diff --git a/src/Particle/ParticleContainer.H b/src/Particle/ParticleContainer.H
index ef103d3e..bf952190 100644
--- a/src/Particle/ParticleContainer.H
+++ b/src/Particle/ParticleContainer.H
@@ -224,6 +224,15 @@ void make_ParticleContainer_and_Iterators (py::module &m, std::string allocstr)
              "add a new runtime component with type Int"
         )
 
+        .def_property_readonly("real_soa_names",
+            &ParticleContainerType::GetRealSoANames,
+            "Get the names for the Real SoA components"
+        )
+        .def_property_readonly("int_soa_names",
+            &ParticleContainerType::GetIntSoANames,
+            "Get the names for the int SoA components"
+        )
+
         .def_property_readonly("finest_level", &ParticleContainerBase::finestLevel)
 
         // ParticleContainer ( const ParticleContainer &) = delete;
diff --git a/src/Particle/StructOfArrays.H b/src/Particle/StructOfArrays.H
index e21d67cf..791c5e67 100644
--- a/src/Particle/StructOfArrays.H
+++ b/src/Particle/StructOfArrays.H
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include <AMReX_GpuAllocators.H>
 #include <AMReX_StructOfArrays.H>
 
+#include <stdexcept>
 #include <sstream>
 
 
@@ -56,6 +57,32 @@ void make_StructOfArrays(py::module &m, std::string allocstr)
              py::arg("index"),
              "Get access to a particle Real component Array (compile-time and runtime component)")
 
+        // names
+        .def_property_readonly("real_names",
+            [](SOAType & self) {
+                try {
+                    return self.GetRealNames();
+                }
+                catch (...)
+                {
+                    return std::vector<std::string>{};
+                }
+            },
+            "Names for the Real SoA components"
+        )
+        .def_property_readonly("int_names",
+            [](SOAType & self) {
+                try {
+                    return self.GetIntNames();
+                }
+                catch (...)
+                {
+                    return std::vector<std::string>{};
+                }
+            },
+            "Names for the int SoA components"
+        )
+
         .def("__len__", &SOAType::size,
              "Get the number of particles")
         .def_property_readonly("size", &SOAType::size,
diff --git a/src/amrex/extensions/ParticleComponentNames.py b/src/amrex/extensions/ParticleComponentNames.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 6922cdce..00000000
--- a/src/amrex/extensions/ParticleComponentNames.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-"""
-This file is part of pyAMReX
-
-Copyright 2024 AMReX community
-Authors: Axel Huebl
-License: BSD-3-Clause-LBNL
-"""
diff --git a/src/amrex/extensions/StructOfArrays.py b/src/amrex/extensions/StructOfArrays.py
index c23a5716..4d613f64 100644
--- a/src/amrex/extensions/StructOfArrays.py
+++ b/src/amrex/extensions/StructOfArrays.py
@@ -9,71 +9,6 @@
 from collections import namedtuple
 
 
-def soa_real_comps(self, num_comps, spacedim=3, rotate=True):
-    """
-    Name the ParticleReal components in SoA.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    self : SoA Type
-      maybe unused, depending on implementation
-    num_comps : int
-      number of components to generate names for.
-    spacedim : int
-      AMReX dimensionality
-    rotate : bool = True
-      start with "x", "y", "z", "a", "b", ...
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    A list of length num_comps with values
-    rotate=True (for pure SoA layout):
-    - 3D: "x", "y", "z", "a", "b", ... "w", "r0", "r1", ...
-    - 2D: "x", "y", "a", "b", ... "w", "r0", "r1", ...
-    - 1D: "x", "a", "b", ... "w", "r0", "r1", ...
-    rotate=False (for legacy layout):
-    - 1D-3D: "a", "b", ... "w", "r0", "r1", ...
-    """
-    import string
-
-    # x, y, z, a, b, ...
-    comp_names = list(string.ascii_lowercase)
-    if rotate:
-        # rotate x, y, z to be beginning (positions)
-        comp_names = comp_names[-3:] + comp_names[:-3]
-    else:
-        # cut off x, y, z to avoid confusion
-        comp_names = comp_names[:-3]
-
-    num_named = len(comp_names)
-    if num_comps < num_named:
-        comp_names = list(comp_names)[0:num_comps]
-    elif num_comps > num_named:
-        comp_names.extend(["r" + str(i) for i in range(num_comps - num_named)])
-
-    return comp_names
-
-
-def soa_int_comps(self, num_comps):
-    """
-    Name the int components in SoA.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    self : SoA Type
-      maybe unused, depending on implementation
-    num_comps : int
-      number of components to generate names for.
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    A list of length num_comps with values "i1", "i2", "i3", ...
-    """
-    comp_names = ["i" + str(i) for i in range(num_comps)]
-
-    return comp_names
-
-
 def soa_to_numpy(self, copy=False):
     """
     Provide NumPy views into a StructOfArrays.
@@ -226,10 +161,6 @@ def register_SoA_extension(amr):
         and member.__module__ == amr.__name__
         and member.__name__.startswith("StructOfArrays_"),
     ):
-        # name providers
-        SoA_type.soa_real_comps = soa_real_comps
-        SoA_type.soa_int_comps = soa_int_comps
-
         # converters
         SoA_type.to_numpy = soa_to_numpy
         SoA_type.to_cupy = soa_to_cupy