DATENAME()

This function returns a character string representing the specified *datepart* of the specified *date*.

Signature

DATENAME ( datepart , date )

Parameters

  • datepart — The specific part of the *date* argument that `DATENAME` will return. This table lists all valid *datepart* arguments.
  • date — An expression that can resolve to one of the following data types:

Examples

SELECT DATENAME(year, '12:10:30.123')  
    ,DATENAME(month, '12:10:30.123')  
    ,DATENAME(day, '12:10:30.123')  
    ,DATENAME(dayofyear, '12:10:30.123')  
    ,DATENAME(weekday, '12:10:30.123');
1900|January|1|1|Monday

Run against SQL Server 16.0.4265.3 on 2026-09-13. This is the output we got, not the documentation’s.

Available on

  • SQL Server 2017 and later
  • Azure SQL Database
  • Azure SQL Managed Instance
  • Azure Synapse Analytics
  • Analytics Platform System (PDW)
  • Fabric SQL database

Signature and description adapted from the Microsoft SQL documentation, used under the CC BY 4.0. SQL Server and Azure are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. This page is not affiliated with Microsoft.