Skip to content

Follow our naming rules (see also table design rules)

You SHOULD:-

  • Use descriptive names, favouring readability over brevity.

  • Favour singular nouns over plurals for table names views and scalars (columns, parameters and variables.) The use of a collective name is best.

  • Use a mix of verbs and nouns in the present tense for functions and stored procedure names1.

  • Use uppercase for all Keywords, Built-in functions, built-in datatypes and Global Variables2.

  • Use Pascal Casing (with the first letter and each subsequent concatenated word capitalized) consistently for all other names3.

  • Use capitalization where common abbreviations4 are used.

  • Use prefixes and underscores for the following common naming conventions (next page).

You SHOULD NOT:-

  • Rely on system generated named objects such as constraints or indexes.

  • Use abbreviations, spaces, or non-standard characters and reserved words. Doing so avoids the need to use square brackets.

  • Prefix stored procedures with sp_ Doing so impedes performance because SQL Server searches the master database first.

  • Use prefixes (Hungarian notation), suffixes and underscores except where specific naming conventions exist (see the next page.)

Prefix Usage Example Notes
pr Stored Procedure pr GetReportIDAndIdentifiers Optional, but use must be consistent within a database
fn F unction fnSaveNewPassword
tr Trigger trAuditChangeToNHSNumber
CIX Clustered Index CIX_Report_Id Table name and indexes are also separated by an underscore.
PK Primary Key PK_Report Table name
IX Index IX_Report_SubjectDoBFamilyNameGivenNameId_includes Table name and indexes are also separated by an underscore. Use "includes" showing the index has included columns5.
FK Foreign Key FK_ReferenceDataValue_ID_PlacerID Table name, referenced field(s) and referencing field(s) also separated by an underscore
DF Default constraint
CK Check constraint
UQ Unique constraint

Further reading and information

Publicly Available Standards (iso.org)

Reserved Keywords (Transact-SQL) - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn

The 9 Most Common Database Design Errors | Vertabelo Database Modeler (No. #4)

Ten Common Database Design Mistakes - Simple Talk (red-gate.com)

  1. But beware of situations where this is counterproductive. For example, having many procedures prefixed with 'Get' makes any specific stored procedure difficult to spot. See the section 'Exceptions prove the rule'. ↩

  2. This rule raised the concern that we could end up with differing coding standards based on language and technology and we will. However, SQL is a set-based language -- it's acceptable that different rules apply. ↩

  3. Be aware that Redgate SQL prompts adds aliases in lower case based on the leading letters in a camel case table name. ↩

  4. Use abbreviations only when there can be no doubt as to their meaning. ↩

  5. Included columns prevent a key-lookup in the query plan and so aid performance. ↩