diff --git a/docs/python-api.rst b/docs/python-api.rst
index ebfc203..35023d5 100644
--- a/docs/python-api.rst
+++ b/docs/python-api.rst
@@ -1136,6 +1136,27 @@ This produces the following schema:
         [LatinName] TEXT
     )
 
+You can use the ``rename=`` argument to rename columns in the lookup table. To create a ``Species`` table with columns called ``name`` and ``latin`` you can do this:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    db["Trees"].extract(
+        ["CommonName", "LatinName"],
+        table="Species",
+        fk_column="species_id",
+        rename={"CommonName": "name", "LatinName": "latin"}
+    )
+
+This produces a lookup table like so:
+
+.. code-block:: sql
+
+    CREATE TABLE [Species] (
+        [id] INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
+        [name] TEXT,
+        [latin] TEXT
+    )
+
 .. _python_api_hash:
 
 Setting an ID based on the hash of the row contents
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/db.py b/sqlite_utils/db.py
index 846f97d..33af372 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/db.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/db.py
@@ -883,7 +883,8 @@ class Table(Queryable):
 
         return sqls
 
-    def extract(self, columns, table=None, fk_column=None):
+    def extract(self, columns, table=None, fk_column=None, rename=None):
+        rename = rename or {}
         if isinstance(columns, str):
             columns = [columns]
         if not set(columns).issubset(self.columns_dict.keys()):
@@ -898,7 +899,7 @@ class Table(Queryable):
         lookup_table = self.db[table]
         for row in self.rows:
             row_pks = tuple(row[pk] for pk in pks)
-            lookups = {column: row[column] for column in columns}
+            lookups = {rename.get(column) or column: row[column] for column in columns}
             self.update(row_pks, {first_column: lookup_table.lookup(lookups)})
         fk_column = fk_column or "{}_id".format(table)
         # Now rename first_column and change its type to integer, and drop
diff --git a/tests/test_extract.py b/tests/test_extract.py
index 31b6d3e..4855441 100644
--- a/tests/test_extract.py
+++ b/tests/test_extract.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def test_extract_single_column(fresh_db, table, fk_column):
     ]
 
 
-def test_extract_multiple_columns(fresh_db):
+def test_extract_multiple_columns_with_rename(fresh_db):
     iter_common = itertools.cycle(["Palm", "Spruce", "Mangrove", "Oak"])
     iter_latin = itertools.cycle(["Arecaceae", "Picea", "Rhizophora", "Quercus"])
     fresh_db["tree"].insert_all(
@@ -61,7 +61,9 @@ def test_extract_multiple_columns(fresh_db):
         pk="id",
     )
 
-    fresh_db["tree"].extract(["common_name", "latin_name"])
+    fresh_db["tree"].extract(["common_name", "latin_name"], rename={
+        "common_name": "name"
+    })
     assert fresh_db["tree"].schema == (
         'CREATE TABLE "tree" (\n'
         "   [id] INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,\n"
@@ -73,15 +75,15 @@ def test_extract_multiple_columns(fresh_db):
     assert fresh_db["common_name_latin_name"].schema == (
         "CREATE TABLE [common_name_latin_name] (\n"
         "   [id] INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,\n"
-        "   [common_name] TEXT,\n"
+        "   [name] TEXT,\n"
         "   [latin_name] TEXT\n"
         ")"
     )
     assert list(fresh_db["common_name_latin_name"].rows) == [
-        {"common_name": "Palm", "id": 1, "latin_name": "Arecaceae"},
-        {"common_name": "Spruce", "id": 2, "latin_name": "Picea"},
-        {"common_name": "Mangrove", "id": 3, "latin_name": "Rhizophora"},
-        {"common_name": "Oak", "id": 4, "latin_name": "Quercus"},
+        {"name": "Palm", "id": 1, "latin_name": "Arecaceae"},
+        {"name": "Spruce", "id": 2, "latin_name": "Picea"},
+        {"name": "Mangrove", "id": 3, "latin_name": "Rhizophora"},
+        {"name": "Oak", "id": 4, "latin_name": "Quercus"},
     ]
     assert list(itertools.islice(fresh_db["tree"].rows, 0, 4)) == [
         {"id": 1, "name": "Tree 1", "common_name_latin_name_id": 1},