diff --git a/lib/Db/Column.php b/lib/Db/Column.php
index 3710956208..56373c98ad 100644
--- a/lib/Db/Column.php
+++ b/lib/Db/Column.php
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ class Column extends EntitySuper implements JsonSerializable {
 	protected ?string $lastEditByDisplayName = null;
 	protected ?ViewColumnInformation $viewColumnInformation = null;
 
-	protected const VIRTUAL_PROPERTIES = ['createdByDisplayName', 'lastEditByDisplayName', 'viewColumnInformation'];
+	protected const VIRTUAL_PROPERTIES = ['createdByDisplayName', 'lastEditByDisplayName', 'viewColumnInformation', 'columnName'];
 
 	public function __construct() {
 		$this->addType('id', 'integer');
diff --git a/lib/Db/Row2.php b/lib/Db/Row2.php
index dc24f7b335..d223b1dc74 100644
--- a/lib/Db/Row2.php
+++ b/lib/Db/Row2.php
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ class Row2 implements JsonSerializable {
 	private ?string $lastEditBy = null;
 	private ?string $lastEditAt = null;
 	private ?array $data = [];
+	private array $cellMetadata = [];
 	private array $changedColumnIds = []; // collect column ids that have changed after $loaded = true
 
 	private bool $loaded = false; // set to true if model is loaded, after that changed column ids will be collected
@@ -133,10 +134,29 @@ public function filterDataByColumns(array $columns): array {
 		return $this->data;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * add response-only metadata for a specific column
+	 */
+	public function addCellMeta(int $columnId, array $meta): void {
+		if (!isset($this->cellMetadata[$columnId])) {
+			$this->cellMetadata[$columnId] = [];
+		}
+		$this->cellMetadata[$columnId] = array_merge($this->cellMetadata[$columnId], $meta);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * @psalm-return TablesRow
 	 */
 	public function jsonSerialize(): array {
+		$data = [];
+		foreach ($this->data as $cell) {
+			$colId = $cell['columnId'];
+			$merged = $cell;
+			if (isset($this->cellMetadata[$colId])) {
+				$merged = array_merge($merged, $this->cellMetadata[$colId]);
+			}
+			$data[] = $merged;
+		}
 		return [
 			'id' => $this->id,
 			'tableId' => $this->tableId,
@@ -144,7 +164,7 @@ public function jsonSerialize(): array {
 			'createdAt' => $this->createdAt,
 			'lastEditBy' => $this->lastEditBy,
 			'lastEditAt' => $this->lastEditAt,
-			'data' => $this->data,
+			'data' => $data,
 		];
 	}
 
@@ -191,4 +211,15 @@ public function markAsLoaded(): void {
 		$this->loaded = true;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * attach columnName as metadata for each cell
+	 */
+	public function addColumnNames(array $fullRowData): void {
+		foreach ($fullRowData as $meta) {
+			if (isset($meta['columnId']) && array_key_exists('columnName', $meta)) {
+				$this->addCellMeta((int)$meta['columnId'], ['columnName' => $meta['columnName']]);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 }
diff --git a/lib/ResponseDefinitions.php b/lib/ResponseDefinitions.php
index 9111ba55f5..891d7b5e16 100644
--- a/lib/ResponseDefinitions.php
+++ b/lib/ResponseDefinitions.php
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
  * 	createdAt: string,
  * 	lastEditBy: string,
  * 	lastEditAt: string,
- *  data: ?array{columnId: int, value: mixed},
+ *  data: ?array{columnId: int, columnName: string, value: mixed},
  * }
  *
  * @psalm-type TablesShare = array{
diff --git a/lib/Service/RowService.php b/lib/Service/RowService.php
index 34b7b401b3..972aeb6dc4 100644
--- a/lib/Service/RowService.php
+++ b/lib/Service/RowService.php
@@ -208,6 +208,28 @@ public function create(?int $tableId, ?int $viewId, RowDataInput|array $data): R
 			throw new InternalError('Cannot create row without table or view in context');
 		}
 
+		$fullRowData = [];
+		$columnNames = [];
+
+		foreach ($columns as $column) {
+			$columnNames[$column->getId()] = $column->getTitle();
+		}
+
+		$rows = $data instanceof RowDataInput ? iterator_to_array($data) : $data;
+
+		foreach ($rows as $row) {
+			$colId = (int)$row['columnId'];
+			if (!isset($columnNames[$colId])) {
+				continue;
+			}
+
+			$fullRowData[] = [
+				'columnId' => $colId,
+				'value' => $row['value'],
+				'columnName' => $columnNames[$colId],
+			];
+		}
+
 		$tableId = $tableId ?? $view->getTableId();
 
 		$data = $data instanceof RowDataInput ? $data : RowDataInput::fromArray($data);
@@ -220,6 +242,8 @@ public function create(?int $tableId, ?int $viewId, RowDataInput|array $data): R
 		$row2->setData($data);
 		try {
 			$insertedRow = $this->row2Mapper->insert($row2);
+			// attach columnName to returned row for the response only
+			$insertedRow->addColumnNames($fullRowData);
 
 			$this->eventDispatcher->dispatchTyped(new RowAddedEvent($insertedRow));
 			$this->activityManager->triggerEvent(
@@ -334,7 +358,7 @@ private function cleanupAndValidateData(RowDataInput $data, array $columns, ?int
 			if (!$column && $viewId) {
 				throw new InternalError('Column with id ' . $entry['columnId'] . ' is not part of view with id ' . $viewId);
 			} elseif (!$column && $tableId) {
-				throw new InternalError('Column with id ' . $entry['columnId'] . ' is not part of table with id ' . $tableId);
+				throw new BadRequestError('Column with id ' . $entry['columnId'] . ' is not part of table with id ' . $tableId);
 			}
 
 			if (!$column) {
diff --git a/phpunit.xml b/phpunit.xml
index b2139fbe07..8acc16f660 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml
+++ b/phpunit.xml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
   - SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2021 Florian Steffens
   - SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
 -->
-<phpunit bootstrap="tests/bootstrap.php" colors="true">
+<phpunit bootstrap="tests/Unit/bootstrap.php" colors="true">
     <testsuites>
         <testsuite name="unit">
             <directory>./tests/Unit</directory>
diff --git a/tests/unit/Db/Row2Test.php b/tests/unit/Db/Row2Test.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c4782c79fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/Db/Row2Test.php
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/**
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2025 Nextcloud GmbH and Nextcloud contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+ */
+
+namespace OCA\Tables\Tests\Unit\Db;
+
+use OCA\Tables\Db\Row2;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+class Row2Test extends TestCase {
+	public function testJsonSerializeMergesCellMetadata(): void {
+		$row = new Row2();
+		$row->setTableId(1);
+
+		$row->setData([
+			['columnId' => 57, 'value' => 'foo'],
+			['columnId' => 58, 'value' => 'bar'],
+		]);
+
+		$json = $row->jsonSerialize();
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey('columnName', $json['data'][0]);
+
+		$row->addCellMeta(57, ['columnName' => 'Title 57']);
+		$resp = $row->jsonSerialize();
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey('columnName', $resp['data'][0]);
+		$this->assertSame('Title 57', $resp['data'][0]['columnName']);
+	}
+}