diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c9b964fb..ae9a1a76 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ This is the lowest-level Mentat crate. It collects together the following things
 
 - Fundamental domain-specific data structures like `ValueType` and `TypedValue`.
 - Fundamental SQL-related linkages like `SQLValueType`. These encode the mapping between Mentat's types and values and their representation in our SQLite format.
-- Conversion to and from EDN types (_e.g._, `edn::NamespacedKeyword` to `TypedValue::Keyword`).
+- Conversion to and from EDN types (_e.g._, `edn::Keyword` to `TypedValue::Keyword`).
 - Common utilities (some in the `util` module, and others that should be moved there or broken out) like `Either`, `InternSet`, and `RcCounter`.
 - Reusable lazy namespaced keywords (_e.g._, `DB_TYPE_DOUBLE`) that are used by `mentat_db` and EDN serialization of core structs.
 
diff --git a/core/src/lib.rs b/core/src/lib.rs
index 6353833f..bf2446c8 100644
--- a/core/src/lib.rs
+++ b/core/src/lib.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ pub use chrono::{
 
 pub use edn::{
     FromMicros,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     ToMicros,
     Utc,
 };
@@ -180,10 +180,10 @@ impl Attribute {
         flags
     }
 
-    pub fn to_edn_value(&self, ident: Option<NamespacedKeyword>) -> edn::Value {
+    pub fn to_edn_value(&self, ident: Option<Keyword>) -> edn::Value {
         let mut attribute_map: BTreeMap<edn::Value, edn::Value> = BTreeMap::default();
         if let Some(ident) = ident {
-            attribute_map.insert(values::DB_IDENT.clone(), edn::Value::NamespacedKeyword(ident));
+            attribute_map.insert(values::DB_IDENT.clone(), edn::Value::Keyword(ident));
         }
 
         attribute_map.insert(values::DB_VALUE_TYPE.clone(), self.value_type.into_edn_value());
@@ -231,11 +231,11 @@ impl Default for Attribute {
     }
 }
 
-/// Map `NamespacedKeyword` idents (`:db/ident`) to positive integer entids (`1`).
-pub type IdentMap = BTreeMap<NamespacedKeyword, Entid>;
+/// Map `Keyword` idents (`:db/ident`) to positive integer entids (`1`).
+pub type IdentMap = BTreeMap<Keyword, Entid>;
 
-/// Map positive integer entids (`1`) to `NamespacedKeyword` idents (`:db/ident`).
-pub type EntidMap = BTreeMap<Entid, NamespacedKeyword>;
+/// Map positive integer entids (`1`) to `Keyword` idents (`:db/ident`).
+pub type EntidMap = BTreeMap<Entid, Keyword>;
 
 /// Map attribute entids to `Attribute` instances.
 pub type AttributeMap = BTreeMap<Entid, Attribute>;
@@ -273,18 +273,18 @@ pub struct Schema {
 pub trait HasSchema {
     fn entid_for_type(&self, t: ValueType) -> Option<KnownEntid>;
 
-    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&NamespacedKeyword> where T: Into<Entid>;
-    fn get_entid(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<KnownEntid>;
+    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&Keyword> where T: Into<Entid>;
+    fn get_entid(&self, x: &Keyword) -> Option<KnownEntid>;
     fn attribute_for_entid<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&Attribute> where T: Into<Entid>;
 
     // Returns the attribute and the entid named by the provided ident.
-    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)>;
+    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)>;
 
     /// Return true if the provided entid identifies an attribute in this schema.
     fn is_attribute<T>(&self, x: T) -> bool where T: Into<Entid>;
 
     /// Return true if the provided ident identifies an attribute in this schema.
-    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> bool;
+    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &Keyword) -> bool;
 
     fn component_attributes(&self) -> &[Entid];
 }
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ impl Schema {
             .collect())
     }
 
-    fn get_raw_entid(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<Entid> {
+    fn get_raw_entid(&self, x: &Keyword) -> Option<Entid> {
         self.ident_map.get(x).map(|x| *x)
     }
 
@@ -325,11 +325,11 @@ impl HasSchema for Schema {
         self.get_entid(&t.into_keyword())
     }
 
-    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&NamespacedKeyword> where T: Into<Entid> {
+    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&Keyword> where T: Into<Entid> {
         self.entid_map.get(&x.into())
     }
 
-    fn get_entid(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
+    fn get_entid(&self, x: &Keyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
         self.get_raw_entid(x).map(KnownEntid)
     }
 
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ impl HasSchema for Schema {
         self.attribute_map.get(&x.into())
     }
 
-    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)> {
+    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)> {
         self.get_raw_entid(&ident)
             .and_then(|entid| {
                 self.attribute_for_entid(entid).map(|a| (a, KnownEntid(entid)))
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@ impl HasSchema for Schema {
     }
 
     /// Return true if the provided ident identifies an attribute in this schema.
-    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> bool {
+    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &Keyword) -> bool {
         self.get_raw_entid(x).map(|e| self.is_attribute(e)).unwrap_or(false)
     }
 
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ mod test {
 
     use std::str::FromStr;
 
-    fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: NamespacedKeyword, e: Entid) {
+    fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: Keyword, e: Entid) {
         schema.entid_map.insert(e, i.clone());
         schema.ident_map.insert(i, e);
     }
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ mod test {
             component: false,
             no_history: true,
         };
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 97);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 97);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 97, attr1);
 
         let attr2 = Attribute {
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ mod test {
             component: false,
             no_history: false,
         };
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bas"), 98);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bas"), 98);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 98, attr2);
 
         let attr3 = Attribute {
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ mod test {
             no_history: false,
         };
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bat"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bat"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, attr3);
 
         let value = schema.to_edn_value();
diff --git a/core/src/types.rs b/core/src/types.rs
index ff9fb33e..01690b34 100644
--- a/core/src/types.rs
+++ b/core/src/types.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ use ::indexmap::{
 use ::edn::{
     self,
     FromMicros,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Utc,
 };
 
@@ -205,8 +205,8 @@ impl ::enum_set::CLike for ValueType {
 }
 
 impl ValueType {
-    pub fn into_keyword(self) -> NamespacedKeyword {
-        NamespacedKeyword::new("db.type", match self {
+    pub fn into_keyword(self) -> Keyword {
+        Keyword::namespaced("db.type", match self {
             ValueType::Ref => "ref",
             ValueType::Boolean => "boolean",
             ValueType::Instant => "instant",
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ pub enum TypedValue {
     Instant(DateTime<Utc>),               // Use `into()` to ensure truncation.
     // TODO: &str throughout?
     String(ValueRc<String>),
-    Keyword(ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>),
+    Keyword(ValueRc<Keyword>),
     Uuid(Uuid),                        // It's only 128 bits, so this should be acceptable to clone.
 }
 
@@ -335,23 +335,23 @@ impl Binding {
 /// We entirely support the former, and partially support the latter -- you can alias
 /// using a different keyword only.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Default, Eq, PartialEq)]
-pub struct StructuredMap(pub IndexMap<ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>, Binding>);
+pub struct StructuredMap(pub IndexMap<ValueRc<Keyword>, Binding>);
 
 impl StructuredMap {
-    pub fn insert<N, B>(&mut self, name: N, value: B) where N: Into<ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>>, B: Into<Binding> {
+    pub fn insert<N, B>(&mut self, name: N, value: B) where N: Into<ValueRc<Keyword>>, B: Into<Binding> {
         self.0.insert(name.into(), value.into());
     }
 }
 
-impl From<IndexMap<ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>, Binding>> for StructuredMap {
-    fn from(src: IndexMap<ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>, Binding>) -> Self {
+impl From<IndexMap<ValueRc<Keyword>, Binding>> for StructuredMap {
+    fn from(src: IndexMap<ValueRc<Keyword>, Binding>) -> Self {
         StructuredMap(src)
     }
 }
 
 // Mostly for testing.
-impl<T> From<Vec<(NamespacedKeyword, T)>> for StructuredMap where T: Into<Binding> {
-    fn from(value: Vec<(NamespacedKeyword, T)>) -> Self {
+impl<T> From<Vec<(Keyword, T)>> for StructuredMap where T: Into<Binding> {
+    fn from(value: Vec<(Keyword, T)>) -> Self {
         let mut sm = StructuredMap::default();
         for (k, v) in value.into_iter() {
             sm.insert(k, v);
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ impl TypedValue {
     /// values and wrapping them in a new `ValueRc`. This is expensive, so this might
     /// be best limited to tests.
     pub fn typed_ns_keyword(ns: &str, name: &str) -> TypedValue {
-        NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, name).into()
+        Keyword::namespaced(ns, name).into()
     }
 
     /// Construct a new `TypedValue::String` instance by cloning the provided
@@ -509,20 +509,20 @@ impl From<String> for TypedValue {
     }
 }
 
-impl From<Arc<NamespacedKeyword>> for TypedValue {
-    fn from(value: Arc<NamespacedKeyword>) -> TypedValue {
+impl From<Arc<Keyword>> for TypedValue {
+    fn from(value: Arc<Keyword>) -> TypedValue {
         TypedValue::Keyword(ValueRc::from_arc(value))
     }
 }
 
-impl From<Rc<NamespacedKeyword>> for TypedValue {
-    fn from(value: Rc<NamespacedKeyword>) -> TypedValue {
+impl From<Rc<Keyword>> for TypedValue {
+    fn from(value: Rc<Keyword>) -> TypedValue {
         TypedValue::Keyword(ValueRc::from_rc(value))
     }
 }
 
-impl From<NamespacedKeyword> for TypedValue {
-    fn from(value: NamespacedKeyword) -> TypedValue {
+impl From<Keyword> for TypedValue {
+    fn from(value: Keyword) -> TypedValue {
         TypedValue::Keyword(ValueRc::new(value))
     }
 }
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ impl TypedValue {
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn into_kw(self) -> Option<ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>> {
+    pub fn into_kw(self) -> Option<ValueRc<Keyword>> {
         match self {
             TypedValue::Keyword(v) => Some(v),
             _ => None,
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ impl Binding {
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn into_kw(self) -> Option<ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>> {
+    pub fn into_kw(self) -> Option<ValueRc<Keyword>> {
         match self {
             Binding::Scalar(TypedValue::Keyword(v)) => Some(v),
             _ => None,
diff --git a/core/src/values.rs b/core/src/values.rs
index e8eb2ba7..555e4098 100644
--- a/core/src/values.rs
+++ b/core/src/values.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 use edn::types::Value;
 use edn::symbols;
 
-/// Declare a lazy static `ident` of type `Value::NamespacedKeyword` with the given `namespace` and
+/// Declare a lazy static `ident` of type `Value::Keyword` with the given `namespace` and
 /// `name`.
 ///
 /// It may look surprising that we declare a new `lazy_static!` block rather than including
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ macro_rules! lazy_static_namespaced_keyword_value (
     ($tag:ident, $namespace:expr, $name:expr) => (
         lazy_static! {
             pub static ref $tag: Value = {
-                Value::NamespacedKeyword(symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new($namespace, $name))
+                Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::namespaced($namespace, $name))
             };
         }
     )
diff --git a/db/src/bootstrap.rs b/db/src/bootstrap.rs
index 758c2127..c35f041c 100644
--- a/db/src/bootstrap.rs
+++ b/db/src/bootstrap.rs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ pub const USER0: i64 = 0x10000;
 pub const CORE_SCHEMA_VERSION: u32 = 1;
 
 lazy_static! {
-    static ref V1_IDENTS: [(symbols::NamespacedKeyword, i64); 40] = {
+    static ref V1_IDENTS: [(symbols::Keyword, i64); 40] = {
             [(ns_keyword!("db", "ident"),             entids::DB_IDENT),
              (ns_keyword!("db.part", "db"),           entids::DB_PART_DB),
              (ns_keyword!("db", "txInstant"),         entids::DB_TX_INSTANT),
@@ -82,14 +82,14 @@ lazy_static! {
         ]
     };
 
-    static ref V1_PARTS: [(symbols::NamespacedKeyword, i64, i64); 3] = {
+    static ref V1_PARTS: [(symbols::Keyword, i64, i64); 3] = {
             [(ns_keyword!("db.part", "db"), 0, (1 + V1_IDENTS.len()) as i64),
              (ns_keyword!("db.part", "user"), USER0, USER0),
              (ns_keyword!("db.part", "tx"), TX0, TX0),
         ]
     };
 
-    static ref V1_CORE_SCHEMA: [(symbols::NamespacedKeyword); 16] = {
+    static ref V1_CORE_SCHEMA: [(symbols::Keyword); 16] = {
             [(ns_keyword!("db", "ident")),
              (ns_keyword!("db.install", "partition")),
              (ns_keyword!("db.install", "valueType")),
@@ -162,25 +162,25 @@ lazy_static! {
 }
 
 /// Convert (ident, entid) pairs into [:db/add IDENT :db/ident IDENT] `Value` instances.
-fn idents_to_assertions(idents: &[(symbols::NamespacedKeyword, i64)]) -> Vec<Value> {
+fn idents_to_assertions(idents: &[(symbols::Keyword, i64)]) -> Vec<Value> {
     idents
         .into_iter()
         .map(|&(ref ident, _)| {
-            let value = Value::NamespacedKeyword(ident.clone());
+            let value = Value::Keyword(ident.clone());
             Value::Vector(vec![values::DB_ADD.clone(), value.clone(), values::DB_IDENT.clone(), value.clone()])
         })
         .collect()
 }
 
 /// Convert an ident list into [:db/add :db.schema/core :db.schema/attribute IDENT] `Value` instances.
-fn schema_attrs_to_assertions(version: u32, idents: &[symbols::NamespacedKeyword]) -> Vec<Value> {
-    let schema_core = Value::NamespacedKeyword(ns_keyword!("db.schema", "core"));
-    let schema_attr = Value::NamespacedKeyword(ns_keyword!("db.schema", "attribute"));
-    let schema_version = Value::NamespacedKeyword(ns_keyword!("db.schema", "version"));
+fn schema_attrs_to_assertions(version: u32, idents: &[symbols::Keyword]) -> Vec<Value> {
+    let schema_core = Value::Keyword(ns_keyword!("db.schema", "core"));
+    let schema_attr = Value::Keyword(ns_keyword!("db.schema", "attribute"));
+    let schema_version = Value::Keyword(ns_keyword!("db.schema", "version"));
     idents
         .into_iter()
         .map(|ident| {
-            let value = Value::NamespacedKeyword(ident.clone());
+            let value = Value::Keyword(ident.clone());
             Value::Vector(vec![values::DB_ADD.clone(),
                                schema_core.clone(),
                                schema_attr.clone(),
@@ -194,28 +194,28 @@ fn schema_attrs_to_assertions(version: u32, idents: &[symbols::NamespacedKeyword
 }
 
 /// Convert {:ident {:key :value ...} ...} to
-/// vec![(symbols::NamespacedKeyword(:ident), symbols::NamespacedKeyword(:key), TypedValue(:value)), ...].
+/// vec![(symbols::Keyword(:ident), symbols::Keyword(:key), TypedValue(:value)), ...].
 ///
 /// Such triples are closer to what the transactor will produce when processing attribute
 /// assertions.
-fn symbolic_schema_to_triples(ident_map: &IdentMap, symbolic_schema: &Value) -> Result<Vec<(symbols::NamespacedKeyword, symbols::NamespacedKeyword, TypedValue)>> {
+fn symbolic_schema_to_triples(ident_map: &IdentMap, symbolic_schema: &Value) -> Result<Vec<(symbols::Keyword, symbols::Keyword, TypedValue)>> {
     // Failure here is a coding error, not a runtime error.
-    let mut triples: Vec<(symbols::NamespacedKeyword, symbols::NamespacedKeyword, TypedValue)> = vec![];
+    let mut triples: Vec<(symbols::Keyword, symbols::Keyword, TypedValue)> = vec![];
     // TODO: Consider `flat_map` and `map` rather than loop.
     match *symbolic_schema {
         Value::Map(ref m) => {
             for (ident, mp) in m {
                 let ident = match ident {
-                    &Value::NamespacedKeyword(ref ident) => ident,
-                    _ => bail!(ErrorKind::BadBootstrapDefinition(format!("Expected namespaced keyword for ident but got '{:?}'", ident)))
+                    &Value::Keyword(ref ident) => ident,
+                    v => bail!(ErrorKind::BadBootstrapDefinition(format!("Expected namespaced keyword for ident but got '{:?}'", ident))),
                 };
                 match *mp {
                     Value::Map(ref mpp) => {
                         for (attr, value) in mpp {
                             let attr = match attr {
-                                &Value::NamespacedKeyword(ref attr) => attr,
-                                _ => bail!(ErrorKind::BadBootstrapDefinition(format!("Expected namespaced keyword for attr but got '{:?}'", attr)))
-                            };
+                                &Value::Keyword(ref attr) => attr,
+                                _ => bail!(ErrorKind::BadBootstrapDefinition(format!("Expected namespaced keyword for attr but got '{:?}'", attr))),
+                        };
 
                             // We have symbolic idents but the transactor handles entids.  Ad-hoc
                             // convert right here.  This is a fundamental limitation on the
@@ -286,19 +286,19 @@ pub(crate) fn bootstrap_ident_map() -> IdentMap {
 
 pub(crate) fn bootstrap_schema() -> Schema {
     let ident_map = bootstrap_ident_map();
-    let bootstrap_triples = symbolic_schema_to_triples(&ident_map, &V1_SYMBOLIC_SCHEMA).unwrap();
+    let bootstrap_triples = symbolic_schema_to_triples(&ident_map, &V1_SYMBOLIC_SCHEMA).expect("symbolic schema");
     Schema::from_ident_map_and_triples(ident_map, bootstrap_triples).unwrap()
 }
 
 pub(crate) fn bootstrap_entities() -> Vec<Entity> {
     let bootstrap_assertions: Value = Value::Vector([
-        symbolic_schema_to_assertions(&V1_SYMBOLIC_SCHEMA).unwrap(),
+        symbolic_schema_to_assertions(&V1_SYMBOLIC_SCHEMA).expect("symbolic schema"),
         idents_to_assertions(&V1_IDENTS[..]),
         schema_attrs_to_assertions(CORE_SCHEMA_VERSION, V1_CORE_SCHEMA.as_ref()),
     ].concat());
 
     // Failure here is a coding error (since the inputs are fixed), not a runtime error.
     // TODO: represent these bootstrap data errors rather than just panicing.
-    let bootstrap_entities: Vec<Entity> = edn::parse::entities(&bootstrap_assertions.to_string()).unwrap();
+    let bootstrap_entities: Vec<Entity> = edn::parse::entities(&bootstrap_assertions.to_string()).expect("bootstrap assertions");
     return bootstrap_entities;
 }
diff --git a/db/src/db.rs b/db/src/db.rs
index 58729ccb..fe87b002 100644
--- a/db/src/db.rs
+++ b/db/src/db.rs
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ impl TypedSQLValue for TypedValue {
             &Value::Uuid(x) => Some(TypedValue::Uuid(x)),
             &Value::Float(ref x) => Some(TypedValue::Double(x.clone())),
             &Value::Text(ref x) => Some(x.clone().into()),
-            &Value::NamespacedKeyword(ref x) => Some(x.clone().into()),
+            &Value::Keyword(ref x) => Some(x.clone().into()),
             _ => None
         }
     }
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ impl TypedSQLValue for TypedValue {
             &TypedValue::Double(x) => (Value::Float(x), ValueType::Double),
             &TypedValue::String(ref x) => (Value::Text(x.as_ref().clone()), ValueType::String),
             &TypedValue::Uuid(ref u) => (Value::Uuid(u.clone()), ValueType::Uuid),
-            &TypedValue::Keyword(ref x) => (Value::NamespacedKeyword(x.as_ref().clone()), ValueType::Keyword),
+            &TypedValue::Keyword(ref x) => (Value::Keyword(x.as_ref().clone()), ValueType::Keyword),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -1155,7 +1155,7 @@ mod tests {
     use edn;
     use mentat_core::{
         HasSchema,
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         Schema,
         attribute,
     };
@@ -1840,7 +1840,7 @@ mod tests {
 
         // Once we've done so, the schema shows it's not unique…
         {
-            let attr = conn.schema.attribute_for_ident(&NamespacedKeyword::new("test", "ident")).unwrap().0;
+            let attr = conn.schema.attribute_for_ident(&Keyword::namespaced("test", "ident")).unwrap().0;
             assert_eq!(None, attr.unique);
         }
 
diff --git a/db/src/debug.rs b/db/src/debug.rs
index 403713b9..70e9b1d2 100644
--- a/db/src/debug.rs
+++ b/db/src/debug.rs
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ impl Datom {
         let f = |entid: &Entid| -> edn::Value {
             match *entid {
                 Entid::Entid(ref y) => edn::Value::Integer(y.clone()),
-                Entid::Ident(ref y) => edn::Value::NamespacedKeyword(y.clone()),
+                Entid::Ident(ref y) => edn::Value::Keyword(y.clone()),
             }
         };
 
diff --git a/db/src/internal_types.rs b/db/src/internal_types.rs
index 6766d831..a65c06a4 100644
--- a/db/src/internal_types.rs
+++ b/db/src/internal_types.rs
@@ -73,7 +73,14 @@ impl TransactableValue for ValueAndSpan {
         use self::SpannedValue::*;
         match self.inner {
             Integer(v) => Ok(EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId::Entid(entities::Entid::Entid(v))),
-            NamespacedKeyword(v) => Ok(EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId::Entid(entities::Entid::Ident(v))),
+            Keyword(v) => {
+                if v.is_namespaced() {
+                    Ok(EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId::Entid(entities::Entid::Ident(v)))
+                } else {
+                    // We only allow namespaced idents.
+                    bail!(ErrorKind::InputError(errors::InputError::BadEntityPlace))
+                }
+            },
             Text(v) => Ok(EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId::TempId(TempId::External(v))),
             List(ls) => {
                 let mut it = ls.iter();
@@ -102,7 +109,6 @@ impl TransactableValue for ValueAndSpan {
             Uuid(_) |
             PlainSymbol(_) |
             NamespacedSymbol(_) |
-            Keyword(_) |
             Vector(_) |
             Set(_) |
             Map(_) => bail!(ErrorKind::InputError(errors::InputError::BadEntityPlace)),
diff --git a/db/src/lib.rs b/db/src/lib.rs
index 9652a342..d5cf0476 100644
--- a/db/src/lib.rs
+++ b/db/src/lib.rs
@@ -98,16 +98,16 @@ pub use types::{
     TxReport,
 };
 
-pub fn to_namespaced_keyword(s: &str) -> Result<symbols::NamespacedKeyword> {
+pub fn to_namespaced_keyword(s: &str) -> Result<symbols::Keyword> {
     let splits = [':', '/'];
     let mut i = s.split(&splits[..]);
     let nsk = match (i.next(), i.next(), i.next(), i.next()) {
-        (Some(""), Some(namespace), Some(name), None) => Some(symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new(namespace, name)),
+        (Some(""), Some(namespace), Some(name), None) => Some(symbols::Keyword::namespaced(namespace, name)),
         _ => None,
     };
 
     // TODO Use custom ErrorKind https://github.com/brson/error-chain/issues/117
-    nsk.ok_or(ErrorKind::NotYetImplemented(format!("InvalidNamespacedKeyword: {}", s)).into())
+    nsk.ok_or(ErrorKind::NotYetImplemented(format!("InvalidKeyword: {}", s)).into())
 }
 
 /// Prepare an SQL `VALUES` block, like (?, ?, ?), (?, ?, ?).
diff --git a/db/src/metadata.rs b/db/src/metadata.rs
index 953a7bd6..9ac02067 100644
--- a/db/src/metadata.rs
+++ b/db/src/metadata.rs
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ pub enum AttributeAlteration {
 /// An alteration to an ident.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, Hash, Ord, PartialOrd, PartialEq)]
 pub enum IdentAlteration {
-    Ident(symbols::NamespacedKeyword),
+    Ident(symbols::Keyword),
 }
 
 /// Summarizes changes to metadata such as a a `Schema` and (in the future) a `PartitionMap`.
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ pub fn update_schema_from_entid_quadruples<U>(schema: &mut Schema, assertions: U
     // retracted at most once), which means all attribute alterations are simple changes from an old
     // value to a new value.
     let mut attribute_set: AddRetractAlterSet<(Entid, Entid), TypedValue> = AddRetractAlterSet::default();
-    let mut ident_set: AddRetractAlterSet<Entid, symbols::NamespacedKeyword> = AddRetractAlterSet::default();
+    let mut ident_set: AddRetractAlterSet<Entid, symbols::Keyword> = AddRetractAlterSet::default();
 
     for (e, a, typed_value, added) in assertions.into_iter() {
         // Here we handle :db/ident assertions.
diff --git a/db/src/schema.rs b/db/src/schema.rs
index bfa6589b..8ff2c19f 100644
--- a/db/src/schema.rs
+++ b/db/src/schema.rs
@@ -237,20 +237,20 @@ impl AttributeBuilder {
 }
 
 pub trait SchemaBuilding {
-    fn require_ident(&self, entid: Entid) -> Result<&symbols::NamespacedKeyword>;
-    fn require_entid(&self, ident: &symbols::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid>;
+    fn require_ident(&self, entid: Entid) -> Result<&symbols::Keyword>;
+    fn require_entid(&self, ident: &symbols::Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid>;
     fn require_attribute_for_entid(&self, entid: Entid) -> Result<&Attribute>;
     fn from_ident_map_and_attribute_map(ident_map: IdentMap, attribute_map: AttributeMap) -> Result<Schema>;
     fn from_ident_map_and_triples<U>(ident_map: IdentMap, assertions: U) -> Result<Schema>
-        where U: IntoIterator<Item=(symbols::NamespacedKeyword, symbols::NamespacedKeyword, TypedValue)>;
+        where U: IntoIterator<Item=(symbols::Keyword, symbols::Keyword, TypedValue)>;
 }
 
 impl SchemaBuilding for Schema {
-    fn require_ident(&self, entid: Entid) -> Result<&symbols::NamespacedKeyword> {
+    fn require_ident(&self, entid: Entid) -> Result<&symbols::Keyword> {
         self.get_ident(entid).ok_or(ErrorKind::UnrecognizedEntid(entid).into())
     }
 
-    fn require_entid(&self, ident: &symbols::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
+    fn require_entid(&self, ident: &symbols::Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
         self.get_entid(&ident).ok_or(ErrorKind::UnrecognizedIdent(ident.to_string()).into())
     }
 
@@ -266,9 +266,9 @@ impl SchemaBuilding for Schema {
         Ok(Schema::new(ident_map, entid_map, attribute_map))
     }
 
-    /// Turn vec![(NamespacedKeyword(:ident), NamespacedKeyword(:key), TypedValue(:value)), ...] into a Mentat `Schema`.
+    /// Turn vec![(Keyword(:ident), Keyword(:key), TypedValue(:value)), ...] into a Mentat `Schema`.
     fn from_ident_map_and_triples<U>(ident_map: IdentMap, assertions: U) -> Result<Schema>
-        where U: IntoIterator<Item=(symbols::NamespacedKeyword, symbols::NamespacedKeyword, TypedValue)>{
+        where U: IntoIterator<Item=(symbols::Keyword, symbols::Keyword, TypedValue)>{
 
         let entid_assertions: Result<Vec<(Entid, Entid, TypedValue)>> = assertions.into_iter().map(|(symbolic_ident, symbolic_attr, value)| {
             let ident: i64 = *ident_map.get(&symbolic_ident).ok_or(ErrorKind::UnrecognizedIdent(symbolic_ident.to_string()))?;
@@ -342,11 +342,11 @@ impl SchemaTypeChecking for Schema {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use super::*;
-    use self::edn::NamespacedKeyword;
+    use self::edn::Keyword;
     use errors::Error;
 
     fn add_attribute(schema: &mut Schema,
-            ident: NamespacedKeyword,
+            ident: Keyword,
             entid: Entid,
             attribute: Attribute) {
 
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ mod test {
     fn validate_attribute_map_success() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
         // attribute that is not an index has no uniqueness
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 97, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 97, Attribute {
             index: false,
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             fulltext: false,
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ mod test {
             no_history: false,
         });
         // attribute is unique by value and an index
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "baz"), 98, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "baz"), 98, Attribute {
             index: true,
             value_type: ValueType::Long,
             fulltext: false,
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ mod test {
             no_history: false,
         });
         // attribue is unique by identity and an index
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bat"), 99, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bat"), 99, Attribute {
             index: true,
             value_type: ValueType::Ref,
             fulltext: false,
@@ -394,7 +394,7 @@ mod test {
             no_history: false,
         });
         // attribute is a components and a `Ref`
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bak"), 100, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bak"), 100, Attribute {
             index: false,
             value_type: ValueType::Ref,
             fulltext: false,
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ mod test {
             no_history: false,
         });
         // fulltext attribute is a string and an index
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bap"), 101, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bap"), 101, Attribute {
             index: true,
             value_type: ValueType::String,
             fulltext: true,
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ mod test {
     fn invalid_schema_unique_value_not_index() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
         // attribute unique by value but not index
-        let ident = NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar");
+        let ident = Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar");
         add_attribute(&mut schema, ident , 99, Attribute {
             index: false,
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
@@ -445,7 +445,7 @@ mod test {
     fn invalid_schema_unique_identity_not_index() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
         // attribute is unique by identity but not index
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
             index: false,
             value_type: ValueType::Long,
             fulltext: false,
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ mod test {
     fn invalid_schema_component_not_ref() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
         // attribute that is a component is not a `Ref`
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
             index: false,
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             fulltext: false,
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ mod test {
     fn invalid_schema_fulltext_not_index() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
         // attribute that is fulltext is not an index
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
             index: false,
             value_type: ValueType::String,
             fulltext: true,
@@ -513,7 +513,7 @@ mod test {
     fn invalid_schema_fulltext_index_not_string() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
         // attribute that is fulltext and not a `String`
-        add_attribute(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
+        add_attribute(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99, Attribute {
             index: true,
             value_type: ValueType::Long,
             fulltext: true,
diff --git a/db/src/tx.rs b/db/src/tx.rs
index e48f132b..fdb51184 100644
--- a/db/src/tx.rs
+++ b/db/src/tx.rs
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ use db::{
     PartitionMapping,
 };
 use edn::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
 };
 use entids;
 use errors;
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ pub struct Tx<'conn, 'a, W> where W: TransactWatcher {
 /// something suitable for the entity position rather than something suitable for a value position.
 pub fn remove_db_id(map: &mut entmod::MapNotation) -> Result<Option<entmod::EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId>> {
     // TODO: extract lazy defined constant.
-    let db_id_key = entmod::Entid::Ident(NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "id"));
+    let db_id_key = entmod::Entid::Ident(Keyword::namespaced("db", "id"));
 
     let db_id: Option<entmod::EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId> = if let Some(id) = map.remove(&db_id_key) {
         match id {
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ impl<'conn, 'a, W> Tx<'conn, 'a, W> where W: TransactWatcher {
                 }
             }
 
-            fn ensure_ident_exists(&self, e: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
+            fn ensure_ident_exists(&self, e: &Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
                 self.schema.require_entid(e)
             }
 
diff --git a/db/tests/value_tests.rs b/db/tests/value_tests.rs
index 8385260f..4d76af6f 100644
--- a/db/tests/value_tests.rs
+++ b/db/tests/value_tests.rs
@@ -54,5 +54,5 @@ fn test_to_edn_value_pair() {
     assert_eq!(TypedValue::Double(OrderedFloat(0.5)).to_edn_value_pair(), (edn::Value::Float(OrderedFloat(0.5)), ValueType::Double));
 
     assert_eq!(TypedValue::typed_string(":db/keyword").to_edn_value_pair(), (edn::Value::Text(":db/keyword".into()), ValueType::String));
-    assert_eq!(TypedValue::typed_ns_keyword("db", "keyword").to_edn_value_pair(), (edn::Value::NamespacedKeyword(symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "keyword")), ValueType::Keyword));
+    assert_eq!(TypedValue::typed_ns_keyword("db", "keyword").to_edn_value_pair(), (edn::Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::namespaced("db", "keyword")), ValueType::Keyword));
 }
diff --git a/edn/Cargo.toml b/edn/Cargo.toml
index ed824bb8..f8a84597 100644
--- a/edn/Cargo.toml
+++ b/edn/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ uuid = { version = "0.5", features = ["v4", "serde"] }
 serde = { version = "1.0", optional = true }
 serde_derive = { version = "1.0", optional = true }
 
+[dev-dependencies]
+serde_test = "1.0"
+serde_json = "1.0"
+
 [features]
 serde_support = ["serde", "serde_derive"]
 
diff --git a/edn/src/edn.rustpeg b/edn/src/edn.rustpeg
index 6c3e2bd7..6689aab6 100644
--- a/edn/src/edn.rustpeg
+++ b/edn/src/edn.rustpeg
@@ -203,13 +203,13 @@ pub op -> OpType
     = ":db/add"     { OpType::Add }
     / ":db/retract" { OpType::Retract }
 
-raw_keyword -> NamespacedKeyword
-    = keyword_prefix ns:$(symbol_namespace) namespace_separator n:$(symbol_name) { NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, n) }
+raw_keyword -> Keyword
+    = keyword_prefix ns:$(symbol_namespace) namespace_separator n:$(symbol_name) { Keyword::namespaced(ns, n) }
 
-raw_forward_keyword -> NamespacedKeyword
+raw_forward_keyword -> Keyword
     = v:raw_keyword {? if v.is_forward() { Ok(v) } else { Err("expected :forward/keyword") } }
 
-raw_backward_keyword -> NamespacedKeyword
+raw_backward_keyword -> Keyword
     = v:raw_keyword {? if v.is_backward() { Ok(v) } else { Err("expected :backward/_keyword") } }
 
 entid -> Entid
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ lookup_ref -> LookupRef
     = "(" __ "lookup-ref" __ a:(entid) __ v:(value) __ ")" { LookupRef { a, v: v.without_spans() } }
 
 tx_function -> TxFunction
-    = "(" __ n:$(symbol_name) __ ")" { TxFunction { op: PlainSymbol::new(n) } }
+    = "(" __ n:$(symbol_name) __ ")" { TxFunction { op: PlainSymbol::plain(n) } }
 
 entity_place -> EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId
     = v:raw_text { EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId::TempId(TempId::External(v)) }
diff --git a/edn/src/entities.rs b/edn/src/entities.rs
index 4eba1912..7d22096d 100644
--- a/edn/src/entities.rs
+++ b/edn/src/entities.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::fmt;
 
 use symbols::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     PlainSymbol,
 };
 use types::{
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for TempId {
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, Hash, Ord, PartialOrd, PartialEq)]
 pub enum Entid {
     Entid(i64),
-    Ident(NamespacedKeyword),
+    Ident(Keyword),
 }
 
 impl Entid {
diff --git a/edn/src/lib.rs b/edn/src/lib.rs
index d1e382e2..f8423a37 100644
--- a/edn/src/lib.rs
+++ b/edn/src/lib.rs
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ extern crate serde;
 extern crate serde_derive;
 
 pub mod entities;
+// Intentionally not pub.
+mod namespaceable_name;
 pub mod symbols;
 pub mod types;
 pub mod pretty_print;
@@ -53,7 +55,6 @@ pub use types::{
 
 pub use symbols::{
     Keyword,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
     NamespacedSymbol,
     PlainSymbol,
 };
diff --git a/edn/src/namespaceable_name.rs b/edn/src/namespaceable_name.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..562a6b88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/edn/src/namespaceable_name.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,285 @@
+// Copyright 2018 Mozilla
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use
+// this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the
+// License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed
+// under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR
+// CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+
+use std::cmp::{
+    Ord,
+    Ordering,
+    PartialOrd,
+};
+
+use std::fmt;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde_support")]
+use serde::{
+    de::{self, Deserialize, Deserializer},
+    ser::{Serialize, Serializer}
+};
+
+// Data storage for both NamespaceableKeyword and NamespaceableSymbol.
+#[derive(Clone, Eq, Hash, PartialEq)]
+pub struct NamespaceableName {
+    // The bytes that make up the namespace followed directly by those
+    // that make up the name.
+    components: String,
+
+    // The index (in bytes) into `components` where the namespace ends and
+    // name begins.
+    //
+    // If this is zero, it means that this is _not_ a namespaced value!
+    //
+    // Important: The following invariants around `boundary` must be maintained
+    // for memory safety.
+    //
+    // 1. `boundary` must always be less than or equal to `components.len()`.
+    // 2. `boundary` must be byte index that points to a character boundary,
+    //     and not point into the middle of a utf8 codepoint. That is,
+    //    `components.is_char_boundary(boundary)` must always be true.
+    //
+    // These invariants are enforced by `NamespaceableName::namespaced()`, and since
+    // we never mutate `NamespaceableName`s, that's the only place we need to
+    // worry about them.
+    boundary: usize,
+}
+
+impl NamespaceableName {
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn plain<T>(name: T) -> Self where T: Into<String> {
+        let n = name.into();
+        assert!(!n.is_empty(), "Symbols and keywords cannot be unnamed.");
+
+        NamespaceableName {
+            components: n,
+            boundary: 0,
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn namespaced<N, T>(namespace: N, name: T) -> Self where N: AsRef<str>, T: AsRef<str> {
+        let n = name.as_ref();
+        let ns = namespace.as_ref();
+
+        // Note: These invariants are not required for safety. That is, if we
+        // decide to allow these we can safely remove them.
+        assert!(!n.is_empty(), "Symbols and keywords cannot be unnamed.");
+        assert!(!ns.is_empty(), "Symbols and keywords cannot have an empty non-null namespace.");
+
+        let mut dest = String::with_capacity(n.len() + ns.len());
+
+        dest.push_str(ns);
+        dest.push_str(n);
+
+        let boundary = ns.len();
+
+        NamespaceableName {
+            components: dest,
+            boundary: boundary,
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn dwim<N, T>(namespace: Option<N>, name: T) -> Self where N: AsRef<str>, T: AsRef<str> {
+        if let Some(ns) = namespace {
+            Self::namespaced(ns, name)
+        } else {
+            Self::plain(name.as_ref())
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_namespaced(&self) -> bool {
+        self.boundary > 0
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn is_backward(&self) -> bool {
+        self.name().starts_with('_')
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn is_forward(&self) -> bool {
+        !self.is_backward()
+    }
+
+    pub fn to_reversed(&self) -> NamespaceableName {
+        let name = self.name();
+
+        if name.starts_with('_') {
+            Self::dwim(self.namespace(), &name[1..])
+        } else {
+            Self::dwim(self.namespace(), &format!("_{}", name))
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn namespace(&self) -> Option<&str> {
+        if self.boundary > 0 {
+            Some(&self.components[0..self.boundary])
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn name(&self) -> &str {
+        if self.boundary == 0 {
+            &self.components
+        } else {
+            &self.components[self.boundary..]
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn components<'a>(&'a self) -> (&'a str, &'a str) {
+        self.components.split_at(self.boundary)
+    }
+}
+
+// We order by namespace then by name.
+// Non-namespaced values always sort before.
+impl PartialOrd for NamespaceableName {
+    fn partial_cmp(&self, other: &NamespaceableName) -> Option<Ordering> {
+        match (self.boundary, other.boundary) {
+            (0, 0) => self.components.partial_cmp(&other.components),
+            (0, _) => Some(Ordering::Less),
+            (_, 0) => Some(Ordering::Greater),
+            (_, _) => {
+                // Just use a lexicographic ordering.
+                self.components().partial_cmp(&other.components())
+            },
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Ord for NamespaceableName {
+    fn cmp(&self, other: &NamespaceableName) -> Ordering {
+        self.components().cmp(&other.components())
+    }
+}
+
+// We could derive this, but it's really hard to make sense of as-is.
+impl fmt::Debug for NamespaceableName {
+    fn fmt(&self, fmt: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        fmt.debug_struct("NamespaceableName")
+           .field("namespace", &self.namespace())
+           .field("name", &self.name())
+           .finish()
+    }
+}
+
+// This is convoluted, but the basic idea is that since we don't want to rely on our input being
+// correct, we'll need to implement a custom serializer no matter what (e.g. we can't just
+// `derive(Deserialize)` since `unsafe` code depends on `self.boundary` being a valid index).
+//
+// We'd also like for users consuming our serialized data as e.g. JSON not to have to learn how we
+// store NamespaceableName internally, since it's very much an implementation detail.
+//
+// We achieve both of these by implemeting a type that can serialize in way that's both user-
+// friendly and automatic (e.g. `derive`d), and just pass all work off to it in our custom
+// implementation of Serialize and Deserialize.
+#[cfg(feature = "serde_support")]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde_support", serde(rename = "NamespaceableName"))]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde_support", derive(Serialize, Deserialize))]
+struct SerializedNamespaceableName<'a> {
+    namespace: Option<&'a str>,
+    name: &'a str,
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde_support")]
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for NamespaceableName {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error> where D: Deserializer<'de> {
+        let separated = SerializedNamespaceableName::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+        if separated.name.len() == 0 {
+            return Err(de::Error::custom("Empty name in keyword or symbol"));
+        }
+        if let Some(ns) = separated.namespace {
+            if ns.len() == 0 {
+                Err(de::Error::custom("Empty but present namespace in keyword or symbol"))
+            } else {
+                Ok(NamespaceableName::namespaced(ns, separated.name))
+            }
+        } else {
+            Ok(NamespaceableName::plain(separated.name))
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde_support")]
+impl Serialize for NamespaceableName {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error> where S: Serializer {
+        let ser = SerializedNamespaceableName {
+            namespace: self.namespace(),
+            name: self.name(),
+        };
+        ser.serialize(serializer)
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use super::*;
+    use std::panic;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_new_invariants_maintained() {
+        assert!(panic::catch_unwind(|| NamespaceableName::namespaced("", "foo")).is_err(),
+                "Empty namespace should panic");
+        assert!(panic::catch_unwind(|| NamespaceableName::namespaced("foo", "")).is_err(),
+                "Empty name should panic");
+        assert!(panic::catch_unwind(|| NamespaceableName::namespaced("", "")).is_err(),
+                "Should panic if both fields are empty");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_basic() {
+        let s = NamespaceableName::namespaced("aaaaa", "b");
+        assert_eq!(s.namespace(), Some("aaaaa"));
+        assert_eq!(s.name(), "b");
+        assert_eq!(s.components(), ("aaaaa", "b"));
+
+        let s = NamespaceableName::namespaced("b", "aaaaa");
+        assert_eq!(s.namespace(), Some("b"));
+        assert_eq!(s.name(), "aaaaa");
+        assert_eq!(s.components(), ("b", "aaaaa"));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_order() {
+        let n0 = NamespaceableName::namespaced("a", "aa");
+        let n1 = NamespaceableName::namespaced("aa", "a");
+
+        let n2 = NamespaceableName::namespaced("a", "ab");
+        let n3 = NamespaceableName::namespaced("aa", "b");
+
+        let n4 = NamespaceableName::namespaced("b", "ab");
+        let n5 = NamespaceableName::namespaced("ba", "b");
+
+        let n6 = NamespaceableName::namespaced("z", "zz");
+
+        let mut arr = [
+            n5.clone(),
+            n6.clone(),
+            n0.clone(),
+            n3.clone(),
+            n2.clone(),
+            n1.clone(),
+            n4.clone()
+        ];
+
+        arr.sort();
+
+        assert_eq!(arr, [
+            n0.clone(),
+            n2.clone(),
+            n1.clone(),
+            n3.clone(),
+            n4.clone(),
+            n5.clone(),
+            n6.clone(),
+        ]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/edn/src/pretty_print.rs b/edn/src/pretty_print.rs
index e2669f5d..8c579a48 100644
--- a/edn/src/pretty_print.rs
+++ b/edn/src/pretty_print.rs
@@ -68,10 +68,9 @@ impl Value {
                     .append(pp.text("}"))
                     .group()
             }
-            Value::NamespacedSymbol(ref v) => pp.text(v.namespace.as_ref()).append("/").append(v.name.as_ref()),
-            Value::PlainSymbol(ref v) => pp.text(v.0.as_ref()),
-            Value::NamespacedKeyword(ref v) => pp.text(":").append(v.namespace.as_ref()).append("/").append(v.name.as_ref()),
-            Value::Keyword(ref v) => pp.text(":").append(v.0.as_ref()),
+            Value::NamespacedSymbol(ref v) => pp.text(v.namespace()).append("/").append(v.name()),
+            Value::PlainSymbol(ref v) => pp.text(v.to_string()),
+            Value::Keyword(ref v) => pp.text(v.to_string()),
             Value::Text(ref v) => pp.text("\"").append(v.as_ref()).append("\""),
             Value::Uuid(ref u) => pp.text("#uuid \"").append(u.hyphenated().to_string()).append("\""),
             Value::Instant(ref v) => pp.text("#inst \"").append(v.to_rfc3339_opts(SecondsFormat::AutoSi, true)).append("\""),
diff --git a/edn/src/symbols.rs b/edn/src/symbols.rs
index 032c4741..9c2c2cb9 100644
--- a/edn/src/symbols.rs
+++ b/edn/src/symbols.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright 2016 Mozilla
+// Copyright 2018 Mozilla
 //
 // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use
 // this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the
@@ -9,11 +9,12 @@
 // specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 
 use std::fmt::{Display, Formatter};
+use namespaceable_name::NamespaceableName;
 
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! ns_keyword {
     ($ns: expr, $name: expr) => {{
-        $crate::NamespacedKeyword::new($ns, $name)
+        $crate::Keyword::namespaced($ns, $name)
     }}
 }
 
@@ -22,12 +23,7 @@ macro_rules! ns_keyword {
 pub struct PlainSymbol(pub String);
 
 #[derive(Clone,Debug,Eq,Hash,Ord,PartialOrd,PartialEq)]
-pub struct NamespacedSymbol {
-    // We derive PartialOrd, which implements a lexicographic based
-    // on the order of members, so put namespace first.
-    pub namespace: String,
-    pub name: String,
-}
+pub struct NamespacedSymbol(NamespaceableName);
 
 /// A keyword is a symbol, optionally with a namespace, that prints with a leading colon.
 /// This concept is imported from Clojure, as it features in EDN and the query
@@ -50,12 +46,12 @@ pub struct NamespacedSymbol {
 ///
 /// ```rust
 /// # use edn::symbols::Keyword;
-/// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedKeyword;
-/// let bar     = Keyword::new("bar");                         // :bar
-/// let foo_bar = NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar");        // :foo/bar
-/// assert_eq!("bar", bar.0);
-/// assert_eq!("bar", foo_bar.name);
-/// assert_eq!("foo", foo_bar.namespace);
+/// let bar     = Keyword::plain("bar");                         // :bar
+/// let foo_bar = Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar");        // :foo/bar
+/// assert_eq!("bar", bar.name());
+/// assert_eq!(None, bar.namespace());
+/// assert_eq!("bar", foo_bar.name());
+/// assert_eq!(Some("foo"), foo_bar.namespace());
 /// ```
 ///
 /// If you're not sure whether your input is well-formed, you should use a
@@ -66,20 +62,12 @@ pub struct NamespacedSymbol {
 ///
 /// Future: fast equality (interning?) for keywords.
 ///
-#[derive(Clone,Debug,Eq,Hash,Ord,PartialOrd,PartialEq)]
-pub struct Keyword(pub String);
-
 #[derive(Clone,Debug,Eq,Hash,Ord,PartialOrd,PartialEq)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde_support", derive(Serialize, Deserialize))]
-pub struct NamespacedKeyword {
-    // We derive PartialOrd, which implements a lexicographic order based
-    // on the order of members, so put namespace first.
-    pub namespace: String,
-    pub name: String,
-}
+pub struct Keyword(NamespaceableName);
 
 impl PlainSymbol {
-    pub fn new<T>(name: T) -> Self where T: Into<String> {
+    pub fn plain<T>(name: T) -> Self where T: Into<String> {
         let n = name.into();
         assert!(!n.is_empty(), "Symbols cannot be unnamed.");
 
@@ -90,11 +78,11 @@ impl PlainSymbol {
     ///
     /// ```rust
     /// # use edn::symbols::PlainSymbol;
-    /// assert_eq!("foo", PlainSymbol::new("?foo").plain_name());
-    /// assert_eq!("foo", PlainSymbol::new("$foo").plain_name());
-    /// assert_eq!("!foo", PlainSymbol::new("!foo").plain_name());
+    /// assert_eq!("foo", PlainSymbol::plain("?foo").name());
+    /// assert_eq!("foo", PlainSymbol::plain("$foo").name());
+    /// assert_eq!("!foo", PlainSymbol::plain("!foo").name());
     /// ```
-    pub fn plain_name(&self) -> &str {
+    pub fn name(&self) -> &str {
         if self.is_src_symbol() || self.is_var_symbol() {
             &self.0[1..]
         } else {
@@ -114,52 +102,68 @@ impl PlainSymbol {
 }
 
 impl NamespacedSymbol {
-    pub fn new<T>(namespace: T, name: T) -> Self where T: Into<String> {
-        let n = name.into();
-        let ns = namespace.into();
+    pub fn namespaced<N, T>(namespace: N, name: T) -> Self where N: AsRef<str>, T: AsRef<str> {
+        let r = namespace.as_ref();
+        assert!(!r.is_empty(), "Namespaced symbols cannot have an empty non-null namespace.");
+        NamespacedSymbol(NamespaceableName::namespaced(r, name))
+    }
 
-        assert!(!n.is_empty(), "Symbols cannot be unnamed.");
-        assert!(!ns.is_empty(), "Symbols cannot have an empty non-null namespace.");
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn name(&self) -> &str {
+        self.0.name()
+    }
 
-        NamespacedSymbol { name: n, namespace: ns }
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn namespace(&self) -> &str {
+        self.0.namespace().unwrap()
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn components<'a>(&'a self) -> (&'a str, &'a str) {
+        self.0.components()
     }
 }
 
 impl Keyword {
-    pub fn new<T>(name: T) -> Self where T: Into<String> {
-        let n = name.into();
-        assert!(!n.is_empty(), "Keywords cannot be unnamed.");
-
-        Keyword(n)
+    pub fn plain<T>(name: T) -> Self where T: Into<String> {
+        Keyword(NamespaceableName::plain(name))
     }
 }
 
-impl NamespacedKeyword {
-    /// Creates a new `NamespacedKeyword`.
+impl Keyword {
+    /// Creates a new `Keyword`.
     ///
     /// # Examples
     ///
     /// ```rust
-    /// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedKeyword;
-    /// let keyword = NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar");
+    /// # use edn::symbols::Keyword;
+    /// let keyword = Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar");
     /// assert_eq!(keyword.to_string(), ":foo/bar");
     /// ```
     ///
     /// See also the `kw!` macro in the main `mentat` crate.
-    pub fn new<T>(namespace: T, name: T) -> Self where T: Into<String> {
-        let n = name.into();
-        let ns = namespace.into();
-        assert!(!n.is_empty(), "Keywords cannot be unnamed.");
-        assert!(!ns.is_empty(), "Keywords cannot have an empty non-null namespace.");
-
-        // TODO: debug asserts to ensure that neither field matches [ :/].
-        NamespacedKeyword {
-            name: n,
-            namespace: ns,
-        }
+    pub fn namespaced<N, T>(namespace: N, name: T) -> Self where N: AsRef<str>, T: AsRef<str> {
+        let r = namespace.as_ref();
+        assert!(!r.is_empty(), "Namespaced keywords cannot have an empty non-null namespace.");
+        Keyword(NamespaceableName::namespaced(r, name))
     }
 
-    /// Whether this `NamespacedKeyword` should be interpreted in reverse order. For example,
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn name(&self) -> &str {
+        self.0.name()
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn namespace(&self) -> Option<&str> {
+        self.0.namespace()
+    }
+
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn components<'a>(&'a self) -> (&'a str, &'a str) {
+        self.0.components()
+    }
+
+    /// Whether this `Keyword` should be interpreted in reverse order. For example,
     /// the two following snippets are identical:
     ///
     /// ```edn
@@ -173,38 +177,46 @@ impl NamespacedKeyword {
     /// # Examples
     ///
     /// ```rust
-    /// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedKeyword;
-    /// assert!(!NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar").is_backward());
-    /// assert!(NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "_bar").is_backward());
+    /// # use edn::symbols::Keyword;
+    /// assert!(!Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar").is_backward());
+    /// assert!(Keyword::namespaced("foo", "_bar").is_backward());
     /// ```
     #[inline]
     pub fn is_backward(&self) -> bool {
-        self.name.starts_with('_')
+        self.0.is_backward()
     }
 
-    /// Whether this `NamespacedKeyword` should be interpreted in forward order.
-    /// See `symbols::NamespacedKeyword::is_backward`.
+    /// Whether this `Keyword` should be interpreted in forward order.
+    /// See `symbols::Keyword::is_backward`.
     ///
     /// # Examples
     ///
     /// ```rust
-    /// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedKeyword;
-    /// assert!(NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar").is_forward());
-    /// assert!(!NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "_bar").is_forward());
+    /// # use edn::symbols::Keyword;
+    /// assert!(Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar").is_forward());
+    /// assert!(!Keyword::namespaced("foo", "_bar").is_forward());
     /// ```
     #[inline]
     pub fn is_forward(&self) -> bool {
-        !self.is_backward()
+        self.0.is_forward()
     }
 
-    /// Returns a `NamespacedKeyword` with the same namespace and a
-    /// 'backward' name. See `symbols::NamespacedKeyword::is_backward`.
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn is_namespaced(&self) -> bool {
+        self.0.is_namespaced()
+    }
+
+    /// Returns a `Keyword` with the same namespace and a
+    /// 'backward' name. See `symbols::Keyword::is_backward`.
+    ///
+    /// Returns a forward name if passed a reversed keyword; i.e., this
+    /// function is its own inverse.
     ///
     /// # Examples
     ///
     /// ```rust
-    /// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedKeyword;
-    /// let nsk = NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar");
+    /// # use edn::symbols::Keyword;
+    /// let nsk = Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar");
     /// assert!(!nsk.is_backward());
     /// assert_eq!(":foo/bar", nsk.to_string());
     ///
@@ -212,38 +224,26 @@ impl NamespacedKeyword {
     /// assert!(reversed.is_backward());
     /// assert_eq!(":foo/_bar", reversed.to_string());
     /// ```
-    pub fn to_reversed(&self) -> NamespacedKeyword {
-        let name = if self.is_backward() {
-            self.name[1..].to_string()
-        } else {
-            format!("{}{}", "_", self.name)
-        };
-
-        NamespacedKeyword {
-            name: name,
-            namespace: self.namespace.clone(),
-        }
+    pub fn to_reversed(&self) -> Keyword {
+        Keyword(self.0.to_reversed())
     }
 
-    /// If this `NamespacedKeyword` is 'backward' (see `symbols::NamespacedKeyword::is_backward`),
+    /// If this `Keyword` is 'backward' (see `symbols::Keyword::is_backward`),
     /// return `Some('forward name')`; otherwise, return `None`.
     ///
     /// # Examples
     ///
     /// ```rust
-    /// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedKeyword;
-    /// let nsk = NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar");
+    /// # use edn::symbols::Keyword;
+    /// let nsk = Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar");
     /// assert_eq!(None, nsk.unreversed());
     ///
     /// let reversed = nsk.to_reversed();
     /// assert_eq!(Some(nsk), reversed.unreversed());
     /// ```
-    pub fn unreversed(&self) -> Option<NamespacedKeyword> {
+    pub fn unreversed(&self) -> Option<Keyword> {
         if self.is_backward() {
-            Some(NamespacedKeyword {
-                name: self.name[1..].to_string(),
-                namespace: self.namespace.clone(),
-            })
+            Some(self.to_reversed())
         } else {
             None
         }
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ impl Display for PlainSymbol {
     ///
     /// ```rust
     /// # use edn::symbols::PlainSymbol;
-    /// assert_eq!("baz", PlainSymbol::new("baz").to_string());
+    /// assert_eq!("baz", PlainSymbol::plain("baz").to_string());
     /// ```
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter) -> ::std::fmt::Result {
         write!(f, "{}", self.0)
@@ -275,10 +275,10 @@ impl Display for NamespacedSymbol {
     ///
     /// ```rust
     /// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedSymbol;
-    /// assert_eq!("bar/baz", NamespacedSymbol::new("bar", "baz").to_string());
+    /// assert_eq!("bar/baz", NamespacedSymbol::namespaced("bar", "baz").to_string());
     /// ```
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter) -> ::std::fmt::Result {
-        write!(f, "{}/{}", self.namespace, self.name)
+        write!(f, "{}/{}", self.namespace(), self.name())
     }
 }
 
@@ -289,33 +289,25 @@ impl Display for Keyword {
     ///
     /// ```rust
     /// # use edn::symbols::Keyword;
-    /// assert_eq!(":baz", Keyword::new("baz").to_string());
+    /// assert_eq!(":baz", Keyword::plain("baz").to_string());
+    /// assert_eq!(":bar/baz", Keyword::namespaced("bar", "baz").to_string());
+    /// assert_eq!(":bar/_baz", Keyword::namespaced("bar", "baz").to_reversed().to_string());
+    /// assert_eq!(":bar/baz", Keyword::namespaced("bar", "baz").to_reversed().to_reversed().to_string());
     /// ```
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter) -> ::std::fmt::Result {
-        write!(f, ":{}", self.0)
-    }
-}
-
-impl Display for NamespacedKeyword {
-    /// Print the keyword in EDN format.
-    ///
-    /// # Examples
-    ///
-    /// ```rust
-    /// # use edn::symbols::NamespacedKeyword;
-    /// assert_eq!(":bar/baz", NamespacedKeyword::new("bar", "baz").to_string());
-    /// assert_eq!(":bar/_baz", NamespacedKeyword::new("bar", "baz").to_reversed().to_string());
-    /// assert_eq!(":bar/baz", NamespacedKeyword::new("bar", "baz").to_reversed().to_reversed().to_string());
-    /// ```
-    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter) -> ::std::fmt::Result {
-        write!(f, ":{}/{}", self.namespace, self.name)
+        if self.0.is_namespaced() {
+            let (ns, name) = self.0.components();
+            write!(f, ":{}/{}", ns, name)
+        } else {
+            write!(f, ":{}", self.0.name())
+        }
     }
 }
 
 #[test]
 fn test_ns_keyword_macro() {
     assert_eq!(ns_keyword!("test", "name").to_string(),
-               NamespacedKeyword::new("test", "name").to_string());
+               Keyword::namespaced("test", "name").to_string());
     assert_eq!(ns_keyword!("ns", "_name").to_string(),
-               NamespacedKeyword::new("ns", "_name").to_string());
+               Keyword::namespaced("ns", "_name").to_string());
 }
diff --git a/edn/src/types.rs b/edn/src/types.rs
index f930afcf..ada7929b 100644
--- a/edn/src/types.rs
+++ b/edn/src/types.rs
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@ pub enum Value {
     PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol),
     NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol),
     Keyword(symbols::Keyword),
-    NamespacedKeyword(symbols::NamespacedKeyword),
     Vector(Vec<Value>),
     // We're using a LinkedList here instead of a Vec or VecDeque because the
     // LinkedList is faster for appending (which we do a lot of).
@@ -70,7 +69,6 @@ pub enum SpannedValue {
     PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol),
     NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol),
     Keyword(symbols::Keyword),
-    NamespacedKeyword(symbols::NamespacedKeyword),
     Vector(Vec<ValueAndSpan>),
     List(LinkedList<ValueAndSpan>),
     Set(BTreeSet<ValueAndSpan>),
@@ -159,7 +157,6 @@ impl From<SpannedValue> for Value {
             SpannedValue::PlainSymbol(v) => Value::PlainSymbol(v),
             SpannedValue::NamespacedSymbol(v) => Value::NamespacedSymbol(v),
             SpannedValue::Keyword(v) => Value::Keyword(v),
-            SpannedValue::NamespacedKeyword(v) => Value::NamespacedKeyword(v),
             SpannedValue::Vector(v) => Value::Vector(v.into_iter().map(|x| x.without_spans()).collect()),
             SpannedValue::List(v) => Value::List(v.into_iter().map(|x| x.without_spans()).collect()),
             SpannedValue::Set(v) => Value::Set(v.into_iter().map(|x| x.without_spans()).collect()),
@@ -249,10 +246,10 @@ macro_rules! def_into {
 /// # use edn::types::Value;
 /// # use edn::symbols;
 /// let value = to_symbol!("foo", "bar", Value);
-/// assert_eq!(value, Value::NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol::new("foo", "bar")));
+/// assert_eq!(value, Value::NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol::namespaced("foo", "bar")));
 ///
 /// let value = to_symbol!(None, "baz", Value);
-/// assert_eq!(value, Value::PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol::new("baz")));
+/// assert_eq!(value, Value::PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol::plain("baz")));
 ///
 /// let value = to_symbol!("foo", "bar", SpannedValue);
 /// assert_eq!(value.into(), to_symbol!("foo", "bar", Value));
@@ -263,8 +260,8 @@ macro_rules! def_into {
 macro_rules! to_symbol {
     ( $namespace:expr, $name:expr, $t:tt ) => {
         $namespace.into().map_or_else(
-            || $t::PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol::new($name)),
-            |ns| $t::NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol::new(ns, $name)))
+            || $t::PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol::plain($name)),
+            |ns| $t::NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol::namespaced(ns, $name)))
     }
 }
 
@@ -278,10 +275,10 @@ macro_rules! to_symbol {
 /// # use edn::types::Value;
 /// # use edn::symbols;
 /// let value = to_keyword!("foo", "bar", Value);
-/// assert_eq!(value, Value::NamespacedKeyword(symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar")));
+/// assert_eq!(value, Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar")));
 ///
 /// let value = to_keyword!(None, "baz", Value);
-/// assert_eq!(value, Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::new("baz")));
+/// assert_eq!(value, Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::plain("baz")));
 ///
 /// let value = to_keyword!("foo", "bar", SpannedValue);
 /// assert_eq!(value.into(), to_keyword!("foo", "bar", Value));
@@ -292,8 +289,8 @@ macro_rules! to_symbol {
 macro_rules! to_keyword {
     ( $namespace:expr, $name:expr, $t:tt ) => {
         $namespace.into().map_or_else(
-            || $t::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::new($name)),
-            |ns| $t::NamespacedKeyword(symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, $name)))
+            || $t::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::plain($name)),
+            |ns| $t::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::namespaced(ns, $name)))
     }
 }
 
@@ -311,13 +308,25 @@ macro_rules! def_common_value_methods {
         def_is!(is_uuid, $t::Uuid(_));
         def_is!(is_symbol, $t::PlainSymbol(_));
         def_is!(is_namespaced_symbol, $t::NamespacedSymbol(_));
-        def_is!(is_keyword, $t::Keyword(_));
-        def_is!(is_namespaced_keyword, $t::NamespacedKeyword(_));
         def_is!(is_vector, $t::Vector(_));
         def_is!(is_list, $t::List(_));
         def_is!(is_set, $t::Set(_));
         def_is!(is_map, $t::Map(_));
 
+        pub fn is_keyword(&self) -> bool {
+            match self {
+                &$t::Keyword(ref k) => !k.is_namespaced(),
+                _ => false,
+            }
+        }
+
+        pub fn is_namespaced_keyword(&self) -> bool {
+            match self {
+                &$t::Keyword(ref k) => k.is_namespaced(),
+                _ => false,
+            }
+        }
+
         /// `as_nil` does not use the macro as it does not have an underlying
         /// value, and returns `Option<()>`.
         pub fn as_nil(&self) -> Option<()> {
@@ -335,8 +344,21 @@ macro_rules! def_common_value_methods {
         def_as_ref!(as_uuid, $t::Uuid, Uuid);
         def_as_ref!(as_symbol, $t::PlainSymbol, symbols::PlainSymbol);
         def_as_ref!(as_namespaced_symbol, $t::NamespacedSymbol, symbols::NamespacedSymbol);
-        def_as_ref!(as_keyword, $t::Keyword, symbols::Keyword);
-        def_as_ref!(as_namespaced_keyword, $t::NamespacedKeyword, symbols::NamespacedKeyword);
+
+        pub fn as_keyword(&self) -> Option<&symbols::Keyword> {
+            match self {
+                &$t::Keyword(ref k) if !k.is_namespaced() => Some(k),
+                _ => None,
+            }
+        }
+
+        pub fn as_namespaced_keyword(&self) -> Option<&symbols::Keyword> {
+            match self {
+                &$t::Keyword(ref k) if k.is_namespaced() => Some(k),
+                _ => None,
+            }
+        }
+
         def_as_ref!(as_vector, $t::Vector, Vec<$tchild>);
         def_as_ref!(as_list, $t::List, LinkedList<$tchild>);
         def_as_ref!(as_set, $t::Set, BTreeSet<$tchild>);
@@ -352,8 +374,34 @@ macro_rules! def_common_value_methods {
         def_into!(into_uuid, $t::Uuid, Uuid,);
         def_into!(into_symbol, $t::PlainSymbol, symbols::PlainSymbol,);
         def_into!(into_namespaced_symbol, $t::NamespacedSymbol, symbols::NamespacedSymbol,);
-        def_into!(into_keyword, $t::Keyword, symbols::Keyword,);
-        def_into!(into_namespaced_keyword, $t::NamespacedKeyword, symbols::NamespacedKeyword,);
+
+        pub fn into_keyword(self) -> Option<symbols::Keyword> {
+            match self {
+                $t::Keyword(k) => {
+                    if !k.is_namespaced() {
+                        Some(k)
+                    } else {
+                        None
+                    }
+                },
+                _ => None,
+            }
+        }
+
+        pub fn into_namespaced_keyword(self) -> Option<symbols::Keyword> {
+            match self {
+                $t::Keyword(k) => {
+                    if k.is_namespaced() {
+                        Some(k)
+                    } else {
+                        None
+                    }
+                },
+                _ => None,
+            }
+        }
+
+
         def_into!(into_vector, $t::Vector, Vec<$tchild>,);
         def_into!(into_list, $t::List, LinkedList<$tchild>,);
         def_into!(into_set, $t::Set, BTreeSet<$tchild>,);
@@ -383,8 +431,8 @@ macro_rules! def_common_value_methods {
                 $t::Uuid(_) => 7,
                 $t::PlainSymbol(_) => 8,
                 $t::NamespacedSymbol(_) => 9,
-                $t::Keyword(_) => 10,
-                $t::NamespacedKeyword(_) => 11,
+                $t::Keyword(ref k) if !k.is_namespaced() => 10,
+                $t::Keyword(_) => 11,
                 $t::Vector(_) => 12,
                 $t::List(_) => 13,
                 $t::Set(_) => 14,
@@ -405,7 +453,6 @@ macro_rules! def_common_value_methods {
                 $t::PlainSymbol(_) => false,
                 $t::NamespacedSymbol(_) => false,
                 $t::Keyword(_) => false,
-                $t::NamespacedKeyword(_) => false,
                 $t::Vector(_) => true,
                 $t::List(_) => true,
                 $t::Set(_) => true,
@@ -443,7 +490,6 @@ macro_rules! def_common_value_ord {
             (&$t::PlainSymbol(ref a), &$t::PlainSymbol(ref b)) => b.cmp(a),
             (&$t::NamespacedSymbol(ref a), &$t::NamespacedSymbol(ref b)) => b.cmp(a),
             (&$t::Keyword(ref a), &$t::Keyword(ref b)) => b.cmp(a),
-            (&$t::NamespacedKeyword(ref a), &$t::NamespacedKeyword(ref b)) => b.cmp(a),
             (&$t::Vector(ref a), &$t::Vector(ref b)) => b.cmp(a),
             (&$t::List(ref a), &$t::List(ref b)) => b.cmp(a),
             (&$t::Set(ref a), &$t::Set(ref b)) => b.cmp(a),
@@ -482,7 +528,6 @@ macro_rules! def_common_value_display {
             $t::PlainSymbol(ref v) => v.fmt($f),
             $t::NamespacedSymbol(ref v) => v.fmt($f),
             $t::Keyword(ref v) => v.fmt($f),
-            $t::NamespacedKeyword(ref v) => v.fmt($f),
             $t::Vector(ref v) => {
                 write!($f, "[")?;
                 for x in v {
diff --git a/edn/tests/serde_support.rs b/edn/tests/serde_support.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7a460b52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/edn/tests/serde_support.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// Copyright 2018 Mozilla
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use
+// this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the
+// License at http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed
+// under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR
+// CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+
+
+#![cfg(feature = "serde_support")]
+
+extern crate serde_test;
+extern crate serde_json;
+
+extern crate edn;
+use edn::symbols::Keyword;
+use serde_test::{assert_tokens, Token};
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde_support")]
+#[test]
+fn test_serialize_keyword() {
+    let kw = Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar");
+    assert_tokens(&kw, &[
+        Token::NewtypeStruct { name: "Keyword" },
+        Token::Struct { name: "NamespaceableName", len: 2 },
+        Token::Str("namespace"),
+        Token::Some,
+        Token::BorrowedStr("foo"),
+        Token::Str("name"),
+        Token::BorrowedStr("bar"),
+        Token::StructEnd,
+    ]);
+}
+
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde_support")]
+#[test]
+fn test_deserialize_keyword() {
+    let json = r#"{"name": "foo", "namespace": "bar"}"#;
+    let kw = serde_json::from_str::<Keyword>(json).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(kw.name(), "foo");
+    assert_eq!(kw.namespace(), Some("bar"));
+
+    let bad_ns_json = r#"{"name": "foo", "namespace": ""}"#;
+    let not_kw = serde_json::from_str::<Keyword>(bad_ns_json);
+    assert!(not_kw.is_err());
+
+    let bad_ns_json = r#"{"name": "", "namespace": "bar"}"#;
+    let not_kw = serde_json::from_str::<Keyword>(bad_ns_json);
+    assert!(not_kw.is_err());
+}
+
+
+
diff --git a/edn/tests/tests.rs b/edn/tests/tests.rs
index c1a8e74b..37d2013d 100644
--- a/edn/tests/tests.rs
+++ b/edn/tests/tests.rs
@@ -38,22 +38,22 @@ use edn::utils;
 
 // Helper for making wrapped keywords with a namespace.
 fn k_ns(ns: &str, name: &str) -> Value {
-    Value::NamespacedKeyword(symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, name))
+    Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::namespaced(ns, name))
 }
 
 // Helper for making wrapped keywords without a namespace.
 fn k_plain(name: &str) -> Value {
-    Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::new(name))
+    Value::Keyword(symbols::Keyword::plain(name))
 }
 
 // Helper for making wrapped symbols with a namespace
 fn s_ns(ns: &str, name: &str) -> Value {
-    Value::NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol::new(ns, name))
+    Value::NamespacedSymbol(symbols::NamespacedSymbol::namespaced(ns, name))
 }
 
 // Helper for making wrapped symbols without a namespace
 fn s_plain(name: &str) -> Value {
-    Value::PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol::new(name))
+    Value::PlainSymbol(symbols::PlainSymbol::plain(name))
 }
 
 // Helpers for parsing strings and converting them into edn::Value.
@@ -831,7 +831,7 @@ fn test_map() {
 
     let test = "{:a 1, $b {:b/a nil, :b/b #{nil 5}}, c [1 2], d (3 4)}";
     let value = Map(BTreeMap::from_iter(vec![
-        (Keyword(symbols::Keyword::new("a")), Integer(1)),
+        (Keyword(symbols::Keyword::plain("a")), Integer(1)),
         (s_plain("$b"), Map(BTreeMap::from_iter(vec![
             (k_ns("b", "a"), Nil),
             (k_ns("b", "b"), Set(BTreeSet::from_iter(vec![
@@ -1457,7 +1457,7 @@ fn test_is_and_as_type_helper_functions() {
         assert_eq!(values.len(), is_result.len());
 
         for (j, result) in is_result.iter().enumerate() {
-            assert_eq!(j == i, *result);
+            assert_eq!(j == i, *result, "Expected {} = {} to equal {}", j, i, result);
         }
 
         if i == 0 {
@@ -1474,10 +1474,10 @@ fn test_is_and_as_type_helper_functions() {
         def_test_as_type!(value, as_big_integer, i == 3, &max_i64 * &max_i64);
         def_test_as_type!(value, as_ordered_float, i == 4, OrderedFloat(22.22f64));
         def_test_as_type!(value, as_text, i == 5, "hello world".to_string());
-        def_test_as_type!(value, as_symbol, i == 6, symbols::PlainSymbol::new("$symbol"));
-        def_test_as_type!(value, as_namespaced_symbol, i == 7, symbols::NamespacedSymbol::new("$ns", "$symbol"));
-        def_test_as_type!(value, as_keyword, i == 8, symbols::Keyword::new("hello"));
-        def_test_as_type!(value, as_namespaced_keyword, i == 9, symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new("hello", "world"));
+        def_test_as_type!(value, as_symbol, i == 6, symbols::PlainSymbol::plain("$symbol"));
+        def_test_as_type!(value, as_namespaced_symbol, i == 7, symbols::NamespacedSymbol::namespaced("$ns", "$symbol"));
+        def_test_as_type!(value, as_keyword, i == 8, symbols::Keyword::plain("hello"));
+        def_test_as_type!(value, as_namespaced_keyword, i == 9, symbols::Keyword::namespaced("hello", "world"));
         def_test_as_type!(value, as_vector, i == 10, vec![Value::Integer(1)]);
         def_test_as_type!(value, as_list, i == 11, LinkedList::from_iter(vec![]));
         def_test_as_type!(value, as_set, i == 12, BTreeSet::from_iter(vec![]));
@@ -1492,10 +1492,10 @@ fn test_is_and_as_type_helper_functions() {
         def_test_into_type!(value, into_big_integer, i == 3, &max_i64 * &max_i64);
         def_test_into_type!(value, into_ordered_float, i == 4, OrderedFloat(22.22f64));
         def_test_into_type!(value, into_text, i == 5, "hello world".to_string());
-        def_test_into_type!(value, into_symbol, i == 6, symbols::PlainSymbol::new("$symbol"));
-        def_test_into_type!(value, into_namespaced_symbol, i == 7, symbols::NamespacedSymbol::new("$ns", "$symbol"));
-        def_test_into_type!(value, into_keyword, i == 8, symbols::Keyword::new("hello"));
-        def_test_into_type!(value, into_namespaced_keyword, i == 9, symbols::NamespacedKeyword::new("hello", "world"));
+        def_test_into_type!(value, into_symbol, i == 6, symbols::PlainSymbol::plain("$symbol"));
+        def_test_into_type!(value, into_namespaced_symbol, i == 7, symbols::NamespacedSymbol::namespaced("$ns", "$symbol"));
+        def_test_into_type!(value, into_keyword, i == 8, symbols::Keyword::plain("hello"));
+        def_test_into_type!(value, into_namespaced_keyword, i == 9, symbols::Keyword::namespaced("hello", "world"));
         def_test_into_type!(value, into_vector, i == 10, vec![Value::Integer(1)]);
         def_test_into_type!(value, into_list, i == 11, LinkedList::from_iter(vec![]));
         def_test_into_type!(value, into_set, i == 12, BTreeSet::from_iter(vec![]));
diff --git a/ffi/src/lib.rs b/ffi/src/lib.rs
index 50ab0096..b657e871 100644
--- a/ffi/src/lib.rs
+++ b/ffi/src/lib.rs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ pub use mentat::{
     FindSpec,
     HasSchema,
     KnownEntid,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Queryable,
     QueryBuilder,
     QueryInputs,
diff --git a/ffi/src/utils.rs b/ffi/src/utils.rs
index 42e812ce..76aeee47 100644
--- a/ffi/src/utils.rs
+++ b/ffi/src/utils.rs
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ pub mod strings {
     use std::os::raw::c_char;
 
     use mentat::{
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
     };
 
     pub fn c_char_to_string(cchar: *const c_char) -> String {
@@ -30,10 +30,10 @@ pub mod strings {
     }
 
     // TODO: validate. The input might not be a keyword!
-    pub fn kw_from_string(mut keyword_string: String) -> NamespacedKeyword {
+    pub fn kw_from_string(mut keyword_string: String) -> Keyword {
         let attr_name = keyword_string.split_off(1);
         let parts: Vec<&str> = attr_name.split("/").collect();
-        NamespacedKeyword::new(parts[0], parts[1])
+        Keyword::namespaced(parts[0], parts[1])
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/parser-utils/src/macros.rs b/parser-utils/src/macros.rs
index 98888a73..d6a3d0a2 100644
--- a/parser-utils/src/macros.rs
+++ b/parser-utils/src/macros.rs
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ macro_rules! matches_plain_symbol {
     ($name: expr, $input: ident) => {
         satisfy_map(|x: edn::Value| {
             if let edn::Value::PlainSymbol(ref s) = x {
-                if s.0.as_str() == $name {
+                if s.name() == $name {
                     return Some(());
                 }
             }
diff --git a/parser-utils/src/value_and_span.rs b/parser-utils/src/value_and_span.rs
index ba073ad7..82483055 100644
--- a/parser-utils/src/value_and_span.rs
+++ b/parser-utils/src/value_and_span.rs
@@ -442,34 +442,37 @@ pub fn integer<'a>() -> Expected<FnParser<Stream<'a>, fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseRes
     parser(integer_ as fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<i64, Stream<'a>>).expected("integer")
 }
 
-pub fn namespaced_keyword_<'a>(input: Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>> {
-    satisfy_map(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| v.inner.as_namespaced_keyword())
+pub fn namespaced_keyword_<'a>(input: Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>> {
+    satisfy_map(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan|
+        v.inner.as_namespaced_keyword()
+         .and_then(|k| if k.is_namespaced() { Some(k) } else { None })
+        )
         .parse_lazy(input)
         .into()
 }
 
-pub fn namespaced_keyword<'a>() -> Expected<FnParser<Stream<'a>, fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>>>> {
-    parser(namespaced_keyword_ as fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>>).expected("namespaced_keyword")
+pub fn namespaced_keyword<'a>() -> Expected<FnParser<Stream<'a>, fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>>>> {
+    parser(namespaced_keyword_ as fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>>).expected("namespaced_keyword")
 }
 
-pub fn forward_keyword_<'a>(input: Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>> {
-    satisfy_map(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| v.inner.as_namespaced_keyword().and_then(|k| if k.is_forward() { Some(k) } else { None }))
+pub fn forward_keyword_<'a>(input: Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>> {
+    satisfy_map(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| v.inner.as_namespaced_keyword().and_then(|k| if k.is_forward() && k.is_namespaced() { Some(k) } else { None }))
         .parse_lazy(input)
         .into()
 }
 
-pub fn forward_keyword<'a>() -> Expected<FnParser<Stream<'a>, fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>>>> {
-    parser(forward_keyword_ as fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>>).expected("forward_keyword")
+pub fn forward_keyword<'a>() -> Expected<FnParser<Stream<'a>, fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>>>> {
+    parser(forward_keyword_ as fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>>).expected("forward_keyword")
 }
 
-pub fn backward_keyword_<'a>(input: Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>> {
-    satisfy_map(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| v.inner.as_namespaced_keyword().and_then(|k| if k.is_backward() { Some(k) } else { None }))
+pub fn backward_keyword_<'a>(input: Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>> {
+    satisfy_map(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| v.inner.as_namespaced_keyword().and_then(|k| if k.is_backward() && k.is_namespaced() { Some(k) } else { None }))
         .parse_lazy(input)
         .into()
 }
 
-pub fn backward_keyword<'a>() -> Expected<FnParser<Stream<'a>, fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>>>> {
-    parser(backward_keyword_ as fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::NamespacedKeyword, Stream<'a>>).expected("backward_keyword")
+pub fn backward_keyword<'a>() -> Expected<FnParser<Stream<'a>, fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>>>> {
+    parser(backward_keyword_ as fn(Stream<'a>) -> ParseResult<&'a edn::Keyword, Stream<'a>>).expected("backward_keyword")
 }
 
 /// Generate a `satisfy` expression that matches a `PlainSymbol` value with the given name.
@@ -482,7 +485,7 @@ macro_rules! def_matches_plain_symbol {
         def_parser!($parser, $name, &'a edn::ValueAndSpan, {
             satisfy(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| {
                 match v.inner {
-                    edn::SpannedValue::PlainSymbol(ref s) => s.0.as_str() == $input,
+                    edn::SpannedValue::PlainSymbol(ref s) => s.name() == $input,
                     _ => false,
                 }
             })
@@ -499,7 +502,7 @@ macro_rules! def_matches_keyword {
         def_parser!($parser, $name, &'a edn::ValueAndSpan, {
             satisfy(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| {
                 match v.inner {
-                    edn::SpannedValue::Keyword(ref s) => s.0.as_str() == $input,
+                    edn::SpannedValue::Keyword(ref s) if !s.is_namespaced() => s.name() == $input,
                     _ => false,
                 }
             })
@@ -507,7 +510,7 @@ macro_rules! def_matches_keyword {
     }
 }
 
-/// Generate a `satisfy` expression that matches a `NamespacedKeyword` value with the given
+/// Generate a `satisfy` expression that matches a `Keyword` value with the given
 /// namespace and name.
 ///
 /// We do this rather than using `combine::token` to save allocations.
@@ -517,7 +520,10 @@ macro_rules! def_matches_namespaced_keyword {
         def_parser!($parser, $name, &'a edn::ValueAndSpan, {
             satisfy(|v: &'a edn::ValueAndSpan| {
                 match v.inner {
-                    edn::SpannedValue::NamespacedKeyword(ref s) => s.namespace.as_str() == $input_namespace && s.name.as_str() == $input_name,
+                    edn::SpannedValue::Keyword(ref s) if s.is_namespaced() => {
+                        let (ns, n) = s.components();
+                        ns == $input_namespace && n == $input_name
+                    },
                     _ => false,
                 }
             })
@@ -565,7 +571,7 @@ macro_rules! keyword_map_parser {
                         Ok(value) => {
                             $(
                                 if let Some(ref keyword) = value.inner.as_keyword() {
-                                    if keyword.0.as_str() == *$keyword {
+                                    if &keyword.name() == $keyword {
                                         if $tmp.is_some() {
                                             // Repeated match -- bail out!  Providing good error
                                             // messages is hard; this will do for now.
@@ -711,7 +717,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn test_keyword_map_failures() {
         assert_parse_failure_contains!(|| vector().of_exactly(keyword_map_of!(("x", Test::entid()), ("y", Test::entid()))),
                               "[:x 1 :x 2]",
-                              r#"errors: [Unexpected(Token(ValueAndSpan { inner: Keyword(Keyword("x"))"#);
+                              r#"errors: [Unexpected(Token(ValueAndSpan { inner: Keyword(Keyword(NamespaceableName { namespace: None, name: "x" }))"#);
     }
 
 
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/fulltext.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/fulltext.rs
index 53121bc3..1fbae1f2 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/fulltext.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/fulltext.rs
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ mod testing {
     use mentat_query::{
         Binding,
         FnArg,
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         PlainSymbol,
         Variable,
     };
@@ -284,14 +284,14 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 101);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 101);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 101, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
             fulltext: false,
             ..Default::default()
         });
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "fts"), 100);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "fts"), 100);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 100, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
             index: true,
@@ -301,12 +301,12 @@ mod testing {
 
         let known = Known::for_schema(&schema);
 
-        let op = PlainSymbol::new("fulltext");
+        let op = PlainSymbol::plain("fulltext");
         cc.apply_fulltext(known, WhereFn {
             operator: op,
             args: vec![
                 FnArg::SrcVar(SrcVar::DefaultSrc),
-                FnArg::IdentOrKeyword(NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "fts")),
+                FnArg::IdentOrKeyword(Keyword::namespaced("foo", "fts")),
                 FnArg::Constant("needle".into()),
             ],
             binding: Binding::BindRel(vec![VariableOrPlaceholder::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?entity")),
@@ -359,12 +359,12 @@ mod testing {
                    vec![ValueType::Double].into_iter().collect());
 
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
-        let op = PlainSymbol::new("fulltext");
+        let op = PlainSymbol::plain("fulltext");
         cc.apply_fulltext(known, WhereFn {
             operator: op,
             args: vec![
                 FnArg::SrcVar(SrcVar::DefaultSrc),
-                FnArg::IdentOrKeyword(NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar")),
+                FnArg::IdentOrKeyword(Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar")),
                 FnArg::Constant("needle".into()),
             ],
             binding: Binding::BindRel(vec![VariableOrPlaceholder::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?entity")),
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/ground.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/ground.rs
index 5d638485..cedb2e2a 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/ground.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/ground.rs
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ mod testing {
     use mentat_query::{
         Binding,
         FnArg,
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         PlainSymbol,
         Variable,
     };
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "fts"), 100);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "fts"), 100);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 100, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
             index: true,
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ mod testing {
 
         // It's awkward enough to write these expansions that we give the details for the simplest
         // case only.  See the tests of the translator for more extensive (albeit looser) coverage.
-        let op = PlainSymbol::new("ground");
+        let op = PlainSymbol::plain("ground");
         cc.apply_ground(known, WhereFn {
             operator: op,
             args: vec![
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/mod.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/mod.rs
index 7009b505..603c6dae 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/mod.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/mod.rs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ use mentat_core::counter::RcCounter;
 use mentat_query::{
     Element,
     FindSpec,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Pull,
     Variable,
     WhereClause,
@@ -760,7 +760,7 @@ impl ConjoiningClauses {
         self.empty_because = Some(why);
     }
 
-    fn entid_for_ident<'s, 'a>(&self, schema: &'s Schema, ident: &'a NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
+    fn entid_for_ident<'s, 'a>(&self, schema: &'s Schema, ident: &'a Keyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
         schema.get_entid(&ident)
     }
 
@@ -1155,7 +1155,7 @@ impl PushComputed for Vec<ComputedTable> {
 
 // These are helpers that tests use to build Schema instances.
 #[cfg(test)]
-fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: NamespacedKeyword, e: Entid) {
+fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: Keyword, e: Entid) {
     schema.entid_map.insert(e, i.clone());
     schema.ident_map.insert(i.clone(), e);
 }
@@ -1167,7 +1167,7 @@ fn add_attribute(schema: &mut Schema, e: Entid, a: Attribute) {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 pub(crate) fn ident(ns: &str, name: &str) -> PatternNonValuePlace {
-    NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, name).into()
+    Keyword::namespaced(ns, name).into()
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/not.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/not.rs
index 6ab4e8e6..4d312023 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/not.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/not.rs
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ mod testing {
     };
 
     use mentat_query::{
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         PlainSymbol,
         Variable
     };
@@ -151,11 +151,11 @@ mod testing {
 
     fn prepopulated_schema() -> Schema {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "name"), 65);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "knows"), 66);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "parent"), 67);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "age"), 68);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "height"), 69);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "name"), 65);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "knows"), 66);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "parent"), 67);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "age"), 68);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "height"), 69);
         add_attribute(&mut schema,
                       65,
                       Attribute {
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/or.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/or.rs
index e54be351..39e8208f 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/or.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/or.rs
@@ -763,7 +763,7 @@ mod testing {
     };
 
     use mentat_query::{
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         Variable,
     };
 
@@ -810,11 +810,11 @@ mod testing {
 
     fn prepopulated_schema() -> Schema {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "name"), 65);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "knows"), 66);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "parent"), 67);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "age"), 68);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "height"), 69);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "name"), 65);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "knows"), 66);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "parent"), 67);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "age"), 68);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "height"), 69);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 65, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
             multival: false,
@@ -855,7 +855,7 @@ mod testing {
                         [?x :foo/nope3 "Daphne"])]"#;
         let cc = alg(known, query);
         assert!(cc.is_known_empty());
-        assert_eq!(cc.empty_because, Some(EmptyBecause::UnresolvedIdent(NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "nope3"))));
+        assert_eq!(cc.empty_because, Some(EmptyBecause::UnresolvedIdent(Keyword::namespaced("foo", "nope3"))));
     }
 
     /// Test that if only one of the attributes in an `or` resolves, it's equivalent to a simple query.
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/pattern.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/pattern.rs
index 05b08c24..e338c392 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/pattern.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/pattern.rs
@@ -654,7 +654,7 @@ mod testing {
     };
 
     use mentat_query::{
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         NonIntegerConstant,
         Variable,
     };
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
 
         let known = Known::for_schema(&schema);
         cc.apply_parsed_pattern(known, Pattern {
@@ -728,7 +728,7 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -814,7 +814,7 @@ mod testing {
     fn test_apply_unattributed_but_bound_pattern_with_returned() {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -962,8 +962,8 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "roz"), 98);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "roz"), 98);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -1035,7 +1035,7 @@ mod testing {
     fn test_value_bindings() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -1083,7 +1083,7 @@ mod testing {
     fn test_value_bindings_type_disagreement() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ mod testing {
     fn test_fulltext_type_disagreement() {
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
             index: true,
@@ -1155,8 +1155,8 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "roz"), 98);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "roz"), 98);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -1244,7 +1244,7 @@ mod testing {
     fn ensure_extracted_types_is_cleared() {
         let query = r#"[:find ?e ?v :where [_ _ ?v] [?e :foo/bar ?v]]"#;
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Boolean,
             ..Default::default()
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/predicate.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/predicate.rs
index 986c78e4..f099b7b8 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/predicate.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/predicate.rs
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ mod testing {
 
     use mentat_query::{
         FnArg,
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         Pattern,
         PatternNonValuePlace,
         PatternValuePlace,
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Long,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -238,8 +238,8 @@ mod testing {
         });
         assert!(!cc.is_known_empty());
 
-        let op = PlainSymbol::new("<");
-        let comp = Inequality::from_datalog_operator(op.plain_name()).unwrap();
+        let op = PlainSymbol::plain("<");
+        let comp = Inequality::from_datalog_operator(op.name()).unwrap();
         assert!(cc.apply_inequality(known, comp, Predicate {
              operator: op,
              args: vec![
@@ -275,8 +275,8 @@ mod testing {
         let mut cc = ConjoiningClauses::default();
         let mut schema = Schema::default();
 
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
-        associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "roz"), 98);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
+        associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "roz"), 98);
         add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::Long,
             ..Default::default()
@@ -299,8 +299,8 @@ mod testing {
         });
         assert!(!cc.is_known_empty());
 
-        let op = PlainSymbol::new(">=");
-        let comp = Inequality::from_datalog_operator(op.plain_name()).unwrap();
+        let op = PlainSymbol::plain(">=");
+        let comp = Inequality::from_datalog_operator(op.name()).unwrap();
         assert!(cc.apply_inequality(known, comp, Predicate {
              operator: op,
              args: vec![
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/tx_log_api.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/tx_log_api.rs
index 1a947c86..2fc7dce8 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/tx_log_api.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/clauses/tx_log_api.rs
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ mod testing {
 
         let known = Known::for_schema(&schema);
 
-        let op = PlainSymbol::new("tx-ids");
+        let op = PlainSymbol::plain("tx-ids");
         cc.apply_tx_ids(known, WhereFn {
             operator: op,
             args: vec![
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ mod testing {
 
         let known = Known::for_schema(&schema);
 
-        let op = PlainSymbol::new("tx-data");
+        let op = PlainSymbol::plain("tx-data");
         cc.apply_tx_data(known, WhereFn {
             operator: op,
             args: vec![
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/types.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/types.rs
index b8b75322..5f226be0 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/types.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/types.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ use mentat_core::{
 
 use mentat_query::{
     Direction,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Order,
     SrcVar,
     Variable,
@@ -617,8 +617,8 @@ pub enum EmptyBecause {
     NonEntityArgument,
     NonStringFulltextValue,
     NonFulltextAttribute(Entid),
-    UnresolvedIdent(NamespacedKeyword),
-    InvalidAttributeIdent(NamespacedKeyword),
+    UnresolvedIdent(Keyword),
+    InvalidAttributeIdent(Keyword),
     InvalidAttributeEntid(Entid),
     InvalidBinding(Column, TypedValue),
     ValueTypeMismatch(ValueType, TypedValue),
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ pub enum EvolvedValuePlace {
     Entid(Entid),
     Value(TypedValue),
     EntidOrInteger(i64),
-    IdentOrKeyword(ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>),
+    IdentOrKeyword(ValueRc<Keyword>),
 }
 
 pub enum PlaceOrEmpty<T> {
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/src/validate.rs b/query-algebrizer/src/validate.rs
index 56c0c11a..ddae881f 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/src/validate.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/src/validate.rs
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ mod tests {
 
     use self::mentat_query::{
         FindQuery,
-        NamespacedKeyword,
+        Keyword,
         OrWhereClause,
         Pattern,
         PatternNonValuePlace,
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ mod tests {
     };
 
     fn value_ident(ns: &str, name: &str) -> PatternValuePlace {
-        NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, name).into()
+        Keyword::namespaced(ns, name).into()
     }
 
     /// Tests that the top-level form is a valid `or`, returning the clauses.
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/tests/fulltext.rs b/query-algebrizer/tests/fulltext.rs
index 40f7f320..083f7121 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/tests/fulltext.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/tests/fulltext.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use mentat_core::{
 };
 
 use mentat_query::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
 };
 
 use utils::{
@@ -35,11 +35,11 @@ use mentat_query_algebrizer::Known;
 
 fn prepopulated_schema() -> Schema {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "name"), 65);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "description"), 66);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "parent"), 67);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "age"), 68);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "height"), 69);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "name"), 65);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "description"), 66);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "parent"), 67);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "age"), 68);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "height"), 69);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 65, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::String,
         multival: false,
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/tests/ground.rs b/query-algebrizer/tests/ground.rs
index 3ec68fb0..150b031e 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/tests/ground.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/tests/ground.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ use mentat_core::{
 };
 
 use mentat_query::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     PlainSymbol,
     Variable,
 };
@@ -49,11 +49,11 @@ use utils::{
 
 fn prepopulated_schema() -> Schema {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "name"), 65);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "knows"), 66);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "parent"), 67);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "age"), 68);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "height"), 69);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "name"), 65);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "knows"), 66);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "parent"), 67);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "age"), 68);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "height"), 69);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 65, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::String,
         multival: false,
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ fn test_ground_tuple_duplicate_vars() {
     let e = bails(known, &q);
     match e {
         Error(ErrorKind::InvalidBinding(v, e), _) => {
-            assert_eq!(v, PlainSymbol::new("ground"));
+            assert_eq!(v, PlainSymbol::plain("ground"));
             assert_eq!(e, BindingError::RepeatedBoundVariable);
         },
         _ => {
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ fn test_ground_rel_duplicate_vars() {
     let e = bails(known, &q);
     match e {
         Error(ErrorKind::InvalidBinding(v, e), _) => {
-            assert_eq!(v, PlainSymbol::new("ground"));
+            assert_eq!(v, PlainSymbol::plain("ground"));
             assert_eq!(e, BindingError::RepeatedBoundVariable);
         },
         _ => {
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/tests/predicate.rs b/query-algebrizer/tests/predicate.rs
index 42d4e25e..7482deed 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/tests/predicate.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/tests/predicate.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ use mentat_core::{
 };
 
 use mentat_query::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     PlainSymbol,
     Variable,
 };
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@ use utils::{
 
 fn prepopulated_schema() -> Schema {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "date"), 65);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "double"), 66);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "long"), 67);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "date"), 65);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "double"), 66);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "long"), 67);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 65, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::Instant,
         multival: false,
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ fn test_instant_predicates_require_instants() {
                     [(> ?t "2017-06-16T00:56:41.257Z")]]"#;
     match bails(known, query).0 {
         ErrorKind::InvalidArgumentType(op, why, idx) => {
-            assert_eq!(op, PlainSymbol::new(">"));
+            assert_eq!(op, PlainSymbol::plain(">"));
             assert_eq!(why, ValueTypeSet::of_numeric_and_instant_types());
             assert_eq!(idx, 1);
         },
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ fn test_instant_predicates_require_instants() {
                     [(> "2017-06-16T00:56:41.257Z", ?t)]]"#;
     match bails(known, query).0 {
         ErrorKind::InvalidArgumentType(op, why, idx) => {
-            assert_eq!(op, PlainSymbol::new(">"));
+            assert_eq!(op, PlainSymbol::plain(">"));
             assert_eq!(why, ValueTypeSet::of_numeric_and_instant_types());
             assert_eq!(idx, 0);                      // We get this right.
         },
diff --git a/query-algebrizer/tests/utils/mod.rs b/query-algebrizer/tests/utils/mod.rs
index 35864beb..a643c556 100644
--- a/query-algebrizer/tests/utils/mod.rs
+++ b/query-algebrizer/tests/utils/mod.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ use mentat_query_parser::{
 };
 
 use mentat_query::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
 };
 
 use mentat_query_algebrizer::{
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ use mentat_query_algebrizer::{
 // Common utility functions used in multiple test files.
 
 // These are helpers that tests use to build Schema instances.
-pub fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: NamespacedKeyword, e: Entid) {
+pub fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: Keyword, e: Entid) {
     schema.entid_map.insert(e, i.clone());
     schema.ident_map.insert(i.clone(), e);
 }
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ impl SchemaBuilder {
         }
     }
 
-    pub fn define_attr(mut self, kw: NamespacedKeyword, attr: Attribute) -> Self {
+    pub fn define_attr(mut self, kw: Keyword, attr: Attribute) -> Self {
         associate_ident(&mut self.schema, kw, self.counter);
         add_attribute(&mut self.schema, self.counter, attr);
         self.counter += 1;
@@ -74,9 +74,9 @@ impl SchemaBuilder {
                                  keyword_name: T,
                                  value_type: ValueType,
                                  multival: bool) -> Self
-        where T: Into<String>
+        where T: AsRef<str>
     {
-        self.define_attr(NamespacedKeyword::new(keyword_ns, keyword_name), Attribute {
+        self.define_attr(Keyword::namespaced(keyword_ns, keyword_name), Attribute {
             value_type,
             multival,
             ..Default::default()
diff --git a/query-parser/src/parse.rs b/query-parser/src/parse.rs
index 4ba5aca1..9cbaf4b2 100644
--- a/query-parser/src/parse.rs
+++ b/query-parser/src/parse.rs
@@ -734,22 +734,22 @@ mod test {
         Variable(Rc::new(x))
     }
 
-    fn ident_kw(kw: edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> PatternNonValuePlace {
+    fn ident_kw(kw: edn::Keyword) -> PatternNonValuePlace {
         PatternNonValuePlace::Ident(kw.into())
     }
 
     fn ident(ns: &str, name: &str) -> PatternNonValuePlace {
-        ident_kw(edn::NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, name))
+        ident_kw(edn::Keyword::namespaced(ns, name))
     }
 
     #[test]
     fn test_pattern_mixed() {
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("_");
-        let a = edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("_");
+        let a = edn::Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar");
         let v = OrderedFloat(99.9);
-        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?tx");
+        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?tx");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec!(edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone()),
-                                            edn::Value::NamespacedKeyword(a.clone()),
+                                            edn::Value::Keyword(a.clone()),
                                             edn::Value::Float(v.clone()),
                                             edn::Value::PlainSymbol(tx.clone())));
         assert_parses_to!(Where::pattern, input, WhereClause::Pattern(Pattern {
@@ -763,11 +763,11 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_pattern_vars() {
-        let s = edn::PlainSymbol::new("$x");
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?e");
-        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?a");
-        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?v");
-        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?tx");
+        let s = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("$x");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?e");
+        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?a");
+        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?v");
+        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?tx");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec!(edn::Value::PlainSymbol(s.clone()),
                  edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone()),
                  edn::Value::PlainSymbol(a.clone()),
@@ -784,12 +784,12 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_pattern_reversed_invalid() {
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("_");
-        let a = edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "_bar");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("_");
+        let a = edn::Keyword::namespaced("foo", "_bar");
         let v = OrderedFloat(99.9);
-        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?tx");
+        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?tx");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec!(edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone()),
-                 edn::Value::NamespacedKeyword(a.clone()),
+                 edn::Value::Keyword(a.clone()),
                  edn::Value::Float(v.clone()),
                  edn::Value::PlainSymbol(tx.clone())));
 
@@ -801,12 +801,12 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_pattern_reversed() {
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("_");
-        let a = edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "_bar");
-        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?v");
-        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?tx");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("_");
+        let a = edn::Keyword::namespaced("foo", "_bar");
+        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?v");
+        let tx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?tx");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec!(edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone()),
-                 edn::Value::NamespacedKeyword(a.clone()),
+                 edn::Value::Keyword(a.clone()),
                  edn::Value::PlainSymbol(v.clone()),
                  edn::Value::PlainSymbol(tx.clone())));
 
@@ -823,7 +823,7 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_rule_vars() {
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?e");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?e");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone())]);
         assert_parses_to!(Where::rule_vars, input,
                           btreeset!{variable(e.clone())});
@@ -831,14 +831,14 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_repeated_vars() {
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?e");
-        let f = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?f");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?e");
+        let f = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?f");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone()),
                                             edn::Value::PlainSymbol(f.clone()),]);
         assert_parses_to!(|| vector().of_exactly(Find::vars()), input,
                           btreeset!{variable(e.clone()), variable(f.clone())});
 
-        let g = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?g");
+        let g = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?g");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(g.clone()),
                                             edn::Value::PlainSymbol(g.clone()),]);
 
@@ -859,10 +859,10 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_or() {
-        let oj = edn::PlainSymbol::new("or");
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?e");
-        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?a");
-        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?v");
+        let oj = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("or");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?e");
+        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?a");
+        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?v");
         let input = edn::Value::List(
             vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(oj),
                  edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone()),
@@ -883,10 +883,10 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_or_join() {
-        let oj = edn::PlainSymbol::new("or-join");
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?e");
-        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?a");
-        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?v");
+        let oj = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("or-join");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?e");
+        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?a");
+        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?v");
         let input = edn::Value::List(
             vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(oj),
                  edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(e.clone())]),
@@ -908,9 +908,9 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_not() {
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?e");
-        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?a");
-        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?v");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?e");
+        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?a");
+        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?v");
 
         assert_edn_parses_to!(Where::not_clause,
                               "(not [?e ?a ?v])",
@@ -930,9 +930,9 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_not_join() {
-        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?e");
-        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?a");
-        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?v");
+        let e = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?e");
+        let a = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?a");
+        let v = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?v");
 
         assert_edn_parses_to!(Where::not_join_clause,
                               "(not-join [?e] [?e ?a ?v])",
@@ -951,15 +951,15 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_find_sp_variable() {
-        let sym = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
+        let sym = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(sym.clone())]);
         assert_parses_to!(|| vector().of_exactly(Query::variable()), input, variable(sym));
     }
 
     #[test]
     fn test_find_scalar() {
-        let sym = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
-        let period = edn::PlainSymbol::new(".");
+        let sym = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
+        let period = edn::PlainSymbol::plain(".");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(sym.clone()), edn::Value::PlainSymbol(period.clone())]);
         assert_parses_to!(|| vector().of_exactly(Find::find_scalar()),
                           input,
@@ -968,8 +968,8 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_find_coll() {
-        let sym = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
-        let period = edn::PlainSymbol::new("...");
+        let sym = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
+        let period = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("...");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(sym.clone()),
                                             edn::Value::PlainSymbol(period.clone())]);
         assert_parses_to!(Find::find_coll,
@@ -979,8 +979,8 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_find_rel() {
-        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
-        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?y");
+        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
+        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?y");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(vx.clone()), edn::Value::PlainSymbol(vy.clone())]);
         assert_parses_to!(|| vector().of_exactly(Find::find_rel()),
                           input,
@@ -990,8 +990,8 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_find_tuple() {
-        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
-        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?y");
+        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
+        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?y");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(vx.clone()),
                                              edn::Value::PlainSymbol(vy.clone())]);
         assert_parses_to!(Find::find_tuple,
@@ -1033,8 +1033,8 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_fn_arg_collections() {
-        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
-        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?y");
+        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
+        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?y");
         let input = edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::Vector(vec![edn::Value::PlainSymbol(vx.clone()),
                                             edn::Value::PlainSymbol(vy.clone())])]);
 
@@ -1047,7 +1047,7 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bind_scalar() {
-        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
+        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
         assert_edn_parses_to!(|| list().of_exactly(Bind::binding()),
                               "(?x)",
                               Binding::BindScalar(variable(vx)));
@@ -1055,7 +1055,7 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bind_coll() {
-        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
+        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
         assert_edn_parses_to!(|| list().of_exactly(Bind::binding()),
                               "([?x ...])",
                               Binding::BindColl(variable(vx)));
@@ -1063,9 +1063,9 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bind_rel() {
-        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
-        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?y");
-        let vw = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?w");
+        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
+        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?y");
+        let vw = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?w");
         assert_edn_parses_to!(|| list().of_exactly(Bind::binding()),
                               "([[?x ?y _ ?w]])",
                               Binding::BindRel(vec![VariableOrPlaceholder::Variable(variable(vx)),
@@ -1077,9 +1077,9 @@ mod test {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bind_tuple() {
-        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?x");
-        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?y");
-        let vw = edn::PlainSymbol::new("?w");
+        let vx = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?x");
+        let vy = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?y");
+        let vw = edn::PlainSymbol::plain("?w");
         assert_edn_parses_to!(|| list().of_exactly(Bind::binding()),
                               "([?x ?y _ ?w])",
                               Binding::BindTuple(vec![VariableOrPlaceholder::Variable(variable(vx)),
@@ -1138,7 +1138,7 @@ mod test {
         assert_edn_parses_to!(Where::where_fn,
                               "[(f ?x 1) ?y]",
                               WhereClause::WhereFn(WhereFn {
-                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::new("f"),
+                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::plain("f"),
                                   args: vec![FnArg::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?x")),
                                              FnArg::EntidOrInteger(1)],
                                   binding: Binding::BindScalar(Variable::from_valid_name("?y")),
@@ -1147,7 +1147,7 @@ mod test {
         assert_edn_parses_to!(Where::where_fn,
                               "[(f ?x) [?y ...]]",
                               WhereClause::WhereFn(WhereFn {
-                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::new("f"),
+                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::plain("f"),
                                   args: vec![FnArg::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?x"))],
                                   binding: Binding::BindColl(Variable::from_valid_name("?y")),
                               }));
@@ -1155,7 +1155,7 @@ mod test {
         assert_edn_parses_to!(Where::where_fn,
                               "[(f) [?y _]]",
                               WhereClause::WhereFn(WhereFn {
-                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::new("f"),
+                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::plain("f"),
                                   args: vec![],
                                   binding: Binding::BindTuple(vec![VariableOrPlaceholder::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?y")),
                                                                    VariableOrPlaceholder::Placeholder]),
@@ -1164,7 +1164,7 @@ mod test {
         assert_edn_parses_to!(Where::where_fn,
                               "[(f) [[_ ?y]]]",
                               WhereClause::WhereFn(WhereFn {
-                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::new("f"),
+                                  operator: edn::PlainSymbol::plain("f"),
                                   args: vec![],
                                   binding: Binding::BindRel(vec![VariableOrPlaceholder::Placeholder,
                                                                  VariableOrPlaceholder::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?y"))]),
@@ -1203,8 +1203,8 @@ mod test {
                                   patterns: vec![PullAttributeSpec::Wildcard],
                               }));
 
-        let foo_bar = ::std::rc::Rc::new(edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"));
-        let foo_baz = ::std::rc::Rc::new(edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "baz"));
+        let foo_bar = ::std::rc::Rc::new(edn::Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"));
+        let foo_baz = ::std::rc::Rc::new(edn::Keyword::namespaced("foo", "baz"));
         assert_edn_parses_to!(Query::pull_concrete_attribute,
                               ":foo/bar",
                               PullAttributeSpec::Attribute(
@@ -1241,7 +1241,7 @@ mod test {
                         patterns: vec![
                             PullAttributeSpec::Attribute(
                                 PullConcreteAttribute::Ident(
-                                    ::std::rc::Rc::new(edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"))
+                                    ::std::rc::Rc::new(edn::Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"))
                                 )
                             ),
                         ] })]),
diff --git a/query-parser/tests/find_tests.rs b/query-parser/tests/find_tests.rs
index a911177c..e274e6ff 100644
--- a/query-parser/tests/find_tests.rs
+++ b/query-parser/tests/find_tests.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ extern crate mentat_query;
 extern crate mentat_query_parser;
 
 use edn::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     PlainSymbol,
 };
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ fn can_parse_predicates() {
                        value: PatternValuePlace::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?y")),
                        tx: PatternNonValuePlace::Placeholder,
                    }),
-                   WhereClause::Pred(Predicate { operator: PlainSymbol::new("<"), args: vec![
+                   WhereClause::Pred(Predicate { operator: PlainSymbol::plain("<"), args: vec![
                        FnArg::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?y")), FnArg::EntidOrInteger(10),
                    ]}),
                ]);
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ fn can_parse_simple_or_join() {
 
 #[cfg(test)]
 fn ident(ns: &str, name: &str) -> PatternNonValuePlace {
-    NamespacedKeyword::new(ns, name).into()
+    Keyword::namespaced(ns, name).into()
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ fn can_parse_simple_or_and_join() {
                                        ],
                                    )),
 
-                                   WhereClause::Pred(Predicate { operator: PlainSymbol::new("<"), args: vec![
+                                   WhereClause::Pred(Predicate { operator: PlainSymbol::plain("<"), args: vec![
                                        FnArg::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?y")), FnArg::EntidOrInteger(1),
                                    ]}),
                                ],
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ fn can_parse_uuid() {
                WhereClause::Pattern(
                    Pattern::new(None,
                                 PatternNonValuePlace::Variable(Variable::from_valid_name("?x")),
-                                NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "baz").into(),
+                                Keyword::namespaced("foo", "baz").into(),
                                 PatternValuePlace::Constant(NonIntegerConstant::Uuid(expected)),
                                 PatternNonValuePlace::Placeholder)
                        .expect("valid pattern")));
diff --git a/query-projector/src/aggregates.rs b/query-projector/src/aggregates.rs
index 540f6e27..6bd011b8 100644
--- a/query-projector/src/aggregates.rs
+++ b/query-projector/src/aggregates.rs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ impl SimpleAggregationOp {
     }
 
     fn for_function(function: &QueryFunction) -> Option<SimpleAggregationOp> {
-        match function.0.plain_name() {
+        match function.0.name() {
             "avg" => Some(SimpleAggregationOp::Avg),
             "count" => Some(SimpleAggregationOp::Count),
             "max" => Some(SimpleAggregationOp::Max),
diff --git a/query-projector/tests/aggregates.rs b/query-projector/tests/aggregates.rs
index 1a18db81..c1313ea6 100644
--- a/query-projector/tests/aggregates.rs
+++ b/query-projector/tests/aggregates.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ use mentat_query_parser::{
 };
 
 use mentat_query::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
 };
 
 use mentat_query_algebrizer::{
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ use mentat_query_projector::{
 };
 
 // These are helpers that tests use to build Schema instances.
-fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: NamespacedKeyword, e: Entid) {
+fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: Keyword, e: Entid) {
     schema.entid_map.insert(e, i.clone());
     schema.ident_map.insert(i.clone(), e);
 }
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ fn add_attribute(schema: &mut Schema, e: Entid, a: Attribute) {
 
 fn prepopulated_schema() -> Schema {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "name"), 65);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "age"), 68);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "height"), 69);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "name"), 65);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "age"), 68);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "height"), 69);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 65, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::String,
         multival: false,
diff --git a/query-pull/src/lib.rs b/query-pull/src/lib.rs
index a011ac51..7138ddc5 100644
--- a/query-pull/src/lib.rs
+++ b/query-pull/src/lib.rs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ use mentat_core::{
     Cloned,
     Entid,
     HasSchema,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Schema,
     StructuredMap,
     ValueRc,
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ pub fn pull_attributes_for_entities<E, A>(schema: &Schema,
 pub struct Puller {
     // The domain of this map is the set of attributes to fetch.
     // The range is the set of aliases to use in the output.
-    attributes: BTreeMap<Entid, ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>>,
+    attributes: BTreeMap<Entid, ValueRc<Keyword>>,
     attribute_spec: cache::AttributeSpec,
 }
 
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ impl Puller {
                     .ok_or_else(|| ErrorKind::UnnamedAttribute(*i))
         };
 
-        let mut names: BTreeMap<Entid, ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>> = Default::default();
+        let mut names: BTreeMap<Entid, ValueRc<Keyword>> = Default::default();
         let mut attrs: BTreeSet<Entid> = Default::default();
         for attr in attributes.iter() {
             match attr {
diff --git a/query-translator/tests/translate.rs b/query-translator/tests/translate.rs
index 101810f1..1b2bb982 100644
--- a/query-translator/tests/translate.rs
+++ b/query-translator/tests/translate.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ use std::rc::Rc;
 
 use mentat_query::{
     FindSpec,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Variable,
 };
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ macro_rules! var {
     };
 }
 
-fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: NamespacedKeyword, e: Entid) {
+fn associate_ident(schema: &mut Schema, i: Keyword, e: Entid) {
     schema.entid_map.insert(e, i.clone());
     schema.ident_map.insert(i.clone(), e);
 }
@@ -123,12 +123,12 @@ fn translate_to_constant(schema: &Schema, query: &'static str) -> ConstantProjec
 
 fn prepopulated_typed_schema(foo_type: ValueType) -> Schema {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"), 99);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"), 99);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 99, Attribute {
         value_type: foo_type,
         ..Default::default()
     });
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "fts"), 100);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("foo", "fts"), 100);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 100, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::String,
         index: true,
@@ -486,9 +486,9 @@ fn test_compare_double_to_long() {
 #[test]
 fn test_simple_or_join() {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "url"), 97);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "title"), 98);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "description"), 99);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "url"), 97);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "title"), 98);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "description"), 99);
     for x in 97..100 {
         add_attribute(&mut schema, x, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
@@ -511,16 +511,16 @@ fn test_simple_or_join() {
 #[test]
 fn test_complex_or_join() {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "save"), 95);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "save"), 95);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 95, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::Ref,
         ..Default::default()
     });
 
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("save", "title"), 96);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "url"), 97);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "title"), 98);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "description"), 99);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("save", "title"), 96);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "url"), 97);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "title"), 98);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "description"), 99);
     for x in 96..100 {
         add_attribute(&mut schema, x, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ fn test_complex_or_join() {
 #[test]
 fn test_complex_or_join_type_projection() {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "title"), 98);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "title"), 98);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 98, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::String,
         ..Default::default()
@@ -603,9 +603,9 @@ fn test_complex_or_join_type_projection() {
 #[test]
 fn test_not() {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "url"), 97);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "title"), 98);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "bookmarked"), 99);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "url"), 97);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "title"), 98);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "bookmarked"), 99);
     for x in 97..99 {
         add_attribute(&mut schema, x, Attribute {
             value_type: ValueType::String,
@@ -629,9 +629,9 @@ fn test_not() {
 #[test]
 fn test_not_join() {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "url"), 97);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("bookmarks", "page"), 98);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("bookmarks", "date_created"), 99);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "url"), 97);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("bookmarks", "page"), 98);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("bookmarks", "date_created"), 99);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 97, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::String,
         ..Default::default()
@@ -698,7 +698,7 @@ fn test_order_by() {
 #[test]
 fn test_complex_nested_or_join_type_projection() {
     let mut schema = Schema::default();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("page", "title"), 98);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("page", "title"), 98);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 98, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::String,
         ..Default::default()
@@ -884,10 +884,10 @@ fn test_unbound_attribute_with_ground() {
 #[test]
 fn test_not_with_ground() {
     let mut schema = prepopulated_schema();
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "valueType"), 7);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("db.type", "ref"), 23);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("db.type", "bool"), 28);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("db.type", "instant"), 29);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("db", "valueType"), 7);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("db.type", "ref"), 23);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("db.type", "bool"), 28);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("db.type", "instant"), 29);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 7, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::Ref,
         multival: false,
@@ -1139,7 +1139,7 @@ fn test_tx_before_and_after() {
 #[test]
 fn test_tx_ids() {
     let mut schema = prepopulated_typed_schema(ValueType::Double);
-    associate_ident(&mut schema, NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "txInstant"), 101);
+    associate_ident(&mut schema, Keyword::namespaced("db", "txInstant"), 101);
     add_attribute(&mut schema, 101, Attribute {
         value_type: ValueType::Instant,
         multival: false,
diff --git a/query/src/lib.rs b/query/src/lib.rs
index 76e4e115..488c4f37 100644
--- a/query/src/lib.rs
+++ b/query/src/lib.rs
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ use edn::{
 };
 
 pub use edn::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     PlainSymbol,
 };
 
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ impl Variable {
 
     /// Return a new `Variable`, assuming that the provided string is a valid name.
     pub fn from_valid_name(name: &str) -> Variable {
-        let s = PlainSymbol::new(name);
+        let s = PlainSymbol::plain(name);
         assert!(s.is_var_symbol());
         Variable(Rc::new(s))
     }
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ impl SrcVar {
             if sym.0 == "$" {
                 Some(SrcVar::DefaultSrc)
             } else {
-                Some(SrcVar::NamedSrc(sym.plain_name().to_string()))
+                Some(SrcVar::NamedSrc(sym.name().to_string()))
             }
         } else {
             None
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ pub enum FnArg {
     Variable(Variable),
     SrcVar(SrcVar),
     EntidOrInteger(i64),
-    IdentOrKeyword(NamespacedKeyword),
+    IdentOrKeyword(Keyword),
     Constant(NonIntegerConstant),
     // The collection values representable in EDN.  There's no advantage to destructuring up front,
     // since consumers will need to handle arbitrarily nested EDN themselves anyway.
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ impl FromValue<FnArg> for FnArg {
             PlainSymbol(ref x) if x.is_var_symbol() =>
                 Variable::from_symbol(x).map(FnArg::Variable),
             PlainSymbol(_) => None,
-            NamespacedKeyword(ref x) =>
+            Keyword(ref x) =>
                 Some(FnArg::IdentOrKeyword(x.clone())),
             Instant(x) =>
                 Some(FnArg::Constant(NonIntegerConstant::Instant(x))),
@@ -277,7 +277,6 @@ impl FromValue<FnArg> for FnArg {
                 Some(FnArg::Constant(x.clone().into())),
             Nil |
             NamespacedSymbol(_) |
-            Keyword(_) |
             Vector(_) |
             List(_) |
             Set(_) |
@@ -326,17 +325,17 @@ pub enum PatternNonValuePlace {
     Placeholder,
     Variable(Variable),
     Entid(i64),                       // Will always be +ve. See #190.
-    Ident(ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>),
+    Ident(ValueRc<Keyword>),
 }
 
-impl From<Rc<NamespacedKeyword>> for PatternNonValuePlace {
-    fn from(value: Rc<NamespacedKeyword>) -> Self {
+impl From<Rc<Keyword>> for PatternNonValuePlace {
+    fn from(value: Rc<Keyword>) -> Self {
         PatternNonValuePlace::Ident(ValueRc::from_rc(value))
     }
 }
 
-impl From<NamespacedKeyword> for PatternNonValuePlace {
-    fn from(value: NamespacedKeyword) -> Self {
+impl From<Keyword> for PatternNonValuePlace {
+    fn from(value: Keyword) -> Self {
         PatternNonValuePlace::Ident(ValueRc::new(value))
     }
 }
@@ -380,7 +379,7 @@ impl FromValue<PatternNonValuePlace> for PatternNonValuePlace {
                     None
                 }
             },
-            edn::SpannedValue::NamespacedKeyword(ref x) =>
+            edn::SpannedValue::Keyword(ref x) =>
                 Some(x.clone().into()),
             _ => None,
         }
@@ -389,7 +388,7 @@ impl FromValue<PatternNonValuePlace> for PatternNonValuePlace {
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub enum IdentOrEntid {
-    Ident(NamespacedKeyword),
+    Ident(Keyword),
     Entid(i64),
 }
 
@@ -401,18 +400,18 @@ pub enum PatternValuePlace {
     Placeholder,
     Variable(Variable),
     EntidOrInteger(i64),
-    IdentOrKeyword(ValueRc<NamespacedKeyword>),
+    IdentOrKeyword(ValueRc<Keyword>),
     Constant(NonIntegerConstant),
 }
 
-impl From<Rc<NamespacedKeyword>> for PatternValuePlace {
-    fn from(value: Rc<NamespacedKeyword>) -> Self {
+impl From<Rc<Keyword>> for PatternValuePlace {
+    fn from(value: Rc<Keyword>) -> Self {
         PatternValuePlace::IdentOrKeyword(ValueRc::from_rc(value))
     }
 }
 
-impl From<NamespacedKeyword> for PatternValuePlace {
-    fn from(value: NamespacedKeyword) -> Self {
+impl From<Keyword> for PatternValuePlace {
+    fn from(value: Keyword) -> Self {
         PatternValuePlace::IdentOrKeyword(ValueRc::new(value))
     }
 }
@@ -426,7 +425,7 @@ impl FromValue<PatternValuePlace> for PatternValuePlace {
                 Some(PatternValuePlace::Placeholder),
             edn::SpannedValue::PlainSymbol(ref x) =>
                 Variable::from_symbol(x).map(PatternValuePlace::Variable),
-            edn::SpannedValue::NamespacedKeyword(ref x) =>
+            edn::SpannedValue::Keyword(ref x) if x.is_namespaced() =>
                 Some(x.clone().into()),
             edn::SpannedValue::Boolean(x) =>
                 Some(PatternValuePlace::Constant(NonIntegerConstant::Boolean(x))),
@@ -445,7 +444,7 @@ impl FromValue<PatternValuePlace> for PatternValuePlace {
             // These don't appear in queries.
             edn::SpannedValue::Nil => None,
             edn::SpannedValue::NamespacedSymbol(_) => None,
-            edn::SpannedValue::Keyword(_) => None,
+            edn::SpannedValue::Keyword(_) => None,                // … yet.
             edn::SpannedValue::Map(_) => None,
             edn::SpannedValue::List(_) => None,
             edn::SpannedValue::Set(_) => None,
@@ -489,13 +488,13 @@ impl PatternValuePlace {
 // Not yet used.
 // pub enum PullDefaultValue {
 //     EntidOrInteger(i64),
-//     IdentOrKeyword(Rc<NamespacedKeyword>),
+//     IdentOrKeyword(Rc<Keyword>),
 //     Constant(NonIntegerConstant),
 // }
 
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub enum PullConcreteAttribute {
-    Ident(Rc<NamespacedKeyword>),
+    Ident(Rc<Keyword>),
     Entid(i64),
 }
 
diff --git a/src/conn.rs b/src/conn.rs
index 1a965f7d..813afe74 100644
--- a/src/conn.rs
+++ b/src/conn.rs
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ use mentat_core::{
     Entid,
     HasSchema,
     KnownEntid,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Schema,
     StructuredMap,
     TypedValue,
@@ -215,9 +215,9 @@ pub trait Queryable {
         where T: Into<Option<QueryInputs>>;
     fn q_prepare<T>(&self, query: &str, inputs: T) -> PreparedResult
         where T: Into<Option<QueryInputs>>;
-    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid>;
-    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid>;
 }
 
@@ -269,12 +269,12 @@ impl<'a, 'c> Queryable for InProgressRead<'a, 'c> {
         self.0.q_explain(query, inputs)
     }
 
-    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid> {
         self.0.lookup_values_for_attribute(entity, attribute)
     }
 
-    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid> {
         self.0.lookup_value_for_attribute(entity, attribute)
     }
@@ -331,13 +331,13 @@ impl<'a, 'c> Queryable for InProgress<'a, 'c> {
                   inputs)
     }
 
-    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid> {
         let known = Known::new(&self.schema, Some(&self.cache));
         lookup_values_for_attribute(&*(self.transaction), known, entity, attribute)
     }
 
-    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid> {
         let known = Known::new(&self.schema, Some(&self.cache));
         lookup_value_for_attribute(&*(self.transaction), known, entity, attribute)
@@ -364,11 +364,11 @@ impl<'a, 'c> HasSchema for InProgressRead<'a, 'c> {
         self.0.entid_for_type(t)
     }
 
-    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&NamespacedKeyword> where T: Into<Entid> {
+    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&Keyword> where T: Into<Entid> {
         self.0.get_ident(x)
     }
 
-    fn get_entid(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
+    fn get_entid(&self, x: &Keyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
         self.0.get_entid(x)
     }
 
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> HasSchema for InProgressRead<'a, 'c> {
         self.0.attribute_for_entid(x)
     }
 
-    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)> {
+    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)> {
         self.0.attribute_for_ident(ident)
     }
 
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> HasSchema for InProgressRead<'a, 'c> {
     }
 
     /// Return true if the provided ident identifies an attribute in this schema.
-    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> bool {
+    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &Keyword) -> bool {
         self.0.identifies_attribute(x)
     }
 
@@ -400,11 +400,11 @@ impl<'a, 'c> HasSchema for InProgress<'a, 'c> {
         self.schema.entid_for_type(t)
     }
 
-    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&NamespacedKeyword> where T: Into<Entid> {
+    fn get_ident<T>(&self, x: T) -> Option<&Keyword> where T: Into<Entid> {
         self.schema.get_ident(x)
     }
 
-    fn get_entid(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
+    fn get_entid(&self, x: &Keyword) -> Option<KnownEntid> {
         self.schema.get_entid(x)
     }
 
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> HasSchema for InProgress<'a, 'c> {
         self.schema.attribute_for_entid(x)
     }
 
-    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)> {
+    fn attribute_for_ident(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Option<(&Attribute, KnownEntid)> {
         self.schema.attribute_for_ident(ident)
     }
 
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> HasSchema for InProgress<'a, 'c> {
     }
 
     /// Return true if the provided ident identifies an attribute in this schema.
-    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &NamespacedKeyword) -> bool {
+    fn identifies_attribute(&self, x: &Keyword) -> bool {
         self.schema.identifies_attribute(x)
     }
 
@@ -549,7 +549,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> InProgress<'a, 'c> {
     }
 
     pub fn cache(&mut self,
-                 attribute: &NamespacedKeyword,
+                 attribute: &Keyword,
                  cache_direction: CacheDirection,
                  cache_action: CacheAction) -> Result<()> {
         let attribute_entid: Entid = self.schema
@@ -631,7 +631,7 @@ impl Store {
         self.conn.begin_transaction(&mut self.sqlite)
     }
 
-    pub fn cache(&mut self, attr: &NamespacedKeyword, direction: CacheDirection) -> Result<()> {
+    pub fn cache(&mut self, attr: &Keyword, direction: CacheDirection) -> Result<()> {
         let schema = &self.conn.current_schema();
         self.conn.cache(&mut self.sqlite,
                         schema,
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ impl Store {
         self.conn.unregister_observer(key);
     }
 
-    pub fn assert_datom<T>(&mut self, entid: T, attribute: NamespacedKeyword, value: TypedValue) -> Result<()> where T: Into<KnownEntid> {
+    pub fn assert_datom<T>(&mut self, entid: T, attribute: Keyword, value: TypedValue) -> Result<()> where T: Into<KnownEntid> {
         self.conn.assert_datom(&mut self.sqlite, entid, attribute, value)
     }
 }
@@ -669,12 +669,12 @@ impl Queryable for Store {
         self.conn.q_explain(&self.sqlite, query, inputs)
     }
 
-    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_values_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid> {
         self.conn.lookup_values_for_attribute(&self.sqlite, entity.into(), attribute)
     }
 
-    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
+    fn lookup_value_for_attribute<E>(&self, entity: E, attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
         where E: Into<Entid> {
         self.conn.lookup_value_for_attribute(&self.sqlite, entity.into(), attribute)
     }
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ impl Conn {
     pub fn lookup_values_for_attribute(&self,
                                        sqlite: &rusqlite::Connection,
                                        entity: Entid,
-                                       attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>> {
+                                       attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>> {
         let metadata = self.metadata.lock().unwrap();
         let known = Known::new(&*metadata.schema, Some(&metadata.attribute_cache));
         lookup_values_for_attribute(sqlite, known, entity, attribute)
@@ -854,7 +854,7 @@ impl Conn {
     pub fn lookup_value_for_attribute(&self,
                                       sqlite: &rusqlite::Connection,
                                       entity: Entid,
-                                      attribute: &edn::NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>> {
+                                      attribute: &edn::Keyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>> {
         let metadata = self.metadata.lock().unwrap();
         let known = Known::new(&*metadata.schema, Some(&metadata.attribute_cache));
         lookup_value_for_attribute(sqlite, known, entity, attribute)
@@ -937,7 +937,7 @@ impl Conn {
     pub fn cache(&mut self,
                  sqlite: &mut rusqlite::Connection,
                  schema: &Schema,
-                 attribute: &NamespacedKeyword,
+                 attribute: &Keyword,
                  cache_direction: CacheDirection,
                  cache_action: CacheAction) -> Result<()> {
         let mut metadata = self.metadata.lock().unwrap();
@@ -977,7 +977,7 @@ impl Conn {
     // TODO: expose the entity builder over FFI and remove the need for this function entirely
     // It's really only here in order to keep the FFI layer as thin as possible.
     // Once the entity builder is exposed, we can perform all of these functions over FFI from the client.
-    pub fn assert_datom<T>(&mut self, sqlite: &mut rusqlite::Connection, entid: T, attribute: NamespacedKeyword, value: TypedValue) -> Result<()> where T: Into<KnownEntid> {
+    pub fn assert_datom<T>(&mut self, sqlite: &mut rusqlite::Connection, entid: T, attribute: Keyword, value: TypedValue) -> Result<()> where T: Into<KnownEntid> {
         let in_progress = self.begin_transaction(sqlite)?;
         let mut builder = in_progress.builder().describe(entid.into());
         builder.add_kw(&attribute, value)?;
@@ -1122,6 +1122,8 @@ mod tests {
             assert!(one == tempid_offset || one == tempid_offset + 1);
             assert!(two == tempid_offset || two == tempid_offset + 1);
 
+            println!("RES: {:?}", in_progress.q_once("[:find ?v :where [?x :db/ident ?v]]", None).unwrap());
+
             let during = in_progress.q_once("[:find ?x . :where [?x :db/ident :a/keyword1]]", None)
                                     .expect("query succeeded");
             assert_eq!(during.results, QueryResults::Scalar(Some(TypedValue::Ref(one).into())));
@@ -1208,9 +1210,9 @@ mod tests {
             assert_eq!(during.results, QueryResults::Scalar(Some(TypedValue::Ref(one).into())));
 
             // And we can do direct lookup, too.
-            let kw = in_progress.lookup_value_for_attribute(one, &edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "ident"))
+            let kw = in_progress.lookup_value_for_attribute(one, &edn::Keyword::namespaced("db", "ident"))
                                 .expect("lookup succeeded");
-            assert_eq!(kw, Some(TypedValue::Keyword(edn::NamespacedKeyword::new("a", "keyword1").into())));
+            assert_eq!(kw, Some(TypedValue::Keyword(edn::Keyword::namespaced("a", "keyword1").into())));
 
             in_progress.rollback()
                        .expect("rollback succeeded");
diff --git a/src/entity_builder.rs b/src/entity_builder.rs
index 5cac5d34..13516cdc 100644
--- a/src/entity_builder.rs
+++ b/src/entity_builder.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 //     Entity::AddOrRetract {
 //         op: OpType::Add,
 //         e: EntidOrLookupRefOrTempId::LookupRef(LookupRef {
-//             a: Entid::Ident(NamespacedKeyword::new("test", "a1")),
+//             a: Entid::Ident(Keyword::namespaced("test", "a1")),
 //             v: Value::Text("v1".into()),
 //         }),
 //         a: Entid::Ident(kw!(:test/a)),
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
 use mentat_core::{
     HasSchema,
     KnownEntid,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     TypedValue,
 };
 
@@ -256,21 +256,21 @@ impl<'a, 'c> BuildTerms for InProgressBuilder<'a, 'c> {
 }
 
 impl<'a, 'c> InProgressBuilder<'a, 'c> {
-    pub fn add_kw<E, V>(&mut self, e: E, a: &NamespacedKeyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
+    pub fn add_kw<E, V>(&mut self, e: E, a: &Keyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
     where E: IntoThing<KnownEntidOr<TempIdHandle>>,
           V: IntoThing<TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>> {
         let (attribute, value) = self.extract_kw_value(a, v.into_thing())?;
         self.add(e, attribute, value)
     }
 
-    pub fn retract_kw<E, V>(&mut self, e: E, a: &NamespacedKeyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
+    pub fn retract_kw<E, V>(&mut self, e: E, a: &Keyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
     where E: IntoThing<KnownEntidOr<TempIdHandle>>,
           V: IntoThing<TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>> {
         let (attribute, value) = self.extract_kw_value(a, v.into_thing())?;
         self.retract(e, attribute, value)
     }
 
-    fn extract_kw_value(&mut self, a: &NamespacedKeyword, v: TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>) -> Result<(KnownEntid, TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>)> {
+    fn extract_kw_value(&mut self, a: &Keyword, v: TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>) -> Result<(KnownEntid, TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>)> {
         let attribute: KnownEntid;
         if let Some((attr, aa)) = self.in_progress.attribute_for_ident(a) {
             if let Either::Left(ref tv) = v {
@@ -289,12 +289,12 @@ impl<'a, 'c> InProgressBuilder<'a, 'c> {
 }
 
 impl<'a, 'c> EntityBuilder<InProgressBuilder<'a, 'c>> {
-    pub fn add_kw<V>(&mut self, a: &NamespacedKeyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
+    pub fn add_kw<V>(&mut self, a: &Keyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
     where V: IntoThing<TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>> {
         self.builder.add_kw(self.entity.clone(), a, v)
     }
 
-    pub fn retract_kw<V>(&mut self, a: &NamespacedKeyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
+    pub fn retract_kw<V>(&mut self, a: &Keyword, v: V) -> Result<()>
     where V: IntoThing<TypedValueOr<TempIdHandle>> {
         self.builder.retract_kw(self.entity.clone(), a, v)
     }
diff --git a/src/errors.rs b/src/errors.rs
index 679388fd..bcf340c6 100644
--- a/src/errors.rs
+++ b/src/errors.rs
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ error_chain! {
             display("core schema: wanted {}, got {:?}", mentat_db::CORE_SCHEMA_VERSION, version)
         }
 
-        MissingCoreVocabulary(kw: mentat_query::NamespacedKeyword) {
+        MissingCoreVocabulary(kw: mentat_query::Keyword) {
             description("missing core vocabulary")
             display("missing core attribute {}", kw)
         }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 79029994..029ad1e9 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ pub use mentat_core::{
     DateTime,
     HasSchema,
     KnownEntid,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Schema,
     Binding,
     TypedValue,
@@ -70,25 +70,29 @@ macro_rules! var {
     };
 }
 
-/// Produce the appropriate `NamespacedKeyword` for the provided namespace and name.
+/// Produce the appropriate `Keyword` for the provided namespace and name.
 /// This lives here because we can't re-export macros:
 /// https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/29638.
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! kw {
+    ( : $n:ident ) => {
+        $crate::Keyword::plain(
+            stringify!($n)
+        )
+    };
+
     ( : $ns:ident / $n:ident ) => {
-        // We don't need to go through `new` -- `ident` is strict enough.
-        $crate::NamespacedKeyword {
-            namespace: stringify!($ns).into(),
-            name: stringify!($n).into(),
-        }
+        $crate::Keyword::namespaced(
+            stringify!($ns),
+            stringify!($n)
+        )
     };
 
     ( : $ns:ident$(. $nss:ident)+ / $n:ident ) => {
-        // We don't need to go through `new` -- `ident` is strict enough.
-        $crate::NamespacedKeyword {
-            namespace: concat!(stringify!($ns) $(, ".", stringify!($nss))+).into(),
-            name: stringify!($n).into(),
-        }
+        $crate::Keyword::namespaced(
+            concat!(stringify!($ns) $(, ".", stringify!($nss))+),
+            stringify!($n)
+        )
     };
 }
 
@@ -137,13 +141,13 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn can_import_edn() {
-        assert_eq!("foo", Keyword::new("foo").0);
+        assert_eq!(":foo", &Keyword::plain("foo").to_string());
     }
 
     #[test]
     fn test_kw() {
-        assert_eq!(kw!(:foo/bar), NamespacedKeyword::new("foo", "bar"));
-        assert_eq!(kw!(:org.mozilla.foo/bar_baz), NamespacedKeyword::new("org.mozilla.foo", "bar_baz"));
+        assert_eq!(kw!(:foo/bar), Keyword::namespaced("foo", "bar"));
+        assert_eq!(kw!(:org.mozilla.foo/bar_baz), Keyword::namespaced("org.mozilla.foo", "bar_baz"));
     }
 
     #[test]
diff --git a/src/query.rs b/src/query.rs
index 384ef99e..a0cbd2f8 100644
--- a/src/query.rs
+++ b/src/query.rs
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ pub use mentat_query_algebrizer::{
 };
 
 pub use mentat_query::{
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     PlainSymbol,
     Variable,
 };
@@ -212,9 +212,9 @@ fn fetch_values<'sqlite>
     run_algebrized_query(known, sqlite, algebrized)
 }
 
-fn lookup_attribute(schema: &Schema, attribute: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
+fn lookup_attribute(schema: &Schema, attribute: &Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
     schema.get_entid(attribute)
-          .ok_or_else(|| ErrorKind::UnknownAttribute(attribute.name.clone()).into())
+          .ok_or_else(|| ErrorKind::UnknownAttribute(attribute.name().into()).into())
 }
 
 /// Return a single value for the provided entity and attribute.
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ pub fn lookup_value_for_attribute<'sqlite, 'attribute, E>
 (sqlite: &'sqlite rusqlite::Connection,
  known: Known,
  entity: E,
- attribute: &'attribute NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
+ attribute: &'attribute Keyword) -> Result<Option<TypedValue>>
  where E: Into<Entid> {
     let attribute = lookup_attribute(known.schema, attribute)?;
     lookup_value(sqlite, known, entity.into(), attribute)
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ pub fn lookup_values_for_attribute<'sqlite, 'attribute, E>
 (sqlite: &'sqlite rusqlite::Connection,
  known: Known,
  entity: E,
- attribute: &'attribute NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
+ attribute: &'attribute Keyword) -> Result<Vec<TypedValue>>
  where E: Into<Entid> {
     let attribute = lookup_attribute(known.schema, attribute)?;
     lookup_values(sqlite, known, entity.into(), attribute)
diff --git a/src/query_builder.rs b/src/query_builder.rs
index 40142b4b..2d998eb7 100644
--- a/src/query_builder.rs
+++ b/src/query_builder.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use std::collections::{
 
 use mentat_core::{
     Entid,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Binding,
     TypedValue,
     ValueType,
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ impl<'a> QueryBuilder<'a> {
         self
     }
 
-    pub fn bind_ref_from_kw(&mut self, var: &str, value: NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<&mut Self> {
+    pub fn bind_ref_from_kw(&mut self, var: &str, value: Keyword) -> Result<&mut Self> {
         let entid = self.store.conn().current_schema().get_entid(&value).ok_or(ErrorKind::UnknownAttribute(value.to_string()))?;
         self.values.insert(Variable::from_valid_name(var), TypedValue::Ref(entid.into()));
         Ok(self)
diff --git a/src/vocabulary.rs b/src/vocabulary.rs
index 883649f5..f17a3812 100644
--- a/src/vocabulary.rs
+++ b/src/vocabulary.rs
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ use ::{
     Entid,
     HasSchema,
     IntoResult,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Binding,
     TypedValue,
     ValueType,
@@ -157,9 +157,9 @@ pub type Datom = (Entid, Entid, TypedValue);
 /// checks or employ more fine-grained logic.
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct Definition {
-    pub name: NamespacedKeyword,
+    pub name: Keyword,
     pub version: Version,
-    pub attributes: Vec<(NamespacedKeyword, Attribute)>,
+    pub attributes: Vec<(Keyword, Attribute)>,
     pub pre: fn(&mut InProgress, &Vocabulary) -> Result<()>,
     pub post: fn(&mut InProgress, &Vocabulary) -> Result<()>,
 }
@@ -252,8 +252,8 @@ impl Definition {
     }
 
     pub fn new<N, A>(name: N, version: Version, attributes: A) -> Definition
-    where N: Into<NamespacedKeyword>,
-          A: Into<Vec<(NamespacedKeyword, Attribute)>> {
+    where N: Into<Keyword>,
+          A: Into<Vec<(Keyword, Attribute)>> {
         Definition {
             name: name.into(),
             version: version,
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ impl Definition {
 /// A definition of a vocabulary as retrieved from a particular store.
 ///
 /// A `Vocabulary` is just like `Definition`, but concrete: its name and attributes are identified
-/// by `Entid`, not `NamespacedKeyword`.
+/// by `Entid`, not `Keyword`.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub struct Vocabulary {
     pub entity: Entid,
@@ -295,68 +295,68 @@ impl Vocabulary {
 
 /// A collection of named `Vocabulary` instances, as retrieved from the store.
 #[derive(Debug, Default, Clone)]
-pub struct Vocabularies(pub BTreeMap<NamespacedKeyword, Vocabulary>);   // N.B., this has a copy of the attributes in Schema!
+pub struct Vocabularies(pub BTreeMap<Keyword, Vocabulary>);   // N.B., this has a copy of the attributes in Schema!
 
 impl Vocabularies {
     pub fn len(&self) -> usize {
         self.0.len()
     }
 
-    pub fn get(&self, name: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<&Vocabulary> {
+    pub fn get(&self, name: &Keyword) -> Option<&Vocabulary> {
         self.0.get(name)
     }
 
-    pub fn iter(&self) -> ::std::collections::btree_map::Iter<NamespacedKeyword, Vocabulary> {
+    pub fn iter(&self) -> ::std::collections::btree_map::Iter<Keyword, Vocabulary> {
         self.0.iter()
     }
 }
 
 lazy_static! {
-    static ref DB_SCHEMA_CORE: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_SCHEMA_CORE: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db.schema/core)
     };
-    static ref DB_SCHEMA_ATTRIBUTE: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_SCHEMA_ATTRIBUTE: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db.schema/attribute)
     };
-    static ref DB_SCHEMA_VERSION: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_SCHEMA_VERSION: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db.schema/version)
     };
-    static ref DB_IDENT: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_IDENT: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db/ident)
     };
-    static ref DB_UNIQUE: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_UNIQUE: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db/unique)
     };
-    static ref DB_UNIQUE_VALUE: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_UNIQUE_VALUE: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db.unique/value)
     };
-    static ref DB_UNIQUE_IDENTITY: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_UNIQUE_IDENTITY: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db.unique/identity)
     };
-    static ref DB_IS_COMPONENT: NamespacedKeyword = {
-        NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "isComponent")
+    static ref DB_IS_COMPONENT: Keyword = {
+        Keyword::namespaced("db", "isComponent")
     };
-    static ref DB_VALUE_TYPE: NamespacedKeyword = {
-        NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "valueType")
+    static ref DB_VALUE_TYPE: Keyword = {
+        Keyword::namespaced("db", "valueType")
     };
-    static ref DB_INDEX: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_INDEX: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db/index)
     };
-    static ref DB_FULLTEXT: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_FULLTEXT: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db/fulltext)
     };
-    static ref DB_CARDINALITY: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_CARDINALITY: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db/cardinality)
     };
-    static ref DB_CARDINALITY_ONE: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_CARDINALITY_ONE: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db.cardinality/one)
     };
-    static ref DB_CARDINALITY_MANY: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref DB_CARDINALITY_MANY: Keyword = {
         kw!(:db.cardinality/many)
     };
 
-    static ref DB_NO_HISTORY: NamespacedKeyword = {
-        NamespacedKeyword::new("db", "noHistory")
+    static ref DB_NO_HISTORY: Keyword = {
+        Keyword::namespaced("db", "noHistory")
     };
 }
 
@@ -365,11 +365,11 @@ trait HasCoreSchema {
     fn core_type(&self, t: ValueType) -> Result<KnownEntid>;
 
     /// Return the entity ID for an ident. On failure, return `MissingCoreVocabulary`.
-    fn core_entid(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid>;
+    fn core_entid(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid>;
 
     /// Return the entity ID for an attribute's keyword. On failure, return
     /// `MissingCoreVocabulary`.
-    fn core_attribute(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid>;
+    fn core_attribute(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid>;
 }
 
 impl<T> HasCoreSchema for T where T: HasSchema {
@@ -378,12 +378,12 @@ impl<T> HasCoreSchema for T where T: HasSchema {
             .ok_or_else(|| ErrorKind::MissingCoreVocabulary(DB_SCHEMA_VERSION.clone()).into())
     }
 
-    fn core_entid(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
+    fn core_entid(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
         self.get_entid(ident)
             .ok_or_else(|| ErrorKind::MissingCoreVocabulary(DB_SCHEMA_VERSION.clone()).into())
     }
 
-    fn core_attribute(&self, ident: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
+    fn core_attribute(&self, ident: &Keyword) -> Result<KnownEntid> {
         self.attribute_for_ident(ident)
             .ok_or_else(|| ErrorKind::MissingCoreVocabulary(DB_SCHEMA_VERSION.clone()).into())
             .map(|(_, e)| e)
@@ -391,9 +391,9 @@ impl<T> HasCoreSchema for T where T: HasSchema {
 }
 
 impl Definition {
-    fn description_for_attributes<'s, T, R>(&'s self, attributes: &[R], via: &T, diff: Option<BTreeMap<NamespacedKeyword, Attribute>>) -> Result<Terms>
+    fn description_for_attributes<'s, T, R>(&'s self, attributes: &[R], via: &T, diff: Option<BTreeMap<Keyword, Attribute>>) -> Result<Terms>
      where T: HasCoreSchema,
-           R: ::std::borrow::Borrow<(NamespacedKeyword, Attribute)> {
+           R: ::std::borrow::Borrow<(Keyword, Attribute)> {
 
         // The attributes we'll need to describe this vocabulary.
         let a_version = via.core_attribute(&DB_SCHEMA_VERSION)?;
@@ -520,7 +520,7 @@ pub enum VocabularyCheck<'definition> {
     PresentButTooNew { newer_version: Vocabulary },
 
     /// The provided definition is present in the store, but some of its attributes are not.
-    PresentButMissingAttributes { attributes: Vec<&'definition (NamespacedKeyword, Attribute)> },
+    PresentButMissingAttributes { attributes: Vec<&'definition (Keyword, Attribute)> },
 }
 
 /// This enum captures the outcome of attempting to ensure that a vocabulary definition is present
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ pub enum VocabularyOutcome {
 /// This trait captures the ability to retrieve and describe stored vocabularies.
 pub trait HasVocabularies {
     fn read_vocabularies(&self) -> Result<Vocabularies>;
-    fn read_vocabulary_named(&self, name: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<Vocabulary>>;
+    fn read_vocabulary_named(&self, name: &Keyword) -> Result<Option<Vocabulary>>;
 }
 
 /// This trait captures the ability of a store to check and install/upgrade vocabularies.
@@ -557,7 +557,7 @@ pub trait VersionedStore: HasVocabularies + HasSchema {
             // Check the version.
             if vocabulary.version == definition.version {
                 // Same version. Check that all of our attributes are present.
-                let mut missing: Vec<&'definition (NamespacedKeyword, Attribute)> = vec![];
+                let mut missing: Vec<&'definition (Keyword, Attribute)> = vec![];
                 for pair in definition.attributes.iter() {
                     if let Some(entid) = self.get_entid(&pair.0) {
                         if let Some(existing) = vocabulary.find(entid) {
@@ -609,7 +609,7 @@ pub trait VersionedStore: HasVocabularies + HasSchema {
     ///
     /// Use this function instead of calling `ensure_vocabulary` if you need to have pre/post
     /// functions invoked when vocabulary changes are necessary.
-    fn ensure_vocabularies(&mut self, vocabularies: &mut VocabularySource) -> Result<BTreeMap<NamespacedKeyword, VocabularyOutcome>>;
+    fn ensure_vocabularies(&mut self, vocabularies: &mut VocabularySource) -> Result<BTreeMap<Keyword, VocabularyOutcome>>;
 
     /// Make sure that our expectations of the core vocabulary — basic types and attributes — are met.
     fn verify_core_schema(&self) -> Result<()> {
@@ -632,13 +632,13 @@ pub trait VersionedStore: HasVocabularies + HasSchema {
 /// vocabularies — you can retrieve the requested definition and the resulting `VocabularyCheck`
 /// by name.
 pub trait VocabularyStatus {
-    fn get(&self, name: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<(&Definition, &VocabularyCheck)>;
-    fn version(&self, name: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<Version>;
+    fn get(&self, name: &Keyword) -> Option<(&Definition, &VocabularyCheck)>;
+    fn version(&self, name: &Keyword) -> Option<Version>;
 }
 
 #[derive(Default)]
 struct CheckedVocabularies<'a> {
-    items: BTreeMap<NamespacedKeyword, (&'a Definition, VocabularyCheck<'a>)>,
+    items: BTreeMap<Keyword, (&'a Definition, VocabularyCheck<'a>)>,
 }
 
 impl<'a> CheckedVocabularies<'a> {
@@ -652,18 +652,18 @@ impl<'a> CheckedVocabularies<'a> {
 }
 
 impl<'a> VocabularyStatus for CheckedVocabularies<'a> {
-    fn get(&self, name: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<(&Definition, &VocabularyCheck)> {
+    fn get(&self, name: &Keyword) -> Option<(&Definition, &VocabularyCheck)> {
         self.items.get(name).map(|&(ref d, ref c)| (*d, c))
     }
 
-    fn version(&self, name: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Option<Version> {
+    fn version(&self, name: &Keyword) -> Option<Version> {
         self.items.get(name).map(|&(d, _)| d.version)
     }
 }
 
 trait VocabularyMechanics {
     fn install_vocabulary(&mut self, definition: &Definition) -> Result<VocabularyOutcome>;
-    fn install_attributes_for<'definition>(&mut self, definition: &'definition Definition, attributes: Vec<&'definition (NamespacedKeyword, Attribute)>) -> Result<VocabularyOutcome>;
+    fn install_attributes_for<'definition>(&mut self, definition: &'definition Definition, attributes: Vec<&'definition (Keyword, Attribute)>) -> Result<VocabularyOutcome>;
     fn upgrade_vocabulary(&mut self, definition: &Definition, from_version: Vocabulary) -> Result<VocabularyOutcome>;
 }
 
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> VersionedStore for InProgress<'a, 'c> {
         }
     }
 
-    fn ensure_vocabularies(&mut self, vocabularies: &mut VocabularySource) -> Result<BTreeMap<NamespacedKeyword, VocabularyOutcome>> {
+    fn ensure_vocabularies(&mut self, vocabularies: &mut VocabularySource) -> Result<BTreeMap<Keyword, VocabularyOutcome>> {
         let definitions = vocabularies.definitions();
 
         let mut update  = Vec::new();
@@ -817,7 +817,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> VocabularyMechanics for InProgress<'a, 'c> {
         Ok(VocabularyOutcome::Installed)
     }
 
-    fn install_attributes_for<'definition>(&mut self, definition: &'definition Definition, attributes: Vec<&'definition (NamespacedKeyword, Attribute)>) -> Result<VocabularyOutcome> {
+    fn install_attributes_for<'definition>(&mut self, definition: &'definition Definition, attributes: Vec<&'definition (Keyword, Attribute)>) -> Result<VocabularyOutcome> {
         let (terms, tempids) = definition.description_for_attributes(&attributes, self, None)?;
         self.transact_terms(terms, tempids)?;
         Ok(VocabularyOutcome::InstalledMissingAttributes)
@@ -843,7 +843,7 @@ impl<'a, 'c> VocabularyMechanics for InProgress<'a, 'c> {
 }
 
 impl<T> HasVocabularies for T where T: HasSchema + Queryable {
-    fn read_vocabulary_named(&self, name: &NamespacedKeyword) -> Result<Option<Vocabulary>> {
+    fn read_vocabulary_named(&self, name: &Keyword) -> Result<Option<Vocabulary>> {
         if let Some(entid) = self.get_entid(name) {
             match self.lookup_value_for_attribute(entid, &DB_SCHEMA_VERSION)? {
                 None => Ok(None),
diff --git a/tests/pull.rs b/tests/pull.rs
index dda56c10..e8eb6468 100644
--- a/tests/pull.rs
+++ b/tests/pull.rs
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ use mentat::{
     Entid,
     HasSchema,
     IntoResult,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Pullable,
     Queryable,
     QueryInputs,
@@ -127,14 +127,14 @@ fn test_simple_pull() {
                                            .into_rel_result()
                                            .expect("results");
 
-    let beacon_district: Vec<(NamespacedKeyword, TypedValue)> = vec![
+    let beacon_district: Vec<(Keyword, TypedValue)> = vec![
         (kw!(:district/name), "Greater Duwamish".into()),
-        (kw!(:district/region), schema.get_entid(&NamespacedKeyword::new("region", "se")).unwrap().into())
+        (kw!(:district/region), schema.get_entid(&Keyword::namespaced("region", "se")).unwrap().into())
     ];
     let beacon_district: StructuredMap = beacon_district.into();
-    let capitol_district: Vec<(NamespacedKeyword, TypedValue)> = vec![
+    let capitol_district: Vec<(Keyword, TypedValue)> = vec![
         (kw!(:district/name), "East".into()),
-        (kw!(:district/region), schema.get_entid(&NamespacedKeyword::new("region", "e")).unwrap().into())
+        (kw!(:district/region), schema.get_entid(&Keyword::namespaced("region", "e")).unwrap().into())
     ];
     let capitol_district: StructuredMap = capitol_district.into();
 
diff --git a/tests/query.rs b/tests/query.rs
index 8a981bc8..3cdb72c9 100644
--- a/tests/query.rs
+++ b/tests/query.rs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ use mentat_query_projector::{
 
 use mentat::{
     IntoResult,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     PlainSymbol,
     QueryInputs,
     Queryable,
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ fn test_scalar() {
 
     if let QueryResults::Scalar(Some(Binding::Scalar(TypedValue::Keyword(ref rc)))) = results {
         // Should be '24'.
-        assert_eq!(&NamespacedKeyword::new("db.type", "keyword"), rc.as_ref());
+        assert_eq!(&Keyword::namespaced("db.type", "keyword"), rc.as_ref());
         assert_eq!(KnownEntid(24),
                    db.schema.get_entid(rc).unwrap());
     } else {
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ fn test_tuple() {
     assert_eq!(1, results.len());
 
     if let QueryResults::Tuple(Some(ref tuple)) = results {
-        let cardinality_one = NamespacedKeyword::new("db.cardinality", "one");
+        let cardinality_one = Keyword::namespaced("db.cardinality", "one");
         assert_eq!(tuple.len(), 2);
         assert_eq!(tuple[0], TypedValue::Boolean(true).into());
         assert_eq!(tuple[1], db.schema.get_entid(&cardinality_one).expect("c1").into());
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ fn test_inputs() {
                         .results;
 
     if let QueryResults::Scalar(Some(Binding::Scalar(TypedValue::Keyword(value)))) = results {
-        assert_eq!(value.as_ref(), &NamespacedKeyword::new("db.install", "valueType"));
+        assert_eq!(value.as_ref(), &Keyword::namespaced("db.install", "valueType"));
     } else {
         panic!("Expected scalar.");
     }
diff --git a/tests/vocabulary.rs b/tests/vocabulary.rs
index a0ecc538..46dd4c1f 100644
--- a/tests/vocabulary.rs
+++ b/tests/vocabulary.rs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ use mentat::{
     Conn,
     InProgress,
     KnownEntid,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     QueryInputs,
     Queryable,
     RelResult,
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ use mentat::errors::{
 };
 
 lazy_static! {
-    static ref FOO_NAME: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref FOO_NAME: Keyword = {
         kw!(:foo/name)
     };
 
-    static ref FOO_MOMENT: NamespacedKeyword = {
+    static ref FOO_MOMENT: Keyword = {
         kw!(:foo/moment)
     };
 
diff --git a/tools/cli/src/mentat_cli/repl.rs b/tools/cli/src/mentat_cli/repl.rs
index db88881a..f6a47c09 100644
--- a/tools/cli/src/mentat_cli/repl.rs
+++ b/tools/cli/src/mentat_cli/repl.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ use mentat_core::{
 
 use mentat::{
     CacheDirection,
-    NamespacedKeyword,
+    Keyword,
     Queryable,
     QueryExplanation,
     QueryOutput,
@@ -109,12 +109,12 @@ fn eprint_out(s: &str) {
     eprint!("{green}{s}{reset}", green = color::Fg(::GREEN), s = s, reset = color::Fg(color::Reset));
 }
 
-fn parse_namespaced_keyword(input: &str) -> Option<NamespacedKeyword> {
+fn parse_namespaced_keyword(input: &str) -> Option<Keyword> {
     let splits = [':', '/'];
     let mut i = input.split(&splits[..]);
     match (i.next(), i.next(), i.next(), i.next()) {
         (Some(""), Some(namespace), Some(name), None) => {
-            Some(NamespacedKeyword::new(namespace, name))
+            Some(Keyword::namespaced(namespace, name))
         },
         _ => None,
     }