Change Keys of Dictionary in Python

By Jagannath@cr7

In this tutorial, we will learn how to change keys of dictionary in Python.

Dictionary is a sequence of ( Key: Value ) pair.

Certainly, it is possible to change the keys in the Dictionary

Let’s just create a sample Dictionary.

Initial Dictionary :

sample = {  
    
        'bhanu' :  438 ,
        
        'surya' :  441 ,
        
        'jagan' :  427
        
        }
        
print (sample)

Output :

{'bhanu': 438, 'surya': 441, 'jagan': 427}

Let’s see the various methods to change the keys in the dictionary.

Change Keys of Dictionary in Python

First method:

This approach is to simply create a new key with an existing value.

sample = {  
    
        'bhanu' :  438 ,
        
        'surya' :  441 ,
        
        'jagan' :  427
        
        }
        
print (sample)

print()

# Method 1 

sample ['varshita'] = sample ['surya']            # new key "varshita" created with existing value

del sample ['surya']

print (sample)

Output :

{'bhanu': 438, 'jagan': 427, 'surya': 441}

{'bhanu': 438, 'jagan': 427, 'varshita': 441}

Second method:

Using pop( ) built-in method of  dictionary.

Before proceeding, let’s understand how it works.

sample = {  
    
        'bhanu' :  438 ,
        
        'surya' :  441 ,
        
        'jagan' :  427
        
        }
        

# Method 2

result = sample.pop('surya')     # the return of this method is the value of sample['surya'].

print (result)                    

print (sample)                   # prints the dictionary excluding the key 'surya' as its removed.

Output :

441
{'bhanu': 438, 'jagan': 427}

Now, using this property to change the keys in the dictionary.

sample = {  
    
        'bhanu' :  438 ,
        
        'surya' :  441 ,
        
        'jagan' :  427
        
        }
        

# Method 2

sample ['sairam']  = sample.pop('surya')    # adds key 'sairam' with a value of 441 [as 'surya ': 441]

print (sample)

Output :

{'sairam': 441, 'jagan': 427, 'bhanu': 438}

Concluding this, these are different ways to change the keys in a dictionary and can be helpful to do further operations.