Microsoft doesn’t provide macro guidance for naming conventions, however, sometimes, it is useful to have a place to start.  Also, there are times when flexibility with naming conventions is necessary.  So, here is a quick set of SQL Server naming conventions, which may be helpful if you find yourself working with a customer who doesn’t have an established set of naming convention standards and you need to assemble a set fast.

Basic SQL Server Object Naming Convention Guidance

1. Each project will have its own schema.
2. Schema represents the project
3. First letter of each word in table/Column starts with Uppercase.
4. Put Underscore(_) between words of table/Column name
5. No space between words in table/column name

Object Conventions

SQL Server objects

Subject	Prefix/Suffix	Naming convention	Example
Database	db	db<name>	dbODS
Job	jb	jb<Jobname>	jbSSIS_RunLoadPackage
Linked Server	ls	ls<linkedservername>	lsServer01
Trigger(Delete)	td	td<name>	tdAppointment
Trigger(Insert)	ti	ti<name>	tiCustomer
Trigger(Update)	tu	tu<name>	tuAppointment

SQL Server Database objects

Subject	Prefix/Suffix	Naming convention	Example
Aggregate function	af	af<Name>	afTotalSales
Assemblies	as	ass<Name>	assDetermineIPs
Attribuut	–	<name>	PatientName
Database data file(s)	data#	<database>_data#	dbAdventureWorks_data1
Database log file	log	<database>_log	dbAdventureWorks_log
Default	df	df<name>	dfDate
Dimension Table	_Dim	<<Table Name>>_Dim	Geography_Dim
Fact Table	_Fact	<<TableName>>_Fact	Accounts_Payable_Fact
Filegroup	fg	fg<name>	fgdbAdventureWorks_Index
Filestream	fs	fs<name>	fsInvoiceDoc
Foreign key	FKx_	FKx_<sourcetable>_<goaltable>_<fieldname(s)>#
Index (not unique, non clustered)	IDX_	IDX_<name>_<column>
Index (unique, non clustered)	UDX_	UDX_<name>_<column>
Index (not unique, clustered)	CIX_	CIX_<name>_<column>
Index (unique, clustered)	CUX_	CUX_<name>_<column>
Materialized View	MV_	MV_<Table name>
Primary key	PK_	PK_<name>	PK_KlantID
Scalar valued function	scf	scf<name>	scfDetermineNumberOfCustomers
Schema	sch	sch<name>	schOrders
Stored procedure	usp	usp<projectname>_<name>	uspArchive_DetermineNumberOfOrders
Synonyms	syn	syn<name>
Table	tbl	tbl<name>	tblCustomers
Table Valued function	tvf	tvf<name>	tvfDeterminecustomers
Temporary Table	#tmp	#tmp<name>	#tmpPatient25Years
Type	udd	udd<name>	uddPostcode
Type	tp	tp<name>	tpPosInt
View	vw_	VW_<table name>	vwGetOpenOrders

Transact SQL (T-SQL)

Subject	Prefix/Suffix	Naming convention	Example
Bigint	inb	inb<Variabelename>	inbPatientId
Binary	bin	bin<Variabelename>	binMessage
Bit	bit	bit<Variabelename>	bitOK
Char	chr	chr<Variabelename>	chrPatientname
Code (Field)	_Code	<Variabelename>_Code	Program_Code
Cursor	cur	cur<Variabelename>	curField
Date (Field)	_Dt	<Variabelename>_Dt	Created_Dt
Datetime	dtm	dtm<Variabelename>	dtmInsertDate
Description (Field)	_Desc	<Variabelename>_Desc	Plan_Desc
Float	flt	flt<Variabelename>	fltXvalue
Identity (Field)	_ID	<Variabelename>_ID	Status_Rollup_ID
Integer	int	int<Variabelename>	intPatientID
Money	mny	mny<Variabelename>	mnyTotalAmount
Nchar	chrn	chrn<Variabelename>	chrnPatientname
Ntext	txtn	txtn<Variabelename>	txtMessage
Numeric of decimal	dec	dec<Variabelename>	decAmount
Nvarchar	chvn	chvn<Variabelename>	chvnPatientname
Real	rea	rea<Variabelename>	reaAmount
Smalldatetime	dts	dts<Variabelename>	dtsInsertDate
Smallint	ins	ins<Variabelename>	insSubcategorieID
Smallmoney	mns	mns<Variabelename>	mnsAmount
Sql_variant	var	var<Variabelename>	varFreevalue
Surrogate key (Field)	_ID	<Variabelename>_ID	Person_ID
Table variable	tav	tav<name>	tavCustomers
Text	txt	txt<Variabelename>	txtReport
Timestamp	tsp	tsp<Variabelename>	tspDeleteDate
Tinyint	iny	iny<Variabelename>	inyCategorieID
Uniqueidentifier	guid	guid<Variabelename>	guidKeu
Varbinary	biv	biv<Variabelename>	bivMessage
Varchar	chv	chv<Variabelename>	chvPatientname