Use a known date, a short event label, and a sequence number. Put uncertain information in an index so it stays easy to correct.
Rename ten copies first
Copy a small group into a practice folder. For a known picnic date, start with 2024-08-03-lake-picnic-001.jpg and count up. Preserve the existing file extension. If only the year is known, try 1994-school-concert-001.jpg. Use undated-school-concert-001.jpg when the year is also uncertain.
Choose terms people would search
School concert gives a relative a better clue than IMG_0037. Keep the original camera name in the index during the trial if you may need to match it to an older backup. For files you plan to share, consider keeping individual names in a private index.
Check retrieval and backups
Sort by name and check that the pictures appear in sequence. Search for concert and check that the intended set appears. Open several renamed files and compare them with the originals. Keep copies in separate locations and try opening a file from a backup.
Try a lookup
Ask someone to find the third picnic photo by event. If they struggle, would a better label, a narrower folder, or a short index help most?
Write down your naming rules
A short note can keep a collection consistent when two people rename files. Agree to use dates in year-month-day order when known, lowercase event labels, and three digits for sequence numbers. Give one example for a complete date and one for an unknown date. Keep this note with the collection so someone can extend the pattern next year.
Handle photos from two cameras
Suppose you have six picnic photos from one camera and four from another. Sort the copies by capture time if the clocks were set correctly, or arrange them in an order you can explain. Number all ten within the event. A sequence number gives each filename room to be distinct even when two cameras started with the same original name.
Make the archive work for someone else
Create a small index with columns for new filename, original filename, and what is known about the date. If someone searches for lake and gets three different events, the dates and index can help them choose the right folder. Test this before tackling the entire collection. Renaming ten copies is a small job. Revisiting hundreds of files because a label was ambiguous takes much longer.
