diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.spec.ts
index 81e7561109..7da78dd539 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.spec.ts
@@ -145,4 +145,26 @@ describe("codemirrorSqlDialect", () => {
     expect(nodeNameAt(dialect, doubleQuoteStatement, '"escaped\\"quote"')).toBe("String");
     expect(nodeNameAt(dialect, doubleQuoteStatement, "col")).toBe("Identifier");
   });
+
+  it("tags QuotedIdentifier as tags.name so quoted columns/tables match unquoted identifiers (#12122)", async () => {
+    const { highlightTree, tags } = await import("@lezer/highlight");
+    const { HighlightStyle } = await import("@codemirror/language");
+
+    const style = HighlightStyle.define([
+      { tag: tags.keyword, color: "keyword" },
+      { tag: tags.string, color: "string" },
+      { tag: tags.name, color: "identifier" },
+    ]);
+
+    const mysqlDialect = createDbxCodeMirrorSqlDialect(langSql, "mysql", "mysql");
+    const doc = "SELECT `quoted_col`, plain_col, 'literal_string' FROM `tbl`";
+    const tree = mysqlDialect.language.parser.parse(doc);
+    const classes = new Map<string, string>();
+    highlightTree(tree, style, (from, to, cls) => classes.set(doc.slice(from, to), cls));
+
+    expect(classes.get("`quoted_col`")).toBeDefined();
+    expect(classes.get("`quoted_col`")).toBe(classes.get("plain_col"));
+    expect(classes.get("`quoted_col`")).toBe(classes.get("`tbl`"));
+    expect(classes.get("`quoted_col`")).not.toBe(classes.get("'literal_string'"));
+  });
 });
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editorThemes.spec.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editorThemes.spec.ts
index ff105d2529..16f5b610ae 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editorThemes.spec.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/__tests__/editorThemes.spec.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,17 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
-import { buildEditorFontThemeRules, buildSqlCompletionThemeRules, EDITOR_FONT_FAMILY_CSS_VAR, editorDiagnosticColors, editorThemeAppearanceFor, IDE_EDITOR_THEMES, loadEditorTheme, resolveCustomThemeBackgrounds, resolveEditorTheme, SQL_BUILTIN_HIGHLIGHT_TAG } from "@/lib/editor/editorThemes";
+import {
+  buildEditorFontThemeRules,
+  buildSqlCompletionThemeRules,
+  EDITOR_FONT_FAMILY_CSS_VAR,
+  editorDiagnosticColors,
+  editorThemeAppearanceFor,
+  IDE_EDITOR_THEMES,
+  loadEditorTheme,
+  resolveCustomThemeBackgrounds,
+  resolveEditorTheme,
+  SQL_BUILTIN_HIGHLIGHT_TAG,
+  SQL_QUOTED_IDENTIFIER_HIGHLIGHT_TAG,
+} from "@/lib/editor/editorThemes";
 import { DEFAULT_APP_CUSTOM_UI_COLORS, wcagContrastRatio, type AppThemePalette } from "@/lib/app/appTheme";
 import { DEFAULT_CUSTOM_THEME_COLORS, type CustomThemeColors, type EditorTheme } from "@/stores/settingsStore";
 import { createDbxCodeMirrorSqlDialect } from "@/lib/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect";
@@ -306,6 +318,43 @@ describe("SQL builtin highlight tag", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("SQL quoted identifier highlighting (#12122)", () => {
+  it("highlights quoted identifiers with identifier/variable color, distinct from string literals", async () => {
+    const { highlightTree, tags } = await import("@lezer/highlight");
+    const { HighlightStyle } = await import("@codemirror/language");
+    const style = HighlightStyle.define([
+      { tag: tags.keyword, color: "keyword" },
+      { tag: tags.string, color: "string" },
+      { tag: [tags.name, tags.variableName, SQL_QUOTED_IDENTIFIER_HIGHLIGHT_TAG], color: "variable" },
+    ]);
+
+    const dialects = [
+      { name: "mysql", sql: "SELECT `col`, col, 'val' FROM `tbl`" },
+      { name: "postgres", sql: 'SELECT "col", col, \'val\' FROM "tbl"' },
+      { name: "sqlserver", sql: "SELECT [col], col, 'val' FROM [tbl]" },
+    ];
+
+    for (const { name, sql } of dialects) {
+      const dialect = createDbxCodeMirrorSqlDialect(langSql, name as any, name as any);
+      const tree = dialect.language.parser.parse(sql);
+      const classesByToken = new Map<string, string>();
+      highlightTree(tree, style, (from, to, cls) => classesByToken.set(sql.slice(from, to), cls));
+
+      const quotedCol = name === "mysql" ? "`col`" : name === "postgres" ? '"col"' : "[col]";
+      const quotedTbl = name === "mysql" ? "`tbl`" : name === "postgres" ? '"tbl"' : "[tbl]";
+
+      expect(classesByToken.get(quotedCol), `${name} quoted col`).toBe(classesByToken.get("col"));
+      expect(classesByToken.get(quotedCol), `${name} quoted col vs string`).not.toBe(classesByToken.get("'val'"));
+      expect(classesByToken.get(quotedTbl), `${name} quoted tbl`).toBe(classesByToken.get("col"));
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("maps SQL_QUOTED_IDENTIFIER_HIGHLIGHT_TAG to special(string) for theme compatibility", async () => {
+    const { tags } = await import("@lezer/highlight");
+    expect(SQL_QUOTED_IDENTIFIER_HIGHLIGHT_TAG).toBe(tags.special(tags.string));
+  });
+});
+
 describe("editor gutters", () => {
   it("does not let the gutter minimum height cycle against the scroller content height", () => {
     const rules = buildEditorFontThemeRules();
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.ts
index 70958ac9ac..151f780d0d 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/codemirrorSqlDialect.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,16 @@
+import { styleTags, tags } from "@lezer/highlight";
 import type { SQLDialect } from "@codemirror/lang-sql";
 import type { DatabaseType } from "@/types/database";
 import { driverProfileSqlBuiltinTerms } from "@/lib/database/driverProfileExtensions";
 
+// In SQL, quoted identifiers (e.g. `col`, "col", [col]) represent column, table,
+// and schema names — not string literals (#12122). CodeMirror's SQL grammar tags
+// QuotedIdentifier as special(string) by default, which themes highlight as a
+// string literal. We retag QuotedIdentifier as tags.name so all themes (both DBX
+// custom/IDE themes and standard third-party themes) highlight quoted identifiers
+// identically to unquoted identifiers.
+const SQL_DIALECT_LANGUAGE_PROPS = [styleTags({ QuotedIdentifier: tags.name })];
+
 export type CodeMirrorSqlDialectName = "mysql" | "postgres" | "sqlserver" | "clickhouse" | "soql";
 
 export function supportsQueryEditorSqlLanguage(databaseType?: DatabaseType): boolean {
@@ -368,6 +377,8 @@ export function createDbxCodeMirrorSqlDialect(langSql: CodeMirrorSqlLanguageModu
       caseInsensitiveIdentifiers: true,
       identifierQuotes: "",
       doubleDollarQuotedStrings: false,
+    }).configureLanguage({
+      props: SQL_DIALECT_LANGUAGE_PROPS,
     });
   }
   const baseDialect = codeMirrorBaseDialect(langSql, dialectName, databaseType);
@@ -409,5 +420,7 @@ export function createDbxCodeMirrorSqlDialect(langSql: CodeMirrorSqlLanguageModu
       : {}),
     ...(isPlsql ? { doubleQuotedStrings: false } : {}),
     doubleDollarQuotedStrings: false,
+  }).configureLanguage({
+    props: SQL_DIALECT_LANGUAGE_PROPS,
   });
 }
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/editorThemes.ts b/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/editorThemes.ts
index f3c35d7bec..a236462336 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/editorThemes.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/lib/editor/editorThemes.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ import { tags } from "@lezer/highlight";
 // sync with what the SQL tokenizer actually emits.
 export const SQL_BUILTIN_HIGHLIGHT_TAG = tags.standard(tags.name);
 
+// @codemirror/lang-sql tags quoted identifiers (e.g. `col`, "col", [col]) as
+// special(string) by default. In SQL, quoted identifiers represent columns, tables,
+// and database objects — not string literals (#12122). Both the SQL dialect parser
+// configuration and DBX theme highlight styles map this token to identifier/variable
+// color instead of string literal color.
+export const SQL_QUOTED_IDENTIFIER_HIGHLIGHT_TAG = tags.special(tags.string);
+
 type CodeMirrorStyleSpec = Parameters<typeof import("@codemirror/view").EditorView.theme>[0];
 type LucideIconNode = Array<[string, Record<string, string>]>;
 
@@ -160,7 +167,7 @@ function createCustomTheme(EditorView: typeof import("@codemirror/view").EditorV
     { tag: tags.moduleKeyword, color: c.keyword },
     { tag: tags.operatorKeyword, color: c.keyword },
     { tag: tags.string, color: c.string },
-    { tag: tags.special(tags.string), color: c.string },
+    { tag: SQL_QUOTED_IDENTIFIER_HIGHLIGHT_TAG, color: c.variable },
     { tag: tags.number, color: c.number },
     { tag: tags.integer, color: c.number },
     { tag: tags.float, color: c.number },
@@ -204,7 +211,6 @@ function createCustomTheme(EditorView: typeof import("@codemirror/view").EditorV
     { tag: tags.namespace, color: c.className },
     { tag: tags.macroName, color: c.function },
     { tag: tags.literal, color: c.string },
-    { tag: tags.special(tags.string), color: c.string },
     { tag: tags.regexp, color: c.string },
     { tag: tags.escape, color: c.string },
     { tag: tags.processingInstruction, color: c.keyword },
@@ -569,11 +575,11 @@ function createIdeEditorTheme(EditorView: typeof import("@codemirror/view").Edit
 
   const highlightStyle = HighlightStyle.define([
     { tag: [tags.keyword, tags.controlKeyword, tags.definitionKeyword, tags.moduleKeyword, tags.operatorKeyword, tags.modifier, tags.bool, tags.null], color: c.keyword, ...(c.keywordBold ? { fontWeight: "bold" } : {}) },
-    { tag: [tags.string, tags.special(tags.string), tags.regexp, tags.escape, tags.inserted], color: c.string, ...(c.stringBold ? { fontWeight: "bold" } : {}) },
+    { tag: [tags.string, tags.regexp, tags.escape, tags.inserted], color: c.string, ...(c.stringBold ? { fontWeight: "bold" } : {}) },
     { tag: [tags.number, tags.integer, tags.float], color: c.number, ...(c.numberBold ? { fontWeight: "bold" } : {}) },
     { tag: [tags.comment, tags.lineComment, tags.blockComment, tags.quote], color: c.comment, fontStyle: "italic" },
     { tag: [tags.typeName, tags.typeOperator, tags.unit], color: c.type },
-    { tag: [tags.name, tags.variableName, tags.definition(tags.variableName)], color: c.variable },
+    { tag: [tags.name, tags.variableName, tags.definition(tags.variableName), SQL_QUOTED_IDENTIFIER_HIGHLIGHT_TAG], color: c.variable },
     { tag: [tags.function(tags.variableName), tags.function(tags.propertyName), tags.function(tags.name), tags.macroName], color: c.function },
     { tag: [SQL_BUILTIN_HIGHLIGHT_TAG, tags.special(tags.name)], color: c.builtin },
     { tag: [tags.propertyName, tags.labelName, tags.annotation], color: c.property },