diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index bcb41528b..a6869430a 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Type: Package
 Package: datawizard
 Title: Easy Data Wrangling and Statistical Transformations
-Version: 0.13.0.15
+Version: 0.13.0.16
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Indrajeet", "Patil", , "patilindrajeet.science@gmail.com", role = "aut",
            comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0003-1995-6531")),
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index a701ba2b8..eccbbe98d 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,9 +1,18 @@
 # datawizard (development)
 
-BREAKING CHANGES
-
-* Argument `drop_na` in `data_match()` is deprecated now. Please use `remove_na`
-  instead.
+BREAKING CHANGES AND DEPRECATIONS
+
+* Argument `drop_na` in `data_match()` is deprecated now. Please use 
+  `remove_na` instead.
+
+* In `data_rename()` (#567):
+  - argument `pattern` is deprecated. Use `select` instead.
+  - argument `safe` is deprecated. The function now errors when `select` 
+    contains unknown column names.
+  - when `replacement` is `NULL`, an error is now thrown (previously, column
+    indices were used as new names).
+  - if `select` (previously `pattern`) is a named vector, then all elements
+    must be named, e.g. `c(length = "Sepal.Length", "Sepal.Width")` errors.
 
 CHANGES
 
diff --git a/R/data_addprefix.R b/R/data_addprefix.R
index 6cf292ecc..9c20e6d71 100644
--- a/R/data_addprefix.R
+++ b/R/data_addprefix.R
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
-#' @rdname data_rename
+#' Add a prefix or suffix to column names
+#'
+#' @rdname data_prefix_suffix
 #' @inheritParams extract_column_names
+#' @param pattern A character string, which will be added as prefix or suffix
+#' to the column names.
+#' @param ... Other arguments passed to or from other functions.
+#'
+#' @seealso
+#' [data_rename()] for more fine-grained column renaming.
 #' @examples
 #' # Add prefix / suffix to all columns
 #' head(data_addprefix(iris, "NEW_"))
@@ -29,7 +37,7 @@ data_addprefix <- function(data,
 }
 
 
-#' @rdname data_rename
+#' @rdname data_prefix_suffix
 #' @export
 data_addsuffix <- function(data,
                            pattern,
diff --git a/R/data_rename.R b/R/data_rename.R
index f5d6e0e03..eb2415d67 100644
--- a/R/data_rename.R
+++ b/R/data_rename.R
@@ -1,36 +1,27 @@
 #' @title Rename columns and variable names
-#' @name data_rename
 #'
 #' @description Safe and intuitive functions to rename variables or rows in
 #'   data frames. `data_rename()` will rename column names, i.e. it facilitates
-#'   renaming variables `data_addprefix()` or `data_addsuffix()` add prefixes
-#'   or suffixes to column names. `data_rename_rows()` is a convenient shortcut
+#'   renaming variables. `data_rename_rows()` is a convenient shortcut
 #'   to add or rename row names of a data frame, but unlike `row.names()`, its
-#'   input and output is a data frame, thus, integrating smoothly into a possible
-#'   pipe-workflow.
+#'   input and output is a data frame, thus, integrating smoothly into a
+#'   possible pipe-workflow.
 #'
+#' @inheritParams extract_column_names
 #' @param data A data frame, or an object that can be coerced to a data frame.
-#' @param pattern Character vector.
-#'   - For `data_addprefix()` or `data_addsuffix()`, a character string, which
-#'     will be added as prefix or suffix to the column names.
-#'   - For `data_rename()`, indicates columns that should be selected for
-#'     renaming. Can be `NULL` (in which case all columns are selected).
-#'     `pattern` can also be a named vector. In this case, names are used as
-#'     values for the `replacement` argument (i.e. `pattern` can be a character
-#'     vector using `<new name> = "<old name>"` and argument `replacement` will
-#'     be ignored then).
 #' @param replacement Character vector. Can be one of the following:
 #'   - A character vector that indicates the new names of the columns selected
-#'     in `pattern`. `pattern` and `replacement` must be of the same length.
-#'   - `NULL`, in which case columns are numbered in sequential order.
-#'   - A string (i.e. character vector of length 1) with a "glue" styled pattern.
-#'     Currently supported tokens are:
+#'     in `select`. `select` and `replacement` must be of the same length.
+#'   - A string (i.e. character vector of length 1) with a "glue" styled
+#'     pattern. Currently supported tokens are:
 #'     - `{col}` which will be replaced by the column name, i.e. the
-#'       corresponding value in `pattern`.
+#'       corresponding value in `select`.
 #'     - `{n}` will be replaced by the number of the variable that is replaced.
-#'     - `{letter}` will be replaced by alphabetical letters in sequential order.
+#'     - `{letter}` will be replaced by alphabetical letters in sequential
+#'       order.
 #'       If more than 26 letters are required, letters are repeated, but have
-#'       sequential numeric indices (e.g., `a1` to `z1`, followed by `a2` to `z2`).
+#'       sequential numeric indices (e.g., `a1` to `z1`, followed by `a2` to
+#'       `z2`).
 #'     - Finally, the name of a user-defined object that is available in the
 #'       environment can be used. Note that the object's name is not allowed to
 #'       be one of the pre-defined tokens, `"col"`, `"n"` and `"letter"`.
@@ -39,35 +30,32 @@
 #'     ```r
 #'     data_rename(
 #'       mtcars,
-#'       pattern = c("am", "vs"),
+#'       select = c("am", "vs"),
 #'       replacement = "new_name_from_{col}"
 #'     )
 #'     ```
 #'     ... which would return new column names `new_name_from_am` and
 #'     `new_name_from_vs`. See 'Examples'.
 #'
-#' If `pattern` is a named vector, `replacement` is ignored.
+#' If `select` is a named vector, `replacement` is ignored.
 #' @param rows Vector of row names.
-#' @param safe Do not throw error if for instance the variable to be
-#'   renamed/removed doesn't exist.
-#' @param verbose Toggle warnings and messages.
+#' @param safe Deprecated. Passing unknown column names now always errors.
+#' @param pattern Deprecated. Use `select` instead.
 #' @param ... Other arguments passed to or from other functions.
 #'
+#' @details
+#' `select` can also be a named character vector. In this case, the names are
+#' used to rename the columns in the output data frame. See 'Examples'.
+#'
 #' @return A modified data frame.
 #'
 #' @examples
 #' # Rename columns
 #' head(data_rename(iris, "Sepal.Length", "length"))
-#' # data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", safe=FALSE)  # This fails
-#' head(data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length")) # This doesn't
-#' head(data_rename(iris, c("Sepal.Length", "Sepal.Width"), c("length", "width")))
 #'
 #' # use named vector to rename
 #' head(data_rename(iris, c(length = "Sepal.Length", width = "Sepal.Width")))
 #'
-#' # Reset names
-#' head(data_rename(iris, NULL))
-#'
 #' # Change all
 #' head(data_rename(iris, replacement = paste0("Var", 1:5)))
 #'
@@ -80,8 +68,7 @@
 #' x <- c("hi", "there", "!")
 #' head(data_rename(mtcars[1:3], c("mpg", "cyl", "disp"), "col_{x}"))
 #' @seealso
-#' - Functions to rename stuff: [data_rename()], [data_rename_rows()],
-#'   [data_addprefix()], [data_addsuffix()]
+#' - Add a prefix or suffix to column names: [data_addprefix()], [data_addsuffix()]
 #' - Functions to reorder or remove columns: [data_reorder()], [data_relocate()],
 #'   [data_remove()]
 #' - Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: [data_to_long()],
@@ -96,28 +83,48 @@
 #'
 #' @export
 data_rename <- function(data,
-                        pattern = NULL,
+                        select = NULL,
                         replacement = NULL,
                         safe = TRUE,
                         verbose = TRUE,
+                        pattern = NULL,
                         ...) {
-  # change all names if no pattern specified
-  if (is.null(pattern)) {
-    pattern <- names(data)
+  # If the user does data_rename(iris, pattern = "Sepal.Length", "length"),
+  # then "length" is matched to select by position while it's the replacement
+  # => do the switch manually
+  if (!is.null(pattern)) {
+    .is_deprecated("pattern", "select")
+    if (!is.null(select)) {
+      replacement <- select
+    }
+    select <- pattern
   }
-
-  if (!is.character(pattern)) {
-    insight::format_error("Argument `pattern` must be of type character.")
+  if (isFALSE(safe)) {
+    insight::format_warning("In `data_rename()`, argument `safe` is no longer used and will be removed in a future release.") # nolint
   }
 
-  # check if `pattern` has names, and if so, use as "replacement"
-  if (!is.null(names(pattern))) {
-    replacement <- names(pattern)
+  # change all names if no pattern specified
+  select <- .select_nse(
+    select,
+    data,
+    exclude = NULL,
+    ignore_case = NULL,
+    regex = NULL,
+    allow_rename = TRUE,
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = "error"
+  )
+
+  # Forbid partially named "select",
+  # Ex: if select = c("foo" = "Species", "Sepal.Length") then the 2nd name and
+  # 2nd value are "Sepal.Length"
+  if (!is.null(names(select)) && any(names(select) == select)) {
+    insight::format_error("When `select` is a named vector, all elements must be named.")
   }
 
-  # name columns 1, 2, 3 etc. if no replacement
-  if (is.null(replacement)) {
-    replacement <- paste0(seq_along(pattern))
+  # check if `select` has names, and if so, use as "replacement"
+  if (!is.null(names(select))) {
+    replacement <- names(select)
   }
 
   # coerce to character
@@ -126,22 +133,22 @@ data_rename <- function(data,
   # check if `replacement` has no empty strings and no NA values
   invalid_replacement <- is.na(replacement) | !nzchar(replacement)
   if (any(invalid_replacement)) {
-    if (is.null(names(pattern))) {
-      # when user did not match `pattern` with `replacement`
+    if (is.null(names(select))) {
+      # when user did not match `select` with `replacement`
       msg <- c(
         "`replacement` is not allowed to have `NA` or empty strings.",
         sprintf(
-          "Following values in `pattern` have no match in `replacement`: %s",
-          toString(pattern[invalid_replacement])
+          "Following values in `select` have no match in `replacement`: %s",
+          toString(select[invalid_replacement])
         )
       )
     } else {
-      # when user did not name all elements of `pattern`
+      # when user did not name all elements of `select`
       msg <- c(
-        "Either name all elements of `pattern` or use `replacement`.",
+        "Either name all elements of `select` or use `replacement`.",
         sprintf(
-          "Following values in `pattern` were not named: %s",
-          toString(pattern[invalid_replacement])
+          "Following values in `select` were not named: %s",
+          toString(select[invalid_replacement])
         )
       )
     }
@@ -163,30 +170,20 @@ data_rename <- function(data,
   # check if we have "glue" styled replacement-string
   glue_style <- length(replacement) == 1 && grepl("{", replacement, fixed = TRUE)
 
-  if (length(replacement) > length(pattern) && verbose) {
-    insight::format_alert(
-      paste0(
-        "There are more names in `replacement` than in `pattern`. The last ",
-        length(replacement) - length(pattern), " names of `replacement` are not used."
-      )
-    )
-  } else if (length(replacement) < length(pattern) && verbose && !glue_style) {
-    insight::format_alert(
-      paste0(
-        "There are more names in `pattern` than in `replacement`. The last ",
-        length(pattern) - length(replacement), " names of `pattern` are not modified."
-      )
-    )
+  if (length(replacement) > length(select)) {
+    insight::format_error("There are more names in `replacement` than in `select`.")
+  } else if (length(replacement) < length(select) && !glue_style) {
+    insight::format_error("There are more names in `select` than in `replacement`")
   }
 
-  # if we have glue-styled replacement-string, create replacement pattern now
+  # if we have glue-styled replacement-string, create replacement select now
   if (glue_style) {
-    replacement <- .glue_replacement(pattern, replacement)
+    replacement <- .glue_replacement(select, replacement)
   }
 
-  for (i in seq_along(pattern)) {
+  for (i in seq_along(select)) {
     if (!is.na(replacement[i])) {
-      data <- .data_rename(data, pattern[i], replacement[i], safe, verbose)
+      data <- .data_rename(data, select[i], replacement[i], safe, verbose)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/R/select_nse.R b/R/select_nse.R
index 5120691a9..2d0255d0a 100644
--- a/R/select_nse.R
+++ b/R/select_nse.R
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 .select_nse <- function(select, data, exclude, ignore_case, regex = FALSE,
                         remove_group_var = FALSE, allow_rename = FALSE,
-                        verbose = FALSE) {
+                        verbose = FALSE, ifnotfound = "warn") {
   .check_data(data)
   columns <- colnames(data)
 
@@ -38,14 +38,16 @@
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
   excluded <- .eval_expr(
     expr_exclude,
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
 
   selected_has_mix_idx <- any(selected < 0L) && any(selected > 0L)
@@ -113,7 +115,7 @@
 # * cyl:gear -> function (`:`) so find which function it is, then get the
 #   position for each variable, then evaluate the function with the positions
 
-.eval_expr <- function(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.eval_expr <- function(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   if (is.null(x)) {
     return(NULL)
   }
@@ -123,9 +125,18 @@
   out <- switch(type,
     integer = x,
     double = as.integer(x),
-    character = .select_char(data, x, ignore_case, regex = regex, verbose),
-    symbol = .select_symbol(data, x, ignore_case, regex = regex, verbose),
-    language = .eval_call(data, x, ignore_case, regex = regex, verbose),
+    character = .select_char(
+      data, x, ignore_case,
+      regex = regex, verbose, ifnotfound
+    ),
+    symbol = .select_symbol(
+      data, x, ignore_case,
+      regex = regex, verbose, ifnotfound
+    ),
+    language = .eval_call(
+      data, x, ignore_case,
+      regex = regex, verbose, ifnotfound
+    ),
     insight::format_error(paste0(
       "Expressions of type <", typeof(x),
       "> cannot be evaluated for use when subsetting."
@@ -143,7 +154,7 @@
 # - character that should be regex-ed on variable names
 # - special word "all" to return all vars
 
-.select_char <- function(data, x, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_char <- function(data, x, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   # use colnames because names() doesn't work for matrices
   columns <- colnames(data)
   if (isTRUE(regex)) {
@@ -160,7 +171,7 @@
     colon_vars <- unlist(strsplit(x, ":", fixed = TRUE))
     colon_match <- match(colon_vars, columns)
     if (anyNA(colon_match)) {
-      .warn_not_found(colon_vars, columns, colon_match, verbose)
+      .action_if_not_found(colon_vars, columns, colon_match, verbose, ifnotfound)
       matches <- NA
     } else {
       start_pos <- match(colon_vars[1], columns)
@@ -180,26 +191,34 @@
     # find columns, case sensitive
     matches <- match(x, columns)
     if (anyNA(matches)) {
-      .warn_not_found(x, columns, matches, verbose)
+      .action_if_not_found(x, columns, matches, verbose, ifnotfound)
     }
     matches[!is.na(matches)]
   }
 }
 
 # small helper, to avoid duplicated code
-.warn_not_found <- function(x, columns, matches, verbose = TRUE) {
-  if (verbose) {
-    insight::format_warning(
-      paste0(
-        "Following variable(s) were not found: ",
-        toString(x[is.na(matches)])
-      ),
-      .misspelled_string(
-        columns,
-        x[is.na(matches)],
-        default_message = "Possibly misspelled?"
-      )
-    )
+.action_if_not_found <- function(
+  x,
+  columns,
+  matches,
+  verbose,
+  ifnotfound
+) {
+  msg <- paste0(
+    "Following variable(s) were not found: ",
+    toString(x[is.na(matches)])
+  )
+  msg2 <- .misspelled_string(
+    columns,
+    x[is.na(matches)],
+    default_message = "Possibly misspelled?"
+  )
+  if (ifnotfound == "error") {
+    insight::format_error(msg, msg2)
+  }
+  if (ifnotfound == "warn" && verbose) {
+    insight::format_warning(msg, msg2)
   }
 }
 
@@ -217,7 +236,7 @@
 # value but it errors because the function doesn't exist then it means that
 # it is a select helper that we grab from the error message.
 
-.select_symbol <- function(data, x, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_symbol <- function(data, x, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   try_eval <- try(eval(x), silent = TRUE)
   x_dep <- insight::safe_deparse(x)
   is_select_helper <- FALSE
@@ -300,54 +319,59 @@
 
 # Dispatch expressions to various select helpers according to the function call.
 
-.eval_call <- function(data, x, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.eval_call <- function(data, x, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   type <- insight::safe_deparse(x[[1]])
   switch(type,
-    `:` = .select_seq(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    `-` = .select_minus(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    `c` = .select_c(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose), # nolint
-    `(` = .select_bracket(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    `[` = .select_square_bracket(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    `$` = .select_dollar(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    `~` = .select_tilde(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    list = .select_list(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    names = .select_names(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
+    `:` = .select_seq(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
+    `-` = .select_minus(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
+    `c` = .select_c(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound), # nolint
+    `(` = .select_bracket(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
+    `[` = .select_square_bracket(
+      x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound
+    ),
+    `$` = .select_dollar(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
+    `~` = .select_tilde(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
+    list = .select_list(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
+    names = .select_names(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
     starts_with = ,
     ends_with = ,
     matches = ,
     contains = ,
-    regex = .select_helper(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose),
-    .select_context(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose)
+    regex = .select_helper(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound),
+    .select_context(x, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound)
   )
 }
 
 # e.g 1:3, or gear:cyl
-.select_seq <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_seq <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   x <- .eval_expr(
     expr[[2]],
     data = data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
   y <- .eval_expr(
     expr[[3]],
     data = data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
   x:y
 }
 
 # e.g -cyl
-.select_minus <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_minus <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   x <- .eval_expr(
     expr[[2]],
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
   if (length(x) == 0L) {
     seq_along(data)
@@ -357,7 +381,7 @@
 }
 
 # e.g c("gear", "cyl")
-.select_c <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_c <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   lst_expr <- as.list(expr)
   lst_expr[[1]] <- NULL
   unlist(lapply(
@@ -366,40 +390,44 @@
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   ), use.names = FALSE)
 }
 
 # e.g -(gear:cyl)
-.select_bracket <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_bracket <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   .eval_expr(
     expr[[2]],
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
 }
 
 # e.g myvector[3]
-.select_square_bracket <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_square_bracket <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   first_obj <- .eval_expr(
     expr[[2]],
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
   .eval_expr(
     first_obj[eval(expr[[3]])],
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
 }
 
-.select_names <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_names <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   first_obj <- .dynEval(expr, inherits = FALSE, minframe = 0L)
   .eval_expr(
     first_obj,
@@ -411,7 +439,7 @@
 }
 
 # e.g starts_with("Sep")
-.select_helper <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_helper <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   lst_expr <- as.list(expr)
 
   # need this if condition to distinguish between starts_with("Sep") (that we
@@ -435,7 +463,7 @@
 }
 
 # e.g args$select (happens when we use grouped_data (see center.grouped_df()))
-.select_dollar <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_dollar <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   first_obj <- .dynGet(expr[[2]], ifnotfound = NULL, inherits = FALSE, minframe = 0L)
   if (is.null(first_obj)) {
     first_obj <- .dynEval(expr[[2]], inherits = FALSE, minframe = 0L)
@@ -445,12 +473,13 @@
     data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   )
 }
 
 # e.g ~ gear + cyl
-.select_tilde <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_tilde <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   vars <- all.vars(expr)
   unlist(lapply(
     vars,
@@ -458,12 +487,13 @@
     data = data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   ), use.names = FALSE)
 }
 
 # e.g list(gear = 4, cyl = 5)
-.select_list <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_list <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   vars <- names(.dynEval(expr, inherits = FALSE, minframe = 0L))
   unlist(lapply(
     vars,
@@ -471,12 +501,13 @@
     data = data,
     ignore_case = ignore_case,
     regex = regex,
-    verbose = verbose
+    verbose = verbose,
+    ifnotfound = ifnotfound
   ), use.names = FALSE)
 }
 
 # e.g is.numeric()
-.select_context <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose) {
+.select_context <- function(expr, data, ignore_case, regex, verbose, ifnotfound) {
   x_dep <- insight::safe_deparse(expr)
   if (endsWith(x_dep, "()")) {
     new_expr <- gsub("\\(\\)$", "", x_dep)
@@ -486,7 +517,8 @@
       data = data,
       ignore_case = ignore_case,
       regex = regex,
-      verbose = verbose
+      verbose = verbose,
+      ifnotfound = ifnotfound
     )
   } else {
     out <- .dynEval(expr, inherits = FALSE, minframe = 0L)
@@ -495,7 +527,8 @@
       data = data,
       ignore_case = ignore_case,
       regex = regex,
-      verbose = verbose
+      verbose = verbose,
+      ifnotfound = ifnotfound
     )
   }
 }
diff --git a/R/text_format.R b/R/text_format.R
index 0fa75bcac..46cbf2ee0 100644
--- a/R/text_format.R
+++ b/R/text_format.R
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #' @param width Positive integer giving the target column width for wrapping
 #' lines in the output. Can be "auto", in which case it will select 90\% of the
 #' default width.
-#' @inheritParams data_rename
+#' @param pattern Regex pattern to remove from `text`.
 #' @param sep Separator.
 #' @param last Last separator.
 #' @param n The number of characters to find.
diff --git a/inst/WORDLIST b/inst/WORDLIST
index eda7dc71c..a8b4ff08d 100644
--- a/inst/WORDLIST
+++ b/inst/WORDLIST
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@ CMD
 Carle
 Catran
 Crosstables
-Dhaliwal
-Disaggregating
+DEPRECATIONS
 DOI
 De
-Dom
+Dhaliwal
+Disaggregating
 EFC
-Enders
 EUROFAMCARE
+Enders
 Fairbrother
 GLMM
 Gelman
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ Winsorizing
 al
 behaviour
 behaviours
-bmwiernik
 codebook
 codebooks
 coercible
@@ -77,7 +76,6 @@ joss
 labelled
 labelling
 leptokurtic
-lifecycle
 lm
 lme
 meaned
@@ -88,7 +86,6 @@ modelling
 nd
 panelr
 partialization
-patilindrajeets
 platykurtic
 poorman
 pre
@@ -102,7 +99,6 @@ recodes
 recoding
 recodings
 relevel
-rempsyc
 reproducibility
 rescale
 rescaled
@@ -111,7 +107,6 @@ rio
 rowid
 sd
 stackexchange
-strengejacke
 tailedness
 th
 tibble
diff --git a/man/categorize.Rd b/man/categorize.Rd
index 0fed929de..aaca6014c 100644
--- a/man/categorize.Rd
+++ b/man/categorize.Rd
@@ -244,8 +244,7 @@ categorize(mtcars$mpg, "equal_length", n_groups = 5, labels = "observed")
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_match.Rd b/man/data_match.Rd
index 0354a44f4..84ad56664 100644
--- a/man/data_match.Rd
+++ b/man/data_match.Rd
@@ -128,8 +128,7 @@ data_filter(mtcars, fl)
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_merge.Rd b/man/data_merge.Rd
index 169771b27..6876b06a1 100644
--- a/man/data_merge.Rd
+++ b/man/data_merge.Rd
@@ -190,8 +190,7 @@ data_merge(list(x, y, z), join = "bind", by = "id", id = "source")
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_partition.Rd b/man/data_partition.Rd
index 73eb28286..23015e1b3 100644
--- a/man/data_partition.Rd
+++ b/man/data_partition.Rd
@@ -68,8 +68,7 @@ lapply(out, function(i) table(i$Species))
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_prefix_suffix.Rd b/man/data_prefix_suffix.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..eab848058
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/data_prefix_suffix.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/data_addprefix.R
+\name{data_addprefix}
+\alias{data_addprefix}
+\alias{data_addsuffix}
+\title{Add a prefix or suffix to column names}
+\usage{
+data_addprefix(
+  data,
+  pattern,
+  select = NULL,
+  exclude = NULL,
+  ignore_case = FALSE,
+  regex = FALSE,
+  verbose = TRUE,
+  ...
+)
+
+data_addsuffix(
+  data,
+  pattern,
+  select = NULL,
+  exclude = NULL,
+  ignore_case = FALSE,
+  regex = FALSE,
+  verbose = TRUE,
+  ...
+)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{data}{A data frame.}
+
+\item{pattern}{A character string, which will be added as prefix or suffix
+to the column names.}
+
+\item{select}{Variables that will be included when performing the required
+tasks. Can be either
+\itemize{
+\item a variable specified as a literal variable name (e.g., \code{column_name}),
+\item a string with the variable name (e.g., \code{"column_name"}), a character
+vector of variable names (e.g., \code{c("col1", "col2", "col3")}), or a
+character vector of variable names including ranges specified via \code{:}
+(e.g., \code{c("col1:col3", "col5")}),
+\item a formula with variable names (e.g., \code{~column_1 + column_2}),
+\item a vector of positive integers, giving the positions counting from the left
+(e.g. \code{1} or \code{c(1, 3, 5)}),
+\item a vector of negative integers, giving the positions counting from the
+right (e.g., \code{-1} or \code{-1:-3}),
+\item one of the following select-helpers: \code{starts_with()}, \code{ends_with()},
+\code{contains()}, a range using \code{:}, or \code{regex()}. \code{starts_with()},
+\code{ends_with()}, and  \code{contains()} accept several patterns, e.g
+\code{starts_with("Sep", "Petal")}. \code{regex()} can be used to define regular
+expression patterns.
+\item a function testing for logical conditions, e.g. \code{is.numeric()} (or
+\code{is.numeric}), or any user-defined function that selects the variables
+for which the function returns \code{TRUE} (like: \code{foo <- function(x) mean(x) > 3}),
+\item ranges specified via literal variable names, select-helpers (except
+\code{regex()}) and (user-defined) functions can be negated, i.e. return
+non-matching elements, when prefixed with a \code{-}, e.g. \code{-ends_with()},
+\code{-is.numeric} or \code{-(Sepal.Width:Petal.Length)}. \strong{Note:} Negation means
+that matches are \emph{excluded}, and thus, the \code{exclude} argument can be
+used alternatively. For instance, \code{select=-ends_with("Length")} (with
+\code{-}) is equivalent to \code{exclude=ends_with("Length")} (no \code{-}). In case
+negation should not work as expected, use the \code{exclude} argument instead.
+}
+
+If \code{NULL}, selects all columns. Patterns that found no matches are silently
+ignored, e.g. \code{extract_column_names(iris, select = c("Species", "Test"))}
+will just return \code{"Species"}.}
+
+\item{exclude}{See \code{select}, however, column names matched by the pattern
+from \code{exclude} will be excluded instead of selected. If \code{NULL} (the default),
+excludes no columns.}
+
+\item{ignore_case}{Logical, if \code{TRUE} and when one of the select-helpers or
+a regular expression is used in \code{select}, ignores lower/upper case in the
+search pattern when matching against variable names.}
+
+\item{regex}{Logical, if \code{TRUE}, the search pattern from \code{select} will be
+treated as regular expression. When \code{regex = TRUE}, select \emph{must} be a
+character string (or a variable containing a character string) and is not
+allowed to be one of the supported select-helpers or a character vector
+of length > 1. \code{regex = TRUE} is comparable to using one of the two
+select-helpers, \code{select = contains()} or \code{select = regex()}, however,
+since the select-helpers may not work when called from inside other
+functions (see 'Details'), this argument may be used as workaround.}
+
+\item{verbose}{Toggle warnings.}
+
+\item{...}{Other arguments passed to or from other functions.}
+}
+\description{
+Add a prefix or suffix to column names
+}
+\examples{
+# Add prefix / suffix to all columns
+head(data_addprefix(iris, "NEW_"))
+head(data_addsuffix(iris, "_OLD"))
+
+}
+\seealso{
+\code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}} for more fine-grained column renaming.
+}
diff --git a/man/data_relocate.Rd b/man/data_relocate.Rd
index 5991691cb..a1227dcfa 100644
--- a/man/data_relocate.Rd
+++ b/man/data_relocate.Rd
@@ -135,8 +135,7 @@ head(data_remove(iris, starts_with("Sepal")))
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_rename.Rd b/man/data_rename.Rd
index 3fea0fac4..8d99fb54f 100644
--- a/man/data_rename.Rd
+++ b/man/data_rename.Rd
@@ -1,40 +1,17 @@
 % Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
-% Please edit documentation in R/data_addprefix.R, R/data_rename.R
-\name{data_addprefix}
-\alias{data_addprefix}
-\alias{data_addsuffix}
+% Please edit documentation in R/data_rename.R
+\name{data_rename}
 \alias{data_rename}
 \alias{data_rename_rows}
 \title{Rename columns and variable names}
 \usage{
-data_addprefix(
-  data,
-  pattern,
-  select = NULL,
-  exclude = NULL,
-  ignore_case = FALSE,
-  regex = FALSE,
-  verbose = TRUE,
-  ...
-)
-
-data_addsuffix(
-  data,
-  pattern,
-  select = NULL,
-  exclude = NULL,
-  ignore_case = FALSE,
-  regex = FALSE,
-  verbose = TRUE,
-  ...
-)
-
 data_rename(
   data,
-  pattern = NULL,
+  select = NULL,
   replacement = NULL,
   safe = TRUE,
   verbose = TRUE,
+  pattern = NULL,
   ...
 )
 
@@ -43,18 +20,6 @@ data_rename_rows(data, rows = NULL)
 \arguments{
 \item{data}{A data frame, or an object that can be coerced to a data frame.}
 
-\item{pattern}{Character vector.
-\itemize{
-\item For \code{data_addprefix()} or \code{data_addsuffix()}, a character string, which
-will be added as prefix or suffix to the column names.
-\item For \code{data_rename()}, indicates columns that should be selected for
-renaming. Can be \code{NULL} (in which case all columns are selected).
-\code{pattern} can also be a named vector. In this case, names are used as
-values for the \code{replacement} argument (i.e. \code{pattern} can be a character
-vector using \verb{<new name> = "<old name>"} and argument \code{replacement} will
-be ignored then).
-}}
-
 \item{select}{Variables that will be included when performing the required
 tasks. Can be either
 \itemize{
@@ -90,41 +55,21 @@ If \code{NULL}, selects all columns. Patterns that found no matches are silently
 ignored, e.g. \code{extract_column_names(iris, select = c("Species", "Test"))}
 will just return \code{"Species"}.}
 
-\item{exclude}{See \code{select}, however, column names matched by the pattern
-from \code{exclude} will be excluded instead of selected. If \code{NULL} (the default),
-excludes no columns.}
-
-\item{ignore_case}{Logical, if \code{TRUE} and when one of the select-helpers or
-a regular expression is used in \code{select}, ignores lower/upper case in the
-search pattern when matching against variable names.}
-
-\item{regex}{Logical, if \code{TRUE}, the search pattern from \code{select} will be
-treated as regular expression. When \code{regex = TRUE}, select \emph{must} be a
-character string (or a variable containing a character string) and is not
-allowed to be one of the supported select-helpers or a character vector
-of length > 1. \code{regex = TRUE} is comparable to using one of the two
-select-helpers, \code{select = contains()} or \code{select = regex()}, however,
-since the select-helpers may not work when called from inside other
-functions (see 'Details'), this argument may be used as workaround.}
-
-\item{verbose}{Toggle warnings and messages.}
-
-\item{...}{Other arguments passed to or from other functions.}
-
 \item{replacement}{Character vector. Can be one of the following:
 \itemize{
 \item A character vector that indicates the new names of the columns selected
-in \code{pattern}. \code{pattern} and \code{replacement} must be of the same length.
-\item \code{NULL}, in which case columns are numbered in sequential order.
-\item A string (i.e. character vector of length 1) with a "glue" styled pattern.
-Currently supported tokens are:
+in \code{select}. \code{select} and \code{replacement} must be of the same length.
+\item A string (i.e. character vector of length 1) with a "glue" styled
+pattern. Currently supported tokens are:
 \itemize{
 \item \code{{col}} which will be replaced by the column name, i.e. the
-corresponding value in \code{pattern}.
+corresponding value in \code{select}.
 \item \code{{n}} will be replaced by the number of the variable that is replaced.
-\item \code{{letter}} will be replaced by alphabetical letters in sequential order.
+\item \code{{letter}} will be replaced by alphabetical letters in sequential
+order.
 If more than 26 letters are required, letters are repeated, but have
-sequential numeric indices (e.g., \code{a1} to \code{z1}, followed by \code{a2} to \code{z2}).
+sequential numeric indices (e.g., \code{a1} to \code{z1}, followed by \code{a2} to
+\code{z2}).
 \item Finally, the name of a user-defined object that is available in the
 environment can be used. Note that the object's name is not allowed to
 be one of the pre-defined tokens, \code{"col"}, \code{"n"} and \code{"letter"}.
@@ -134,7 +79,7 @@ An example for the use of tokens is...
 
 \if{html}{\out{<div class="sourceCode r">}}\preformatted{data_rename(
   mtcars,
-  pattern = c("am", "vs"),
+  select = c("am", "vs"),
   replacement = "new_name_from_\{col\}"
 )
 }\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
@@ -143,10 +88,15 @@ An example for the use of tokens is...
 \code{new_name_from_vs}. See 'Examples'.
 }
 
-If \code{pattern} is a named vector, \code{replacement} is ignored.}
+If \code{select} is a named vector, \code{replacement} is ignored.}
 
-\item{safe}{Do not throw error if for instance the variable to be
-renamed/removed doesn't exist.}
+\item{safe}{Deprecated. Passing unknown column names now always errors.}
+
+\item{verbose}{Toggle warnings.}
+
+\item{pattern}{Deprecated. Use \code{select} instead.}
+
+\item{...}{Other arguments passed to or from other functions.}
 
 \item{rows}{Vector of row names.}
 }
@@ -156,29 +106,22 @@ A modified data frame.
 \description{
 Safe and intuitive functions to rename variables or rows in
 data frames. \code{data_rename()} will rename column names, i.e. it facilitates
-renaming variables \code{data_addprefix()} or \code{data_addsuffix()} add prefixes
-or suffixes to column names. \code{data_rename_rows()} is a convenient shortcut
+renaming variables. \code{data_rename_rows()} is a convenient shortcut
 to add or rename row names of a data frame, but unlike \code{row.names()}, its
-input and output is a data frame, thus, integrating smoothly into a possible
-pipe-workflow.
+input and output is a data frame, thus, integrating smoothly into a
+possible pipe-workflow.
+}
+\details{
+\code{select} can also be a named character vector. In this case, the names are
+used to rename the columns in the output data frame. See 'Examples'.
 }
 \examples{
-# Add prefix / suffix to all columns
-head(data_addprefix(iris, "NEW_"))
-head(data_addsuffix(iris, "_OLD"))
-
 # Rename columns
 head(data_rename(iris, "Sepal.Length", "length"))
-# data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", safe=FALSE)  # This fails
-head(data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length")) # This doesn't
-head(data_rename(iris, c("Sepal.Length", "Sepal.Width"), c("length", "width")))
 
 # use named vector to rename
 head(data_rename(iris, c(length = "Sepal.Length", width = "Sepal.Width")))
 
-# Reset names
-head(data_rename(iris, NULL))
-
 # Change all
 head(data_rename(iris, replacement = paste0("Var", 1:5)))
 
@@ -193,8 +136,7 @@ head(data_rename(mtcars[1:3], c("mpg", "cyl", "disp"), "col_{x}"))
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_rotate.Rd b/man/data_rotate.Rd
index 25ba9a82b..6967a069a 100644
--- a/man/data_rotate.Rd
+++ b/man/data_rotate.Rd
@@ -52,8 +52,7 @@ data_rotate(x, colnames = "c")
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_to_long.Rd b/man/data_to_long.Rd
index 3e587c049..36a474b83 100644
--- a/man/data_to_long.Rd
+++ b/man/data_to_long.Rd
@@ -223,8 +223,7 @@ head(even_longer_data)
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/data_to_wide.Rd b/man/data_to_wide.Rd
index 3690eed53..62dc14f8d 100644
--- a/man/data_to_wide.Rd
+++ b/man/data_to_wide.Rd
@@ -208,8 +208,7 @@ data_to_wide(
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/extract_column_names.Rd b/man/extract_column_names.Rd
index fe334e22f..d74d092c0 100644
--- a/man/extract_column_names.Rd
+++ b/man/extract_column_names.Rd
@@ -179,8 +179,7 @@ head(data_select(mtcars, c(`Miles per Gallon` = "mpg", Cylinders = "cyl")))
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/recode_values.Rd b/man/recode_values.Rd
index 11f9cfadc..d738093cb 100644
--- a/man/recode_values.Rd
+++ b/man/recode_values.Rd
@@ -279,8 +279,7 @@ options(data_recode_pattern = NULL)
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/rescale.Rd b/man/rescale.Rd
index 8d6025a8d..f163a6e8c 100644
--- a/man/rescale.Rd
+++ b/man/rescale.Rd
@@ -132,6 +132,10 @@ A rescaled object.
 Rescale variables to a new range. Can also be used to reverse-score variables
 (change the keying/scoring direction), or to expand a range.
 }
+\details{
+\code{select} can also be a named character vector. In this case, the names are
+used to rename the columns in the output data frame. See 'Examples'.
+}
 \section{Selection of variables - the \code{select} argument}{
 
 For most functions that have a \code{select} argument (including this function),
diff --git a/man/slide.Rd b/man/slide.Rd
index d68f7e30a..c350ab7e4 100644
--- a/man/slide.Rd
+++ b/man/slide.Rd
@@ -124,8 +124,7 @@ sapply(mtcars, min)
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/man/text_format.Rd b/man/text_format.Rd
index 16c76e67c..082e3cbe1 100644
--- a/man/text_format.Rd
+++ b/man/text_format.Rd
@@ -50,17 +50,7 @@ text elements will not be enclosed.}
 
 \item{n}{The number of characters to find.}
 
-\item{pattern}{Character vector.
-\itemize{
-\item For \code{data_addprefix()} or \code{data_addsuffix()}, a character string, which
-will be added as prefix or suffix to the column names.
-\item For \code{data_rename()}, indicates columns that should be selected for
-renaming. Can be \code{NULL} (in which case all columns are selected).
-\code{pattern} can also be a named vector. In this case, names are used as
-values for the \code{replacement} argument (i.e. \code{pattern} can be a character
-vector using \verb{<new name> = "<old name>"} and argument \code{replacement} will
-be ignored then).
-}}
+\item{pattern}{Regex pattern to remove from \code{text}.}
 }
 \value{
 A character string.
diff --git a/man/winsorize.Rd b/man/winsorize.Rd
index 15fa6af9b..fd9e38c64 100644
--- a/man/winsorize.Rd
+++ b/man/winsorize.Rd
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@ winsorize(iris, threshold = 0.2)
 }
 \seealso{
 \itemize{
-\item Functions to rename stuff: \code{\link[=data_rename]{data_rename()}}, \code{\link[=data_rename_rows]{data_rename_rows()}},
-\code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
+\item Add a prefix or suffix to column names: \code{\link[=data_addprefix]{data_addprefix()}}, \code{\link[=data_addsuffix]{data_addsuffix()}}
 \item Functions to reorder or remove columns: \code{\link[=data_reorder]{data_reorder()}}, \code{\link[=data_relocate]{data_relocate()}},
 \code{\link[=data_remove]{data_remove()}}
 \item Functions to reshape, pivot or rotate data frames: \code{\link[=data_to_long]{data_to_long()}},
diff --git a/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yaml b/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yaml
index 31ec901d0..01b701f03 100644
--- a/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yaml
+++ b/pkgdown/_pkgdown.yaml
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ reference:
       Primarily useful in the context of other 'easystats' packages
     contents:
       - reshape_ci
+      - data_rename
       - data_addprefix
       - remove_empty
       - contains("rownames")
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-attributes.R b/tests/testthat/test-attributes.R
index ebd26de99..df1ec0302 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-attributes.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-attributes.R
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ test_that("convert_to_na, attributes preserved", {
 test_that("data_rename, attributes preserved", {
   x <- mtcars
   attr(x, "myattri") <- "I'm here"
-  x2 <- data_rename(x, pattern = "hp", replacement = "horsepower")
+  x2 <- data_rename(x, select = "hp", replacement = "horsepower")
   expect_identical(attr(x2, "myattri", exact = TRUE), "I'm here")
 })
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R b/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R
index 79f4427b3..3495a3355 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-data_rename.R
@@ -20,31 +20,34 @@ test_that("data_rename works with one or several replacements", {
   )
 })
 
+test_that("data_rename cannot have a partially named vector", {
+  expect_error(
+    data_rename(test, c(length = "Sepal.Length", "Sepal.Width")),
+    "all elements must"
+  )
+})
+
 test_that("data_rename returns a data frame", {
   x <- data_rename(test, "Sepal.Length", "length")
   expect_s3_class(x, "data.frame")
 })
 
-test_that("data_rename: pattern must be of type character", {
-  expect_error(
-    data_rename(test, pattern = 1),
-    regexp = "Argument `pattern` must be of type character"
+test_that("data_rename: multiple selection types", {
+  expect_named(
+    data_rename(test, select = 1, "foo"),
+    c("foo", names(iris)[2:5])
   )
-  expect_error(
-    data_rename(test, pattern = TRUE),
-    regexp = "Argument `pattern` must be of type character"
+  expect_named(
+    data_rename(test, select = regex("tal"), c("foo1", "foo2")),
+    c("Sepal.Length", "Sepal.Width", "foo1", "foo2", "Species")
   )
 })
 
 test_that("data_rename: replacement not allowed to have NA or empty strings", {
-  expect_error(
-    data_rename(test, pattern = c(test = "Species", "Sepal.Length")),
-    regexp = "Either name all elements of `pattern`"
-  )
   expect_error(
     data_rename(
       test,
-      pattern = c("Species", "Sepal.Length"),
+      select = c("Species", "Sepal.Length"),
       replacement = c("foo", NA_character_)
     ),
     regexp = "`replacement` is not allowed"
@@ -53,78 +56,62 @@ test_that("data_rename: replacement not allowed to have NA or empty strings", {
 
 # replacement -------------
 
-test_that("data_rename uses indices when no replacement", {
-  x <- data_rename(test, pattern = c("Sepal.Length", "Petal.Length"))
-  expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x))
-  expect_named(x, c("1", "Sepal.Width", "2", "Petal.Width", "Species"))
+test_that("data_rename errors when no replacement", {
+  expect_error(
+    data_rename(test, select = c("Sepal.Length", "Petal.Length")),
+    "There are more names in `select` than in `replacement`"
+  )
 })
 
-test_that("data_rename works when too many names in 'replacement'", {
-  expect_message(
-    {
-      x <- data_rename(test, replacement = paste0("foo", 1:6))
-    },
-    "There are more names in"
+test_that("data_rename errors when too many names in 'replacement'", {
+  expect_error(
+    data_rename(test, replacement = paste0("foo", 1:6)),
+    "There are more names in `replacement` than in `select`"
   )
-  expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x))
-  expect_named(x, paste0("foo", 1:5))
 })
 
 test_that("data_rename works when not enough names in 'replacement'", {
-  expect_message(
-    {
-      x <- data_rename(test, replacement = paste0("foo", 1:2))
-    },
-    "There are more names in"
+  expect_error(
+    data_rename(test, replacement = paste0("foo", 1:2)),
+    "There are more names in `select` than in `replacement`"
   )
-  expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x))
-  expect_named(x, c("foo1", "foo2", "Petal.Length", "Petal.Width", "Species"))
 })
 
 
-# no pattern --------------
-
-test_that("data_rename uses the whole dataset when pattern = NULL", {
-  x1 <- data_rename(test)
-  x2 <- data_rename(test, pattern = names(test))
-  expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x1))
-  expect_identical(x1, x2)
+# no select --------------
 
-  x3 <- data_rename(test, replacement = paste0("foo", 1:5))
-  x4 <- data_rename(test, pattern = names(test), replacement = paste0("foo", 1:5))
-  expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x3))
-  expect_identical(x3, x4)
+test_that("data_rename errors when select = NULL", {
+  expect_error(
+    data_rename(test),
+    "more names in `select`"
+  )
 })
 
 
 # other --------------
 
-test_that("data_rename: argument 'safe' works", {
-  expect_message(
-    data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", safe = TRUE),
-    "Variable `FakeCol` is not in your data frame"
+test_that("data_rename: argument 'safe' is deprecated", {
+  expect_error(
+    data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", verbose = FALSE),
+    "were not found"
   )
   expect_error(
-    data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", safe = FALSE),
-    "Variable `FakeCol` is not in your data frame"
+    expect_warning(
+      data_rename(iris, "FakeCol", "length", safe = FALSE, verbose = FALSE),
+      "used"
+    )
   )
 })
 
 test_that("data_rename deals correctly with duplicated replacement", {
   x <- data_rename(test,
-    pattern = names(test)[1:4],
+    select = names(test)[1:4],
     replacement = c("foo", "bar", "foo", "bar")
   )
   expect_identical(dim(test), dim(x))
   expect_named(x[1:4], c("foo", "bar", "foo.2", "bar.2"))
 })
 
-test_that("data_rename doesn't change colname if invalid pattern", {
-  x <- suppressMessages(data_rename(test, "FakeCol", "length"))
-  expect_named(x, names(test))
-})
-
-
 
 # preserve attributes --------------------------
 
@@ -142,7 +129,7 @@ test_that("data_rename preserves attributes", {
 })
 
 
-# glue-styled pattern --------------------------
+# glue-styled select --------------------------
 
 test_that("data_rename glue-style", {
   data(mtcars)
@@ -226,3 +213,11 @@ withr::with_environment(
     )
   })
 )
+
+test_that("Argument `pattern` is deprecated", {
+  expect_warning(
+    head(data_rename(iris, pattern = "Sepal.Length", "length")),
+    "Argument `pattern` is deprecated. Please use `select` instead.",
+    fixed = TRUE
+  )
+})
diff --git a/vignettes/tidyverse_translation.Rmd b/vignettes/tidyverse_translation.Rmd
index ae4b339b3..a7e5225fc 100644
--- a/vignettes/tidyverse_translation.Rmd
+++ b/vignettes/tidyverse_translation.Rmd
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ a vector of new names for these columns that must be of the same length.
 # ---------- datawizard -----------
 starwars |>
   data_rename(
-    pattern = c("sex", "hair_color"),
+    select = c("sex", "hair_color"),
     replacement = c("Sex", "Hair Color")
   )
 ```
@@ -547,7 +547,7 @@ to_rename <- names(starwars)
 
 starwars |>
   data_rename(
-    pattern = to_rename,
+    select = to_rename,
     replacement = tools::toTitleCase(gsub("_", " ", to_rename, fixed = TRUE))
   )
 ```