How to deal with SQL column names that look like SQL keywords?

Wrap the column name in brackets like so, from becomes [from].

select [from] from table;

It is also possible to use the following (useful when querying multiple tables):

select table.[from] from table;

If it had been in PostgreSQL, use double quotes around the name, like:

select "from" from "table";

Note: Internally PostgreSQL automatically converts all unquoted commands and parameters to lower case. That have the effect that commands and identifiers aren't case sensitive. sEleCt * from tAblE; is interpreted as select * from table;. However, parameters inside double quotes are used as is, and therefore ARE case sensitive: select * from "table"; and select * from "Table"; gets the result from two different tables.

While you are doing it - alias it as something else (or better yet, use a view or an SP and deprecate the old direct access method).

SELECT [from] AS TransferFrom -- Or something else more suitable
FROM TableName

Your question seems to be well answered here, but I just want to add one more comment to this subject.

Those designing the database should be well aware of the reserved keywords and avoid using them. If you discover someone using it, inform them about it (in a polite way). The keyword here is reserved word.

More information:

"Reserved keywords should not be used as object names. Databases upgraded from earlier versions of SQL Server may contain identifiers that include words not reserved in the earlier version, but that are reserved words for the current version of SQL Server. You can refer to the object by using delimited identifiers until the name can be changed." http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms176027.aspx

and

"If your database does contain names that match reserved keywords, you must use delimited identifiers when you refer to those objects. For more information, see Identifiers (DMX)." http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms132178.aspx

If you ARE using SQL Server, you can just simply wrap the square brackets around the column or table name.

select [select]
from [table]

I have also faced this issue. And the solution for this is to put [Column_Name] like this in the query.

string query= "Select [Name],[Email] from Person";

So it will work perfectly well.

Judging from the answers here and my own experience. The only acceptable answer, if you're planning on being portable is don't use SQL keywords for table, column, or other names.

All these answers work in the various databases but apparently a lot don't support the ANSI solution.

Simple solution

Lets say the column name is from ; So the column name in query can be referred by table alias

Select * from user u where u.from="US"

In Oracle SQL Developer, pl/sql you can do this with double quotes but if you use double quotes you must type the column names in upper case. For example, SELECT "FROM" FROM MY_TABLE

Some solid answers—but the most-upvoted one is parochial, only dealing with SQL Server. In summary:

• If you have source control, the best solution is to stick to the rules, and avoid using reserved words. This list has been around for ages, and covers most of the peculiarities. One tip is that reserved words are rarely plural—so you're usually safe using plural names. Exceptions are DIAGNOSTICS, SCHEMAS, OCTETS, OFFSETS, OPTIONS, VALUES, PARAMETERS, PRIVILEGES and also verb-like words that also appear plural: OVERLAPS, READS, RETURNS, TRANSFORMS.
• Many of us don't have the luxury of changing the field names. There, you'll need to know the details of the RDBM you're accessing:
• For SQL Server use [square_braces] around the name. This works in an ODBC connection too.
• For MySQL use `back_ticks`.
• Postgres, Oracle and several other RDBMs will apparently allow "double_quotes" to be used.

Dotting the offending word onto the table name may also work.