diff --git a/tensordict/_lazy.py b/tensordict/_lazy.py
index c3024e0f0..74c011fce 100644
--- a/tensordict/_lazy.py
+++ b/tensordict/_lazy.py
@@ -1345,7 +1345,7 @@ def _apply_nest(
         call_on_nested: bool = False,
         default: Any = NO_DEFAULT,
         named: bool = False,
-        complete_names: bool = False,
+        nested_keys: bool = False,
         prefix: tuple = (),
         **constructor_kwargs,
     ) -> T:
@@ -1369,7 +1369,7 @@ def _apply_nest(
                     call_on_nested=call_on_nested,
                     default=default,
                     named=named,
-                    complete_names=complete_names,
+                    nested_keys=nested_keys,
                     prefix=prefix,
                     **constructor_kwargs,
                 )
@@ -1384,7 +1384,7 @@ def _apply_nest(
                         call_on_nested=call_on_nested,
                         default=default,
                         named=named,
-                        complete_names=complete_names,
+                        nested_keys=nested_keys,
                         prefix=prefix + (i,),
                     )
                     for i, (td, *oth) in enumerate(zip(self.tensordicts, *others))
diff --git a/tensordict/_td.py b/tensordict/_td.py
index 830f29117..7e975be00 100644
--- a/tensordict/_td.py
+++ b/tensordict/_td.py
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ def _apply_nest(
         call_on_nested: bool = False,
         default: Any = NO_DEFAULT,
         named: bool = False,
-        complete_names: bool = False,
+        nested_keys: bool = False,
         prefix: tuple = (),
         **constructor_kwargs,
     ) -> T:
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ def _apply_nest(
                     device=device,
                     checked=checked,
                     named=named,
-                    complete_names=complete_names,
+                    nested_keys=nested_keys,
                     default=default,
                     prefix=prefix + (key,),
                     **constructor_kwargs,
@@ -689,7 +689,7 @@ def _apply_nest(
             else:
                 _others = [_other._get_str(key, default=default) for _other in others]
                 if named:
-                    if complete_names:
+                    if nested_keys:
                         item_trsf = fn(unravel_key(prefix + (key,)), item, *_others)
                     else:
                         item_trsf = fn(key, item, *_others)
diff --git a/tensordict/base.py b/tensordict/base.py
index 4d76de5ec..18b597a5c 100644
--- a/tensordict/base.py
+++ b/tensordict/base.py
@@ -3618,7 +3618,7 @@ def named_apply(
         self,
         fn: Callable,
         *others: T,
-        complete_names: bool = False,
+        nested_keys: bool = False,
         batch_size: Sequence[int] | None = None,
         device: torch.device | None = None,
         names: Sequence[str] | None = None,
@@ -3640,8 +3640,9 @@ def named_apply(
                 unnamed inputs as the number of tensordicts, including self.
                 If other tensordicts have missing entries, a default value
                 can be passed through the ``default`` keyword argument.
-            complete_names (bool, optional): if ``True``, the complete path
-                to the leaf will be used. Defaults to ``False``.
+            nested_keys (bool, optional): if ``True``, the complete path
+                to the leaf will be used. Defaults to ``False``, i.e. only the last
+                string is passed to the function.
             batch_size (sequence of int, optional): if provided,
                 the resulting TensorDict will have the desired batch_size.
                 The :obj:`batch_size` argument should match the batch_size after
@@ -3737,7 +3738,7 @@ def named_apply(
             checked=False,
             default=default,
             named=True,
-            complete_names=complete_names,
+            nested_keys=nested_keys,
             **constructor_kwargs,
         )
 
@@ -3754,7 +3755,7 @@ def _apply_nest(
         call_on_nested: bool = False,
         default: Any = NO_DEFAULT,
         named: bool = False,
-        complete_names: bool = False,
+        nested_keys: bool = False,
         prefix: tuple = (),
         **constructor_kwargs,
     ) -> T:
@@ -3771,7 +3772,7 @@ def _fast_apply(
         call_on_nested: bool = False,
         default: Any = NO_DEFAULT,
         named: bool = False,
-        complete_names: bool = False,
+        nested_keys: bool = False,
         **constructor_kwargs,
     ) -> T:
         """A faster apply method.
@@ -3792,7 +3793,7 @@ def _fast_apply(
             call_on_nested=call_on_nested,
             named=named,
             default=default,
-            complete_names=complete_names,
+            nested_keys=nested_keys,
             **constructor_kwargs,
         )
 
diff --git a/test/test_tensordict.py b/test/test_tensordict.py
index d2241a9fe..8ae08a69f 100644
--- a/test/test_tensordict.py
+++ b/test/test_tensordict.py
@@ -3027,10 +3027,10 @@ def count(name, value, keys):
             keys.add(name)
 
         td.named_apply(
-            functools.partial(count, keys=keys_complete), complete_names=True
+            functools.partial(count, keys=keys_complete), nested_keys=True
         )
         td.named_apply(
-            functools.partial(count, keys=keys_not_complete), complete_names=False
+            functools.partial(count, keys=keys_not_complete), nested_keys=False
         )
         assert len(keys_complete) == len(list(td.keys(True, True)))
         assert len(keys_complete) > len(keys_not_complete)