Automate renaming file with its parent folder name

Here may be one approach using a Zsh shell script. I have tested this on Ventura 13.4. Starting with a parent folder on my Desktop (e.g. Folder00), I have the following hierarchy:

and upon running the script from my Desktop via the Terminal:

cd ~/Desktop
chmod +x ./hier_rename.zsh
./hier_rename.zsh ./Folder00

the result becomes:

The Zsh script:

#!/bin/zsh

: <<"COMMENT"
Rename PDF located three-folder levels below provided PARENTDIR with the
topmost folder name under the PARENTDIR.

See Modifiers in command-line man zshexpn, or
https://zsh.sourceforge.io/Doc/Release/Expansion.html
COMMENT

PARENTDIR="${1:a:s/\~\//}"

setopt nocaseglob
# recursively drill looking for case-insensitive named PDF
for f in "${PARENTDIR}"/**/*.pdf(.N);
do
    # get name of topmost folder in the hierarchy below PARENTDIR
    # by splitting the located PDF path into an array and take the first
    # folder name as topfolder variable
    topfolder="${${(s:/:)f:a:h:r:t3}[1]}"
    # block overwrites with -n argument
    /bin/mv -n "${f:a}" "${f:a:h:r}/${topfolder}.${f:e}"
done
exit 0

Simple - except for the details, and the devil is always in the details :)

First off, I'm guessing you don't actually want to:

> rename with the parent folder's name

Because you would end up with a file in the subdirectory called 'Folder name A1', whereas I suspect you really want it to be called 'Folder Name A1.pdf'. Yes, it's a detail. but it's kind of important.

Second is whether the folders are always three deep. Are there files in the intermediate folders that you need to process (or ignore?).

What about if there are multiple .pdfs in the third folder. They can't both be renamed to the top folder name. What should the script do then? Copy the first? add numbers to the subsequent files? ask the user? Again, another detail, but it's important to address.

Answering these (and, potentially, other gotchas I can't even think about yet) are prerequisites to getting a working script.

You might be able to do what you want with an AppleScript but that's above my pay grade. You can do it manually one folder any a time in batches with Name Mangler. With the Sequence option you'd get this:

If you can't find someone to do the scripting for you this might be the next best alternative.