The old column of a data frame is somehow "kept" after using the rename function. It happens only when the new name starts with the old name.
df <- data.frame(a = 1:10)
df %>% dplyr::rename('a_a' = 'a') -> df
df$a_a
# [1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
'a' %in% names(df)
# [1] FALSE
df$a
# [1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10