Change name of element names in loop through lists

Question

Is there a way to change the names of the elements of multiple lists in a loop:

a <- list(1, 2)
b <- list(3, 4)
for (my.list in c("a", "b") {
  names(my.list) <- c("element1", "element2")
}

In my own words, I would say the problem is, that the variable my.list needs to be evaluated to the name of the list. Therefore, I tried assign(names(my.list) <- ... as well as names(as.name(my.list)) <- ... , but to no success.

Answer 1

Try this:

a <- list(1, 2)
b <- list(3, 4)

for (my.list in c("a", "b")) {
  x <- get(my.list)
  names(x) <- c("element1", "element2")
  assign(my.list, x)
}

Answer 2

We could also use the names<- to assign

for(my.list in c("a", "b")) {
  assign(my.list, `names<-`(get(my.list), c("element1", "element2")))
}

a
#$element1
#[1] 1

#$element2
#[1] 2

b
#$element1
#[1] 3

#$element2
#[1] 4