...@adinfocenter.com)
> > \\> wrote:
> >
> > > Suppose I create an index X with type Y and add 100,000 documents
> > > containing a field 'foo'.
> > >
> > > Is there a command I can use to atomically rename the field name from
> > > 'foo' to 'bar', or would I have to reindex all 100,000 documents with the
> > > new field name?
> > >
> > > Thanks.
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### Author:  [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397/5 "2015-04-02T21:55:00Z")
You can create an alias with a filter on a field and then use that, but you
cannot alias an individual field.
On 2 April 2015 at 16:25, Johnny Wang [archer.wq@gmail.com](mailto:archer.wq@gmail.com) wrote:
> Or can I add an alias for 'foo'?
>
> On Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 5:59:11 AM UTC+8, kimchy wrote:
>
> > Yes, once a field is set, there is no way to rename it.
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 10:16 PM, Dan Young [dano...@gmail.com](mailto:dano...@gmail.com) wrote:
> >
> > > I believe you'll need to reindex.
> > >
> > > On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 1:13 PM, datadev [n...@adinfocenter.com](mailto:n...@adinfocenter.com) wrote:
> > >
> > > > Suppose I create an index X with type Y and add 100,000 documents
> > > > containing a field 'foo'.
> > > >
> > > > Is there a command I can use to atomically rename the field name from
> > > > 'foo' to 'bar', or would I have to reindex all 100,000 documents with the
> > > > new field name?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks.
> >
> > --
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### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2017, 12:21am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/is-it-possible-to-rename-a-field-in-es/5397/6 "2017-07-06T00:21:57Z")