I have a django project with a database table that already contains data.  I&#39;d like to change the field name without losing any of the data in that column.  My original plan was to simply change the model field name in a way that would not actually alter the name of the db table (using the `db_column` column parameter):

The original model:

    class Foo(models.Model):
      orig_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)

The new model:
  
    class Foo(models.Model):
      name = models.CharField(max_length=50, db_column=&#39;orig_name&#39;)

But, running South&#39;s `schemamigration --auto` produces a migration script that deletes the original column, `orig_name`, and adds a new column, `name`, which would have the unwanted side effect of deleting the data in that column.   (I&#39;m also confused as to why South wants to change the name of the column in the db, since my understanding of db_column was that it enables a change to the model field name without changing the name of the database table column).  

If I can&#39;t get away with changing the model field without changing the db field, I guess I could do a more straight forward name change like so:

The original model:

    class Foo(models.Model):
      orig_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)

The new model:
  
    class Foo(models.Model):
      name = models.CharField(max_length=50)

Regardless of which strategy I end up using (I would prefer the first, but would find the second acceptable), my primary concern is ensuring that I don&#39;t lose the data that is already in that column.  

Does this require a multi-step process?  (such as 1. adding a column, 2. migrating the data from the old column to the new column, and 3. removing the original column)
Or can I alter the migration script with something like `db.alter_column`?

What is the best way to preserve the data in that column while changing the column&#39;s name? 



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migrating django-model field-name change without losing data