diff --git a/include/pybind/cast.h b/include/pybind/cast.h
index 05e8fe1a0..b7c6558db 100644
--- a/include/pybind/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind/cast.h
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ template <typename type> class type_caster {
 public:
     typedef instance<type> instance_type;
 
-    static descr descr() { return typeid(type); }
+    static descr name() { return typeid(type); }
 
     type_caster() {
         auto const& registered_types = get_internals().registered_types;
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ protected:
     protected: \
         type value; \
     public: \
-        static descr descr() { return py_name; } \
+        static descr name() { return py_name; } \
         static PyObject *cast(const type *src, return_value_policy policy, PyObject *parent) { \
             return cast(*src, policy, parent); \
         } \
@@ -328,7 +328,7 @@ public:
         return PyUnicode_DecodeLatin1(str, 1, nullptr);
     }
 
-    static descr descr() { return "str"; }
+    static descr name() { return "str"; }
 
     operator char*() { return value; }
     operator char() { return *value; }
@@ -361,11 +361,11 @@ public:
         return tuple;
     }
 
-    static descr descr() {
+    static descr name() {
         class descr result("(");
-        result += std::move(type_caster<typename decay<T1>::type>::descr());
+        result += std::move(type_caster<typename decay<T1>::type>::name());
         result += ", ";
-        result += std::move(type_caster<typename decay<T2>::type>::descr());
+        result += std::move(type_caster<typename decay<T2>::type>::name());
         result += ")";
         return result;
     }
@@ -391,9 +391,9 @@ public:
         return cast(src, policy, parent, typename make_index_sequence<size>::type());
     }
 
-    static descr descr(const char **keywords = nullptr, const char **values = nullptr) {
-        std::array<class descr, size> descrs {{
-            type_caster<typename decay<Tuple>::type>::descr()...
+    static descr name(const char **keywords = nullptr, const char **values = nullptr) {
+        std::array<class descr, size> names {{
+            type_caster<typename decay<Tuple>::type>::name()...
         }};
         class descr result("(");
         for (int i=0; i<size; ++i) {
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ public:
                 result += keywords[i];
                 result += " : ";
             }
-            result += std::move(descrs[i]);
+            result += std::move(names[i]);
             if (values && values[i]) {
                 result += " = ";
                 result += values[i];
diff --git a/include/pybind/functional.h b/include/pybind/functional.h
index 1eedab67f..8f7aae821 100644
--- a/include/pybind/functional.h
+++ b/include/pybind/functional.h
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ public:
 
 
     PYBIND_TYPE_CASTER(type, detail::descr("function<") +
-            type_caster<std::tuple<Args...>>::descr() + detail::descr(" -> ") +
-            type_caster<typename decay<Return>::type>::descr() +
+            type_caster<std::tuple<Args...>>::name() + detail::descr(" -> ") +
+            type_caster<typename decay<Return>::type>::name() +
             detail::descr(">"));
 };
 
diff --git a/include/pybind/pybind.h b/include/pybind/pybind.h
index 45c716c83..f2d366a6f 100644
--- a/include/pybind/pybind.h
+++ b/include/pybind/pybind.h
@@ -190,9 +190,9 @@ public:
         process_extras(((capture *) entry->data)->extras, entry, kw.data(), def.data());
 
 
-        detail::descr d = cast_in::descr(kw.data(), def.data());
+        detail::descr d = cast_in::name(kw.data(), def.data());
         d += " -> ";
-        d += std::move(cast_out::descr());
+        d += std::move(cast_out::name());
 
         initialize(entry, d, sizeof...(Arg));
     }
@@ -247,9 +247,9 @@ private:
         std::array<const char *, N> kw{}, def{};
         process_extras(((capture *) entry->data)->extras, entry, kw.data(), def.data());
 
-        detail::descr d = cast_in::descr(kw.data(), def.data());
+        detail::descr d = cast_in::name(kw.data(), def.data());
         d += " -> ";
-        d += std::move(cast_out::descr());
+        d += std::move(cast_out::name());
 
         initialize(entry, d, sizeof...(Arg));
     }
diff --git a/include/pybind/stl.h b/include/pybind/stl.h
index 36568a056..4b935cfae 100644
--- a/include/pybind/stl.h
+++ b/include/pybind/stl.h
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ public:
         }
         return list;
     }
-    PYBIND_TYPE_CASTER(type, detail::descr("list<") + value_conv::descr() + detail::descr(">"));
+    PYBIND_TYPE_CASTER(type, detail::descr("list<") + value_conv::name() + detail::descr(">"));
 };
 
 template <typename Key, typename Value> struct type_caster<std::map<Key, Value>> {
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ public:
         return dict;
     }
 
-    PYBIND_TYPE_CASTER(type, detail::descr("dict<") + key_conv::descr() + detail::descr(", ") + value_conv::descr() + detail::descr(">"));
+    PYBIND_TYPE_CASTER(type, detail::descr("dict<") + key_conv::name() + detail::descr(", ") + value_conv::name() + detail::descr(">"));
 };
 
 inline std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, const object &obj) { os << (const char *) obj.str(); return os; }