MySQL Alias

MySQL Alias keyword is used to temporarily rename the column names, or table names within a Database. Sometimes column names may not be user-friendly in real-time.

For example we store First Name as either FirstName or First_Name. When user reads the data it will be annoying to see the column heading like that. So, while we SELECT the data, we use this Alias to rename them as ‘First Name’ or ‘FIRST NAME’.

MySQL Alias Syntax

The basic syntax to write MySQL Table Alias Names is as shown below:

SELECT tab1.[Column Name 1], 
       tab1.[Column Name 2],..., 
       tab1.[Column Name N]
FROM [Table_Name] AS tab1

And the syntax to write MySQL Column Alias Names is as shown below:

SELECT [Column Name 1] AS Name, 
       [Column Name 2] AS Country, 
       [Column Name N] AS Continent
FROM [Table_Name]

--OR You can Simply Write without using AS Keyword
SELECT [Column Name 1] Name, 
       [Column Name 2] Country, 
       [Column Name N] Continent
FROM [Table_Name]

TIP: In MySQL Server Alias, AS Keyword is optional. It is up to you to include it or not.

We are going to use the below shown data to explain the ALIAS Names with example.

MySQL Alias Example 1

In this example we are going to rename one column name to make it more meaningful. For this, we are going to rename Name to ‘Country Name’

USE world;
SELECT Name AS 'Country Name', 
       Continent, Region,
       SurfaceArea, IndepYear, Population, LocalName
FROM country;

OUTPUT

MySQL Alias Example 2

In this example, we are using the CONCAT string function to concat or combine the Name, and region. Next, we assigned the name as Country Name using alias column concept.

USE world;
SELECT CONCAT(Name, ' in ', Region) AS 'Country Name', 
       Continent,
       IndepYear, Population,
       SurfaceArea, LocalName 
FROM country;

OUTPUT

MySQL Alias Example 3

We can also apply or assign the Alias names to calculated columns. In this example, we will show you, How to assign the Alias names to calculated columns

USE world;
SELECT Name AS 'Country Name', 
       Continent, Region,
       IndepYear,
       2017 - IndepYear AS 'No Of Years', 
       Population,
       Population + 15000 AS 'New Population'
FROM country;

We subtracted the Independent Year from 2017, and also added 15000 to each and every record of the Population column. Next, we renamed them as No of Years, and New Population using this Alias name.

OUTPUT

MySQL Alias – Command Prompt Example

In this example, we will write a query in the Command prompt to demonstrate the Alias Columns along with the Where clause.

USE world;
SELECT Name AS 'Country Name', 
       LocalName AS 'Local Name'
FROM country
WHERE Continent = 'Asia'

OUTPUT

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