Change the attribute name of a column in ArcGIS

ArcGIS is a very useful and powerful programme, but sometimes its so complex that to do a very simple thing can become a nightmare. Today I wanted to change the attribute name of the columns of the attribute table in ArcMap because after messing around with a shapefile I had ended up with some funny names. The problem came when I tried to do it and I realised I didn't know how to change the name of the attribute. I thought that by clicking it or just right clicking I would be able to adapt the headings to my desired option. But I was wrong. I went nuts trying many options, exporting the table and open it in Excel, open it with a text editor, using SPSS,... I even downloaded the program DBF Manager to change it, but it was useless. It has been then when I have discovered how to do it.

It is very simple, you just have to go to properties in the layer menu (right click the layer name to access it):

And then go to the Field tag. You will only be able to change the alias of the table, but it should be enough because is what you see in the attribute table.

In my discharge I shall say I had found that menu at first, but when I tried to change the name, not the alias, so I thought it didn't work that way. This has been tested in ArcGIS 9.1 and 9.2