diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/stream_list.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/stream_list.js
index ac9afcf3d2..b9dd114401 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/stream_list.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/stream_list.js
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ function initialize_stream_data() {
     stream_count.set(stream_id, 0);
     var counts = {
         stream_count: stream_count,
-        subject_count: new Dict(),
+        topic_count: new Dict(),
         mentioned_message_count: 222,
         home_unread_messages: 333,
     };
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ function initialize_stream_data() {
 
     var topic_count = new Dict({fold_case: true});
     topic_count.set('lunch', '555');
-    counts.subject_count.set(stream_id, topic_count);
+    counts.topic_count.set(stream_id, topic_count);
 
     stream_list.update_dom_with_unread_counts(counts);
 
diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js
index c1a2927097..cbef01e1e7 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/unread.js
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ var zero_counts = {
     home_unread_messages: 0,
     mentioned_message_count: 0,
     stream_count: new Dict(),
-    subject_count: new Dict(),
+    topic_count: new Dict(),
     pm_count: new Dict(),
     unread_in_current_view: 0,
 };
diff --git a/static/js/stream_list.js b/static/js/stream_list.js
index d57e686c30..02c537d1f3 100644
--- a/static/js/stream_list.js
+++ b/static/js/stream_list.js
@@ -334,8 +334,8 @@ exports.update_dom_with_unread_counts = function (counts) {
         set_stream_unread_count(stream_id, count);
     });
 
-    // counts.subject_count maps streams to hashes of topics to counts
-    counts.subject_count.each(function (subject_hash, stream_id) {
+    // counts.topic_count maps streams to hashes of topics to counts
+    counts.topic_count.each(function (subject_hash, stream_id) {
         subject_hash.each(function (count, subject) {
             topic_list.set_count(stream_id, subject, count);
         });
diff --git a/static/js/unread.js b/static/js/unread.js
index bb616a3dec..430e495b84 100644
--- a/static/js/unread.js
+++ b/static/js/unread.js
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ exports.unread_topic_counter = (function () {
         var res = {};
         res.stream_unread_messages = 0;
         res.stream_count = num_dict();  // hash by stream_id -> count
-        res.subject_count = num_dict(); // hash of hashes (stream_id, then subject -> count)
+        res.topic_count = num_dict(); // hash of hashes (stream_id, then topic -> count)
         unread_topics.each(function (_, stream_id) {
 
             // We track unread counts for streams that may be currently
@@ -77,11 +77,11 @@ exports.unread_topic_counter = (function () {
             }
 
             if (unread_topics.has(stream_id)) {
-                res.subject_count.set(stream_id, str_dict());
+                res.topic_count.set(stream_id, str_dict());
                 var stream_count = 0;
                 unread_topics.get(stream_id).each(function (msgs, topic) {
                     var topic_count = msgs.num_items();
-                    res.subject_count.get(stream_id).set(topic, topic_count);
+                    res.topic_count.get(stream_id).set(topic, topic_count);
                     if (!muting.is_topic_muted(sub.name, topic)) {
                         stream_count += topic_count;
                     }
@@ -242,11 +242,11 @@ exports.get_counts = function () {
     res.mentioned_message_count = unread_mentioned.num_items();
     res.pm_count = new Dict(); // Hash by user_ids_string -> count
 
-    // This sets stream_count, subject_count, and home_unread_messages
+    // This sets stream_count, topic_count, and home_unread_messages
     var topic_res = exports.unread_topic_counter.get_counts(res);
     res.home_unread_messages = topic_res.stream_unread_messages;
     res.stream_count = topic_res.stream_count;
-    res.subject_count = topic_res.subject_count;
+    res.topic_count = topic_res.topic_count;
 
     var pm_count = 0;
     unread_privates.each(function (obj, user_ids_string) {