NAMEOF

Applies to: Calculated column Calculated table Measure Visual calculation

Returns the name of a table, column, measure, or calendar as a text string. Optional parameters control which component of the name is returned and how the result is escaped.

Syntax

NAMEOF ( <object> [, <component> [, <escaped>]] )

Parameters

Term	Definition
object	The table, column, measure, or calendar whose name you want to retrieve.
component	(Optional) An enumeration that specifies which part of the qualified name to return. If omitted, defaults to FULL. See Component values.
escaped	(Optional) An enumeration that specifies how the returned name is escaped. If omitted, defaults to ESCAPED. See Escaped values.

Component values

The component parameter accepts the following values:

Value	Description
TABLE	Returns the table name. Returns an error if the object is not associated with a table (e.g., a calendar).
COLUMN	Returns the column name. Returns an error if the object is not a column.
MEASURE	Returns the measure name. Returns an error if the object is not a measure.
CALENDAR	Returns the calendar name. Returns an error if the object is not a calendar.
FULL	(Default) Returns the fully qualified name of the object.
SELF	Returns the name of the object itself: the column or measure name for columns and measures, or the table/calendar name for tables and calendars.
PARENT	Returns the parent table name for columns and measures. Returns an error for tables and calendars.

Escaped values

The escaped parameter accepts the following values:

Value	Description
ESCAPED	(Default) Returns the name with full DAX escaping: table names wrapped in single quotes, column and measure names wrapped in square brackets.
UNESCAPED	Returns the raw name without any delimiters or escape characters. Returns an error for fully qualified names that contain both a parent and child component.
MINIMALLYESCAPED	Returns the name with escaping applied only when the name requires it. Names that contain only simple letters, digits, and underscores are returned without delimiters. Names that contain spaces or special characters are returned with escaping.

Return value

A text string with the requested name, formatted based on the component and escaped parameters.

Remarks

• When called with only the object argument, NAMEOF behaves the same as in previous versions, returning a fully qualified, escaped name. Because component defaults to FULL and escaped defaults to ESCAPED, the return formats are:
  • For tables: 'TableName'.
  • For columns: 'TableName'[ColumnName].
  • For measures: 'TableName'[MeasureName].
  • For calendars: 'CalendarName'.
  • For variation columns: 'TableName'[ColumnName].[VariationName].
• Variables and dynamic expressions are not supported as arguments to NAMEOF.
• This function is not supported for use in DirectQuery mode when used in calculated columns or row-level security (RLS) rules.

Component behavior by input type

The following table shows the result of each component value for different input types, using the default ESCAPED mode. "Error" indicates that the combination returns an error.

Input type	TABLE	COLUMN	MEASURE	CALENDAR	FULL	SELF	PARENT
Column - Sales[Sales Amount]	'Sales'	[Sales Amount]	Error	Error	'Sales'[Sales Amount]	[Sales Amount]	'Sales'
Table - Sales	'Sales'	Error	Error	Error	'Sales'	'Sales'	Error
Measure - Sales[m1]	'Sales'	Error	[m1]	Error	'Sales'[m1]	[m1]	'Sales'
Calendar - myCalendar	Error	Error	Error	'myCalendar'	'myCalendar'	'myCalendar'	Error

Escaped behavior

The escaped parameter controls how the name produced by the component step is formatted. The following table uses the fully escaped name as a reference and shows the output for each escaped value.

Fully escaped name	ESCAPED	UNESCAPED	MINIMALLYESCAPED
'Sales'	'Sales'	Sales	Sales
'Sales'[Sales Amount]	'Sales'[Sales Amount]	Error	Sales[Sales Amount]
'Sales'[m1]	'Sales'[m1]	Error	Sales[m1]
[Amount]	[Amount]	Amount	Amount
'Sales Region'	'Sales Region'	Sales Region	'Sales Region'
'Sales Region'[Column]	'Sales Region'[Column]	Error	'Sales Region'[Column]
[Order Quantity]	[Order Quantity]	Order Quantity	[Order Quantity]

Note

UNESCAPED returns an error for fully qualified names (names that include both a table and column/measure component), because the result would be ambiguous without delimiters.

Special character escaping rules

The following escaping rules apply within DAX name delimiters:

• Table names (single-quote delimited): A literal single quote (') in a table name is escaped as two single quotes ('').
• Column and measure names (bracket delimited): A literal closing bracket (]) in a column or measure name is escaped as ]]. An opening bracket ([) does not require escaping.

Fully escaped name	ESCAPED	UNESCAPED	MINIMALLYESCAPED
'Ta''''ble' (table with ' in name)	'Ta''''ble'	Ta''ble	Ta''ble
[colu[]]mn] (column with ] in name)	[colu[]]mn]	colu[]mn	[colu[]]mn]

Example 1

The following DAX query returns the fully qualified name of a column:

EVALUATE
{ NAMEOF ( 'Sales'[ORDER QUANTITY] ) }

Returns:

[Value]
'Sales'[Order Quantity]

Example 2

The following DAX query returns the fully qualified name of a measure:

DEFINE
    MEASURE Sales[Projected Sales] =
        SUM ( 'Sales'[Sales Amount] ) * 1.06

EVALUATE
{ NAMEOF ( [Projected Sales] ) }

Returns:

[Value]
'Sales'[Projected Sales]

Example 3

The following DAX query uses the component parameter to extract only the table name from a column reference:

EVALUATE
{ NAMEOF ( 'Sales'[Sales Amount], TABLE ) }

Returns:

[Value]
'Sales'

Example 4

The following DAX query returns an unescaped table name:

EVALUATE
{ NAMEOF ( 'Sales', FULL, UNESCAPED ) }

Returns:

[Value]
Sales

Example 5

The following DAX query uses the component and escaped parameters to return the minimally escaped parent table name of a column:

EVALUATE
{ NAMEOF ( 'Sales'[Sales Amount], PARENT, MINIMALLYESCAPED ) }

Returns:

[Value]
Sales

Related content

• Information functions