diff --git a/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js b/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js
index 39286f79..85eeecb2 100644
--- a/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js
+++ b/lib/cartodb/backends/layer-stats/mapnik-layer-stats.js
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ function _columnStats(ctx, columns) {
         Object.keys(columns).forEach(name => {
             aggr = aggr.concat(
                 columnAggregations(columns[name])
-                .map(fn => `${fn}(${name}) AS ${name}_${fn}`)
+                .map(fn => `${fn}("${name}") AS "${name}_${fn}"`)
             );
             if (columns[name].type === 'string') {
                 const topN = ctx.metaOptions.columnStats.topCategories || 1024;