By default, ggplot uses the variable name as the axis labels. Change it to something else using scale_x_continuous or scale_y_continuous
p = ggplot(diamonds)+geom_point()+aes(x=carat,y=price)
p + scale_x_continuous('x axis label') + scale_y_continuous('y axis label')
thanks for that I was banging my head against axis.title.x