---
title: "COL_NAME (Transact-SQL)"
description: "COL_NAME (Transact-SQL)"
author: markingmyname
ms.author: maghan
ms.date: "07/24/2017"
ms.service: sql
ms.subservice: t-sql
ms.topic: reference
f1_keywords:
  - "COL_NAME"
  - "COL_NAME_TSQL"
helpviewer_keywords:
  - "column properties [SQL Server]"
  - "COL_NAME function"
  - "column names [SQL Server]"
  - "names [SQL Server], columns"
dev_langs:
  - "TSQL"
monikerRange: ">= aps-pdw-2016 || = azuresqldb-current || = azure-sqldw-latest || >= sql-server-2016 || >= sql-server-linux-2017 || = azuresqldb-mi-current"
---
# COL_NAME (Transact-SQL)
[!INCLUDE [sql-asdb-asdbmi-asa-pdw](../../includes/applies-to-version/sql-asdb-asdbmi-asa-pdw.md)]

This function returns the name of a table column, based on the table identification number and column identification number values of that table column.
  
:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: [Transact-SQL syntax conventions](../../t-sql/language-elements/transact-sql-syntax-conventions-transact-sql.md)
  
## Syntax  
  
```syntaxsql
COL_NAME ( table_id , column_id )  
```  
  
## Arguments
*table_id*  
The identification number of the table containing that column. The *table_id* argument has an **int** data type.
  
*column_id*  
The identification number of the column. The *column_id* argument has an **int** data type.
  
## Return types
**sysname**
  
## Exceptions  
Returns NULL on error, or if a caller does not have the correct permission to view the object.
  
In [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)], a user can only view the metadata of securables that the user owns, or on which the user has been granted permission. This means that metadata-emitting, built-in functions such as `COL_NAME` might return NULL, if the user does not have correct permissions on the object. See [Metadata Visibility Configuration](../../relational-databases/security/metadata-visibility-configuration.md) for more information.
  
## Remarks  
The *table_id* and *column_id* parameters together produce a column name string.
  
See [OBJECT_ID (Transact-SQL)](../../t-sql/functions/object-id-transact-sql.md) for more information about obtaining table and column identification numbers.
  
## Examples  
This example returns the name of the first column in a sample `Employee` table.
  
```sql
-- Uses AdventureWorks  
  
SELECT COL_NAME(OBJECT_ID('dbo.FactResellerSales'), 1) AS FirstColumnName,  
COL_NAME(OBJECT_ID('dbo.FactResellerSales'), 2) AS SecondColumnName;  
```  
  
[!INCLUDE[ssResult](../../includes/ssresult-md.md)]
  
```
ColumnName          
------------   
BusinessEntityID  
```  
  
## See also
[Expressions (Transact-SQL)](../../t-sql/language-elements/expressions-transact-sql.md)  
[Metadata Functions (Transact-SQL)](../../t-sql/functions/metadata-functions-transact-sql.md)  
[COLUMNPROPERTY (Transact-SQL)](../../t-sql/functions/columnproperty-transact-sql.md)  
[COL_LENGTH (Transact-SQL)](../../t-sql/functions/col-length-transact-sql.md)