# column name same as function **URL:** \ **Category:** Community Support\ **Tags:** kdb-and-q\ **Created:** [June 8, 2016, 7:36am UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/column-name-same-as-function/11061 "2016-06-08T07:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kefa1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cc9497/32.png) [@kefa1](https://forum.kx.com/u/kefa1)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 7:36am UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/column-name-same-as-function/11061/1 "2016-06-08T07:36:00Z")
Hi, I have a bunch of splayed tables with a column named last. Unfortunately when I try to include this in a select statement kdb assumes I am trying to use the last function. Is there a way I can escape the column name so it doesn’t use the last function? Or do I need to rename my columns? Cheers, Kefa ---
**Author:** ![ikorkhov1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d2c977/32.png) [@ikorkhov1](https://forum.kx.com/u/ikorkhov1)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/column-name-same-as-function/11061/2 "2016-06-08T14:47:00Z")
I don’t think reserved words are good candidates for column names, but functional forms do work: `q)meta tc | t f a----| -----date| d k | s last| iq)select from tdate k last-----------------2016.06.01 a 1 2016.06.01 b 2 2016.06.01 c 3 q)select last from t'rankq)?[`:/tmp/tmpdb/2016.06.01/t;();0b;(enlist`last)!enlist`last]last----1 2 3` But I would rename columns if I could. ---
**Author:** ![TerryLynch1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9e8a1a/32.png) [@TerryLynch1](https://forum.kx.com/u/TerryLynch1)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://forum.kx.com/t/column-name-same-as-function/11061/3 "2016-06-08T15:10:00Z")
Agreed. You could also look into using .Q.id to ensure validity of column names: http://code.kx.com/wiki/DotQ/DotQDotid ## q).Q.id flip `col1`last`system!(`a`b;1 2;"xy") col1 last1 system1 a    1     x b    2     y Terry