diff --git a/svgpathtools/document.py b/svgpathtools/document.py
index 2ee0d69..974b1f3 100644
--- a/svgpathtools/document.py
+++ b/svgpathtools/document.py
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ def flattened_paths_from_group(group_to_flatten, root, recursive=True,
 
 
 class Document:
-    def __init__(self, svg_file_name_or_file=None):
+    def __init__(self, filepath=None):
         """A container for a DOM-style SVG document.
 
         The `Document` class provides a simple interface to modify and analyze 
@@ -236,25 +236,25 @@ class Document:
         The output Path objects will be transformed based on their parent groups.
         
         Args:
-            svg_file_name_or_file (str or file-like): The filepath of the
+            filepath (str or file-like): The filepath of the
                 DOM-style object or a file-like object containing it.
         """
         self.original_filepath = None
 
         # strings are interpreted as file location everything else is treated as
         # file-like object and passed to the xml parser directly
-        if isinstance(svg_file_name_or_file, str):
+        if isinstance(filepath, str):
             # remember location of original svg file if any
-            self.original_filepath = svg_file_name_or_file
-            if os.path.dirname(svg_file_name_or_file) == '':
+            self.original_filepath = filepath
+            if os.path.dirname(filepath) == '':
                 self.original_filepath = os.path.join(
-                    os.getcwd(), svg_file_name_or_file)
+                    os.getcwd(), filepath)
 
-        if svg_file_name_or_file is None:
+        if filepath is None:
             self.tree = etree.ElementTree(Element('svg'))
         else:
             # parse svg to ElementTree object
-            self.tree = etree.parse(svg_file_name_or_file)
+            self.tree = etree.parse(filepath)
 
         self.root = self.tree.getroot()
 
diff --git a/svgpathtools/svg_to_paths.py b/svgpathtools/svg_to_paths.py
index 617e622..98d2b1d 100644
--- a/svgpathtools/svg_to_paths.py
+++ b/svgpathtools/svg_to_paths.py
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ def line2pathd(l):
     )
 
 
-def svg2paths(svg_file_name_or_file,
+def svg2paths(svg_file_location,
               return_svg_attributes=False,
               convert_circles_to_paths=True,
               convert_ellipses_to_paths=True,
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ def svg2paths(svg_file_name_or_file,
     SVG Path, Line, Polyline, Polygon, Circle, and Ellipse elements.
 
     Args:
-        svg_file_name_or_file (string or file-like object): the location of the
+        svg_file_location (string or file-like object): the location of the
             svg file on disk or a file-like object containing the content of a
             svg file
         return_svg_attributes (bool): Set to True and a dictionary of
@@ -173,12 +173,12 @@ def svg2paths(svg_file_name_or_file,
     """
     # strings are interpreted as file location everything else is treated as
     # file-like object and passed to the xml parser directly
-    if isinstance(svg_file_name_or_file, str):
-        if os_path.dirname(svg_file_name_or_file) == '':
-            svg_file_name_or_file = os_path.join(
-                getcwd(), svg_file_name_or_file)
+    if isinstance(svg_file_location, str):
+        if os_path.dirname(svg_file_location) == '':
+            svg_file_location = os_path.join(
+                getcwd(), svg_file_location)
 
-    doc = parse(svg_file_name_or_file)
+    doc = parse(svg_file_location)
 
     def dom2dict(element):
         """Converts DOM elements to dictionaries of attributes."""
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ def svg2paths(svg_file_name_or_file,
         return path_list, attribute_dictionary_list
 
 
-def svg2paths2(svg_file_name_or_file,
+def svg2paths2(svg_file_location,
                return_svg_attributes=True,
                convert_circles_to_paths=True,
                convert_ellipses_to_paths=True,
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def svg2paths2(svg_file_name_or_file,
     """Convenience function; identical to svg2paths() except that
     return_svg_attributes=True by default.  See svg2paths() docstring for more
     info."""
-    return svg2paths(svg_file_name_or_file=svg_file_name_or_file,
+    return svg2paths(svg_file_location=svg_file_location,
                      return_svg_attributes=return_svg_attributes,
                      convert_circles_to_paths=convert_circles_to_paths,
                      convert_ellipses_to_paths=convert_ellipses_to_paths,
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ def svg_string2paths(svg_string,
     info."""
     # wrap string into StringIO object
     svg_file_obj = StringIO(svg_string)
-    return svg2paths(svg_file_name_or_file=svg_file_obj,
+    return svg2paths(svg_file_location=svg_file_obj,
                      return_svg_attributes=return_svg_attributes,
                      convert_circles_to_paths=convert_circles_to_paths,
                      convert_ellipses_to_paths=convert_ellipses_to_paths,