diff --git a/Documentation/libtracefs-synth.txt b/Documentation/libtracefs-synth.txt
index 77076e1..2fd9019 100644
--- a/Documentation/libtracefs-synth.txt
+++ b/Documentation/libtracefs-synth.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ libtracefs(3)
 
 NAME
 ----
-tracefs_synth_init, tracefs_synth_add_match_field, tracefs_synth_add_compare_field, tracefs_synth_add_start_field,
+tracefs_synth_alloc, tracefs_synth_add_match_field, tracefs_synth_add_compare_field, tracefs_synth_add_start_field,
 tracefs_synth_add_end_field, tracefs_synth_append_start_filter, tracefs_synth_append_end_filter, tracefs_synth_free,
 - Creation of a synthetic event descriptor
 
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 --
 *#include <tracefs.h>*
 
-struct tracefs_synth pass:[*]tracefs_synth_init(struct tep_handle pass:[*]tep,
+struct tracefs_synth pass:[*]tracefs_synth_alloc(struct tep_handle pass:[*]tep,
 					 const char pass:[*]name,
 					 const char pass:[*]start_system,
 					 const char pass:[*]start_event,
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ as a field for both events to calculate the delta in nanoseconds, or use
 *TRACEFS_TIMESTAMP_USECS" as the compare fields for both events to calculate the
 delta in microseconds. This is used as the example below.
 
-*tracefs_synth_init*() allocates and initializes a synthetic event.
+*tracefs_synth_alloc*() allocates and initializes a synthetic event.
 It does not create the synthetic event, but supplies the minimal information
 to do so. See *tracefs_synth_create*(3) for how to create the synthetic
 event in the system. It requires a _tep_ handler that can be created by
@@ -156,11 +156,11 @@ _field_, _compare_, and _val_ are ignored unless _type_ is equal to
 filters on the ending event.
 
 *tracefs_synth_free*() frees the allocated descriptor returned by
-*tracefs_synth_init*().
+*tracefs_synth_alloc*().
 
 RETURN VALUE
 ------------
-*tracefs_synth_init*() returns an allocated struct tracefs_synth descriptor
+*tracefs_synth_alloc*() returns an allocated struct tracefs_synth descriptor
 on sucess or NULL on error.
 
 All other functions that return an integer returns zero on success or -1
@@ -209,11 +209,11 @@ static void make_event(void)
 	tep = tracefs_local_events(NULL);
 
 	/* Initialize the synthetic event */
-	synth = tracefs_synth_init(tep, "wakeup_lat",
-				   NULL, start_event,
-				   NULL, end_event,
-				   start_field, end_field,
-				   match_name);
+	synth = tracefs_synth_alloc(tep, "wakeup_lat",
+				    NULL, start_event,
+				    NULL, end_event,
+				    start_field, end_field,
+				    match_name);
 
 	/* The tep is no longer needed */
 	tep_free(tep);
diff --git a/Documentation/libtracefs-synth2.txt b/Documentation/libtracefs-synth2.txt
index 4c44253..f734b44 100644
--- a/Documentation/libtracefs-synth2.txt
+++ b/Documentation/libtracefs-synth2.txt
@@ -142,11 +142,11 @@ static void make_event(void)
 	tep = tracefs_local_events(NULL);
 
 	/* Initialize the synthetic event */
-	synth = tracefs_synth_init(tep, "wakeup_lat",
-				   NULL, start_event,
-				   NULL, end_event,
-				   start_field, end_field,
-				   match_name);
+	synth = tracefs_synth_alloc(tep, "wakeup_lat",
+				    NULL, start_event,
+				    NULL, end_event,
+				    start_field, end_field,
+				    match_name);
 
 	/* The tep is no longer needed */
 	tep_free(tep);
diff --git a/include/tracefs.h b/include/tracefs.h
index f75fd92..b203a40 100644
--- a/include/tracefs.h
+++ b/include/tracefs.h
@@ -472,15 +472,15 @@ enum tracefs_synth_handler {
 	TRACEFS_SYNTH_HANDLE_CHANGE,
 };
 
-struct tracefs_synth *tracefs_synth_init(struct tep_handle *tep,
-					 const char *name,
-					 const char *start_system,
-					 const char *start_event,
-					 const char *end_system,
-					 const char *end_event,
-					 const char *start_match_field,
-					 const char *end_match_field,
-					 const char *match_name);
+struct tracefs_synth *tracefs_synth_alloc(struct tep_handle *tep,
+					  const char *name,
+					  const char *start_system,
+					  const char *start_event,
+					  const char *end_system,
+					  const char *end_event,
+					  const char *start_match_field,
+					  const char *end_match_field,
+					  const char *match_name);
 int tracefs_synth_add_match_field(struct tracefs_synth *synth,
 				  const char *start_match_field,
 				  const char *end_match_field,
diff --git a/src/tracefs-hist.c b/src/tracefs-hist.c
index 27bab00..9009dba 100644
--- a/src/tracefs-hist.c
+++ b/src/tracefs-hist.c
@@ -692,7 +692,7 @@ static void action_free(struct action *action)
  * @synth: The tracefs_synth descriptor
  *
  * Frees the resources allocated for a @synth created with
- * tracefs_synth_init(). It does not touch the system. That is,
+ * tracefs_synth_alloc(). It does not touch the system. That is,
  * any synthetic event created, will not be destroyed by this
  * function.
  */
@@ -890,7 +890,7 @@ synth_init_from(struct tep_handle *tep, const char *start_system,
 }
 
 /**
- * tracefs_synth_init - create a new tracefs_synth instance
+ * tracefs_synth_alloc - create a new tracefs_synth instance
  * @tep: The tep handle that holds the events to work on
  * @name: The name of the synthetic event being created
  * @start_system: The name of the system of the start event (can be NULL)
@@ -933,15 +933,15 @@ synth_init_from(struct tep_handle *tep, const char *start_system,
  * event on the system is not created. That needs to be done with
  * tracefs_synth_create().
  */
-struct tracefs_synth *tracefs_synth_init(struct tep_handle *tep,
-					 const char *name,
-					 const char *start_system,
-					 const char *start_event_name,
-					 const char *end_system,
-					 const char *end_event_name,
-					 const char *start_match_field,
-					 const char *end_match_field,
-					 const char *match_name)
+struct tracefs_synth *tracefs_synth_alloc(struct tep_handle *tep,
+					  const char *name,
+					  const char *start_system,
+					  const char *start_event_name,
+					  const char *end_system,
+					  const char *end_event_name,
+					  const char *start_match_field,
+					  const char *end_match_field,
+					  const char *match_name)
 {
 	struct tep_event *end_event;
 	struct tracefs_synth *synth;
diff --git a/src/tracefs-sqlhist.c b/src/tracefs-sqlhist.c
index d77ce86..016f3eb 100644
--- a/src/tracefs-sqlhist.c
+++ b/src/tracefs-sqlhist.c
@@ -1419,9 +1419,9 @@ static struct tracefs_synth *build_synth(struct tep_handle *tep,
 	assign_match(start_system, start_event, match,
 		     &start_match, &end_match);
 
-	synth = tracefs_synth_init(tep, name, start_system,
-				   start_event, end_system, end_event,
-				   start_match, end_match, NULL);
+	synth = tracefs_synth_alloc(tep, name, start_system,
+				    start_event, end_system, end_event,
+				    start_match, end_match, NULL);
 	if (!synth)
 		return synth_init_error(tep, table);
 
