What I'd like to do:

Column A = Old name (file names extracted from folder on desktop-this folder includes 700 photos in ascending order. 001-700.jpg)
Column B = New name (these values I have in a list and will just copy them and paste)

I'd like to do this rename in applescript, but I don't know how to get the new names out of excel (in xlsx or csv?) and apply them to the corresponding old name. Any help would be appreciated.

If there is a better way to do this than the above, I'm open to anything. Thanks!