diff --git a/examples/mean_values.config b/examples/mean_values.config
index 5fcb0b7d34e8d57c42d4639dfe94372092c8f565..13dccea661c63ac7e9c652a73acce09409647cc6 100644
--- a/examples/mean_values.config
+++ b/examples/mean_values.config
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #
 
 EXP_ID = mean_values
-EXPNAME = amip-LR
+EXP_TYPE = amip-LR
 
 QUEUE_TYPE = blizzard
 ACCOUNT = xy9999
diff --git a/examples/old_input_data.config b/examples/old_input_data.config
index 2f53e01d6d6f7d0e05996e14f41d2543966a5435..16210bcb4ff0c287c1def5b8ee87d3137b915ec2 100644
--- a/examples/old_input_data.config
+++ b/examples/old_input_data.config
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #
 
 EXP_ID = old_input_data
-EXPNAME = amip-LR
+EXP_TYPE = amip-LR
 
 QUEUE_TYPE = blizzard
 ACCOUNT = xy9999
diff --git a/examples/reference.config b/examples/reference.config
index f0e1a9137b4c05746502a8f17a1e9aa136974dae..05421c587ca48b0502b44df2de8f26267a757a88 100644
--- a/examples/reference.config
+++ b/examples/reference.config
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #
 
 EXP_ID = reference
-EXPNAME = amip-LR
+EXP_TYPE = amip-LR
 
 QUEUE_TYPE = blizzard
 ACCOUNT = xy9999
diff --git a/mkexp b/mkexp
index 159bede73959453432f72e7c6468918f94e5ca31..57b1af134380ece79e1b01a24f286adf98c02e9a 100755
--- a/mkexp
+++ b/mkexp
@@ -54,11 +54,11 @@ def chmod_plus_x(file_name):
 
 # Templates
 
-def get_template_name(experiment_type, job_id):
+def get_template_name(experiment_kind, job_id):
     '''Determine script template, taking system default if type is unsupported.'''
-    run_template_name = os.path.join(exp_lib_dir, experiment_type+'.'+job_id+'.tmpl')
+    run_template_name = os.path.join(exp_lib_dir, experiment_kind+'.'+job_id+'.tmpl')
     if not os.path.exists(run_template_name):
-        logging.warning("no %s template for '%s', using default", job_id, experiment_type)
+        logging.warning("no %s template for '%s', using default", job_id, experiment_kind)
         run_template_name = os.path.join(exp_lib_dir, default_name+'.'+job_id+'.tmpl')
     return run_template_name
 
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ experiment_config_name = sys.argv[1]
 pre_config = ConfigObj(experiment_config_name, interpolation=False)
 
 experiment_id = pre_config['EXP_ID']
-experiment_name = pre_config['EXPNAME']
-experiment_type = re.sub(r'-\wR$', '', experiment_name)
+experiment_type = pre_config['EXP_TYPE']
+experiment_kind = re.sub(r'-\wR$', '', experiment_type)
 queue_type = pre_config['QUEUE_TYPE']
 
 pre_config = None
@@ -171,12 +171,12 @@ lib_config_name = os.path.join(exp_lib_dir, default_name+'.config')
 pre_config.merge(ConfigObj(lib_config_name, interpolation=False))
 split_jobs(pre_config)
 
-lib_config_name = os.path.join(exp_lib_dir, experiment_name+'.config')
+lib_config_name = os.path.join(exp_lib_dir, experiment_type+'.config')
 if os.path.exists(lib_config_name):
     pre_config.merge(ConfigObj(lib_config_name, interpolation=False))
     split_jobs(pre_config)
 else:
-    logging.warning("cannot find config for '%s', using default only", experiment_name)
+    logging.warning("cannot find config for '%s', using default only", experiment_type)
 
 # Re-read config to allow overriding default settings
 # TODO: probably nicer if default experiment is given as argument
@@ -238,6 +238,6 @@ for subjob, subconfig in config['jobs'].iteritems():
     if 'extends' in config['JOB']:
         template_job = config['JOB']['extends']
     expand_template(config,
-                    get_template_name(experiment_type, template_job),
+                    get_template_name(experiment_kind, template_job),
                     get_script_name(experiment_id, subjob))
 
diff --git a/standard_experiments/DEFAULT.run.tmpl b/standard_experiments/DEFAULT.run.tmpl
index 66603a6f3b4f5a937a10109eb94a3b2da1ba4bcc..2d1a556860676eef3938c952518293024fccdb08 100644
--- a/standard_experiments/DEFAULT.run.tmpl
+++ b/standard_experiments/DEFAULT.run.tmpl
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ START=%{JOB.start}
 # followed by a number for the current experiment
 #
 EXP="%{EXP_ID}"      # experiment identifier
-expname="%{EXPNAME}" # experiments name
+expname="%{EXP_TYPE}" # experiments name
 #
 RERUN=.true.      # Rerun switch; .false. for initial run, .true. else
 #
diff --git a/standard_experiments/amip.run.tmpl b/standard_experiments/amip.run.tmpl
index bc362393cb6b8397cc43ad4322ab53361cd45ca5..1361d95d1ba41c0688cf42088a46ade1d9da5aef 100644
--- a/standard_experiments/amip.run.tmpl
+++ b/standard_experiments/amip.run.tmpl
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ START=%{JOB.start}
 # followed by a number for the current experiment
 #
 EXP="%{EXP_ID}"      # experiment identifier
-expname="%{EXPNAME}" # experiments name
+expname="%{EXP_TYPE}" # experiments name
 #
 RERUN=.true.      # Rerun switch; .false. for initial run, .true. else
 #
diff --git a/standard_experiments/sstClim.run.tmpl b/standard_experiments/sstClim.run.tmpl
index f9df526c68755d284b6bf5e5690d3b2fbf76de77..a3d254fa2661f35998936332759c122e65b4c849 100644
--- a/standard_experiments/sstClim.run.tmpl
+++ b/standard_experiments/sstClim.run.tmpl
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ START=%{JOB.start}
 # followed by a number for the current experiment
 #
 EXP="%{EXP_ID}"      # experiment identifier
-expname="%{EXPNAME}" # experiments name
+expname="%{EXP_TYPE}" # experiments name
 #
 RERUN=.true.      # Rerun switch; .false. for initial run, .true. else
 #