How can I change the name of a single row in a `data.frame` in R?

Question

For example, in the mtcars dataset, how do I rename the row Merc 280 and call it Some Mercedes?

All other posts seem to answer how to replace all row names at once.

Answer 1

You could subset the rownames of mtcars and then update

df <- mtcars
rownames(df)[rownames(df) == "Merc 280"] <- "Some Mercedes"

df
#                     mpg cyl  disp  hp drat    wt  qsec vs am gear carb
#Mazda RX4           21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.620 16.46  0  1    4    4
#Mazda RX4 Wag       21.0   6 160.0 110 3.90 2.875 17.02  0  1    4    4
#Datsun 710          22.8   4 108.0  93 3.85 2.320 18.61  1  1    4    1
#Hornet 4 Drive      21.4   6 258.0 110 3.08 3.215 19.44  1  0    3    1
#Hornet Sportabout   18.7   8 360.0 175 3.15 3.440 17.02  0  0    3    2
#Valiant             18.1   6 225.0 105 2.76 3.460 20.22  1  0    3    1
#Duster 360          14.3   8 360.0 245 3.21 3.570 15.84  0  0    3    4
#Merc 240D           24.4   4 146.7  62 3.69 3.190 20.00  1  0    4    2
#Merc 230            22.8   4 140.8  95 3.92 3.150 22.90  1  0    4    2
#Some Mercedes       19.2   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.30  1  0    4    4
#Merc 280C           17.8   6 167.6 123 3.92 3.440 18.90  1  0    4    4
#.....