from pandas import Series import pandas as pd import numpy as np data=pd.DataFrame({ "food":["bacon", "pulled pork", "bacon", "Pastrami", "corned beef", "Bacon", "pastrami", "honey ham", "nova lox"], "ounces":[4,3,12,6,7.5,8,3,5,6] }) meat_to_animal={"bacon":"pig", "pulled pork":"pig", "pastrami":"cow", "corned beef":"cow", "honey ham":"pig", "nova lox":"salmon"} data["animal"]=data["food"].map(str.lower).map(meat_to_animal) #data["animal"]=data["food"].map(lambda x:meat_to_animal[x.lower()]) print(data)