diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index 12138335c..84cd5b6db 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Special thanks to external contributors on this release:
 
 * CLI/RPC/Config
   - [rpc] \#3113 rename n_txs to count in `/num_unconfirmed_txs` and `/unconfirmed_txs`
+  - [config] \#3079 rename `mempool.size` to `mempool.max_txs`
 
 * Apps
 
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index b6577c55f..e5c9abb1d 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ type MempoolConfig struct {
 	Recheck          bool   `mapstructure:"recheck"`
 	Broadcast        bool   `mapstructure:"broadcast"`
 	WalPath          string `mapstructure:"wal_dir"`
-	Size             int    `mapstructure:"size"`
+	MaxTxs           int    `mapstructure:"max_txs"`
 	MaxTxsTotalBytes int64  `mapstructure:"max_txs_total_bytes"`
 	CacheSize        int    `mapstructure:"cache_size"`
 }
@@ -545,9 +545,9 @@ func DefaultMempoolConfig() *MempoolConfig {
 		Recheck:   true,
 		Broadcast: true,
 		WalPath:   "",
-		// Each signature verification takes .5ms, Size reduced until we implement
+		// Each signature verification takes .5ms, MaxTxs reduced until we implement
 		// ABCI Recheck
-		Size:             5000,
+		MaxTxs:           5000,
 		MaxTxsTotalBytes: 1024 * 1024 * 1024, // 1GB
 		CacheSize:        10000,
 	}
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ func (cfg *MempoolConfig) WalEnabled() bool {
 // ValidateBasic performs basic validation (checking param bounds, etc.) and
 // returns an error if any check fails.
 func (cfg *MempoolConfig) ValidateBasic() error {
-	if cfg.Size < 0 {
+	if cfg.MaxTxs < 0 {
 		return errors.New("size can't be negative")
 	}
 	if cfg.MaxTxsTotalBytes < 0 {
diff --git a/config/toml.go b/config/toml.go
index e179f4e02..90e7603cd 100644
--- a/config/toml.go
+++ b/config/toml.go
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ broadcast = {{ .Mempool.Broadcast }}
 wal_dir = "{{ js .Mempool.WalPath }}"
 
 # Maximum number of transactions in the mempool
-size = {{ .Mempool.Size }}
+max_txs = {{ .Mempool.MaxTxs }}
 
 # Limit the total size of all txs in the mempool.
 # This only accounts for raw transactions (e.g. given 1MB transactions and
diff --git a/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md b/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md
index 6ed9ebec2..eda66b05a 100644
--- a/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ broadcast = true
 wal_dir = ""
 
 # Maximum number of transactions in the mempool
-size = 5000
+max_txs = 5000
 
 # Limit the total size of all txs in the mempool.
 # This only accounts for raw transactions (e.g. given 1MB transactions and
diff --git a/mempool/mempool.go b/mempool/mempool.go
index 89b706174..fe4355256 100644
--- a/mempool/mempool.go
+++ b/mempool/mempool.go
@@ -334,10 +334,10 @@ func (mem *Mempool) CheckTx(tx types.Tx, cb func(*abci.Response)) (err error) {
 		memSize       = mem.Size()
 		txsTotalBytes = mem.TxsTotalBytes()
 	)
-	if memSize >= mem.config.Size ||
+	if memSize >= mem.config.MaxTxs ||
 		int64(len(tx))+txsTotalBytes > mem.config.MaxTxsTotalBytes {
 		return ErrMempoolIsFull{
-			memSize, mem.config.Size,
+			memSize, mem.config.MaxTxs,
 			txsTotalBytes, mem.config.MaxTxsTotalBytes}
 	}