# How to Get Day Names in PostgreSQL

> To extract the day name from a specific date, you need to pass the date/timestamp as a first argument and a valid day format as the second argument to the “TO_…

In PostgreSQL, the **EXTRACT()** function is used to get a day, month, year, etc., from a DATE, TIME, or TIMESTAMP. We can use this function to get/extract the day from the specified date or time stamp. However, it retrieves the specific part/field from the specified date as a number. If we have to get/extract the day names from a specific date, then we must use the **TO_CHAR()** function.

This post demonstrates a practical guide on how to get or extract the day of the week from a specific date.

 **How to Extract Day Names in Postgres?**

To extract the day name from a specific date, you need to pass the date/timestamp as a first argument and a valid day format as the second argument to the “ **TO_CHAR()** ” function:
    
    
    SELECT TO_CHAR(DATE  'specific_date', 'day-format');

Postgres supports the below-listed day formats:

  * “ **DAY”** : It retrieves the full day name in uppercase, for instance, “MONDAY”.
  * “ **day** ”: It retrieves the full day name in lowercase, for instance, “monday”.
  * “ **DY** ”: It retrieves the first three letters of the day's name in uppercase, for instance, “MON”.
  * “ **dy** ”: It retrieves the first three letters of the day's name in lowercase, for instance, “mon”.



 **Example 1: How to Get the Day of Week in Uppercase?**

Suppose we want to extract the day of the week from the current date; for this, we will execute the TO_CHAR() function as follows:
    
    
    SELECT TO_CHAR(CURRENT_DATE, 'DAY');

The output demonstrates that the current day of the week is Monday.

 **Example 2: How to Get the Day of Week in Lowercase?**

Suppose we want to get the day of the week(lowercase) from a specific date; for this, we will execute the TO_CHAR() function as follows:
    
    
    SELECT TO_CHAR(DATE '2022-12-14', 'DAY');

The TO_CHAR() function retrieves the day of the week in lowercase.

 **Example 3: How to Get the Abbreviated Day of Week in Uppercase?**

To get the first three letters of the day’s name in uppercase from a specific date, you need to execute the TO_CHAR() function as follows:
    
    
    SELECT TO_CHAR(DATE '2022-12-14', 'DY');

The TO_CHAR() function retrieves the abbreviated day of the week in uppercase.

 **Example 4: How to Get the Abbreviated Day of Week in Lowercase?**

To extract the abbreviated day of the week in lowercase, pass the “dy” format as the second argument to the TO_CHAR() function:
    
    
    SELECT TO_CHAR(DATE '2022-12-14', 'dy');

The TO_CHAR() function retrieves the abbreviated day of the week in lowercase.

 **Example 5: How to Get the Day of Week From Table’s Data?**

A sample table named “staff_info” has already been created with the following content:
    
    
    SELECT * FROM staff_info;

Let’s execute the TO_CHAR() function to get the day names from the “joining_date” column:
    
    
    SELECT staff_name, TO_CHAR(joining_date, ‘DAY’) AS joining_day
    FROM staff_info;

This is how you can get/extract the name of the weekdays from a specific date or timestamp.

 **Conclusion**

In PostgreSQL, the TO_CHAR() function is used to extract the day’s name from a specific date or timestamp. For this purpose, you must pass the date/timestamp as the first argument and a valid day format as the second argument to the “ **TO_CHAR()** ” function. Postgres offers various formats to get the day names, such as “DAY”, “DY”, “day”, and “dy”. This post demonstrates various examples of how to get day names in Postgres.

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