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How should I name tables and columns in a data warehouse?
Use consistent, descriptive, lowercase names with underscores, avoid abbreviations that outsiders will not understand, and follow a pattern that signals purpose, such as stg_ for staging and fct_ or dim_ for facts and dimensions. Consistency matters more than any particular style.
Helpful conventions:
- Singular or plural table names, but pick one.
- Suffixes such as _id for keys, _at for timestamps, _date for dates.
- Include units or currency in names when ambiguous, such as amount_usd.
- Avoid spaces and special characters.
- Never reuse a name with a different meaning.
Write the conventions down. Clear naming makes self-service BI easier and cuts the questions people have to ask the data team.
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