Database Naming Conventions | SQL Server

In this blog post, we'll look at some of the naming conventions for database schema objects and T-SQL scripts specfically for Microsoft SQL Server.

Naming conventions ensure that your database design and scripts look and feel consistent. This makes your code more readable and schema design more predictable enabling your future self or your team members to easily interpret your work.

Before we start, please note that there is no single standard for database naming conventions. There are some popular ones like:

• Microsoft's AdventureWorks database naming convention
• Joe Celko's SQL Programming Style
• Konstantin Taranov's guide on SQL Standards

Naming conventions can differ from person-to-person, project-to-project and team-to-team. So the best naming convention is the one that works for you or your project or your team.

Here we'll discuss naming conventions that I have found to be acceptable by the community and that make sense to me as well. These are not mandates or rules that need to be followed but more like suggestions or guidelines that can hopefully inspire you to adopt a certain naming convention.

Let's begin.

Database Naming Convention

A database can be named in PascalCase.

For example: AdventureWorks

Table Naming Convention

Tables also follow the same PascalCase format.

For example: SalesOrderHeaders

You can choose either singular or plural names for example, User or Users. The community seems to be divided between which one to use so you can choose either.

My personal preference is to use plural.

Column Naming Convention

Columns also follow PascalCase format.

For example: TaxableAmt, DateCreated

Primary Key Naming Convention

Primary Keys can be named by prefixing PK_ to the table name.

For example: PK_SalesOrderHeaders

You can also include the column(s) if you want like this:

PK_SalesOrderHeaders_SalesOrderId

Foreign Key Naming Convention

Foreign Keys can be named by prefixing FK_ to the source and destination table name and column names.

For example: FK_ThisTable_ThisCol_ThatTable_ThatCol

View Naming Convention

Views have a prefix of v_ followed by the view name in PascalCase.

For example: v_MyViewName

Stored Procedure Naming Convention

Stored procedure have a prefix of usp_ followed the name in PascalCase format.

For example: usp_MyStoredProc

Variable Naming Convention

Variables follow the camelCase format.

For example: @freightAmt or @userId

Stored Proc Params Naming Convention

The input params have a prefix of @p_ followed by the identifier name in camelCase format.

For example: @p_shippingTaxAmt

Output variables have a prefix of @o_ followed by the identifier name in camelCase format.

For example: @o_insertedUserId

Hope this helps!🙏