diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-template.php b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
index 2e4cdaaf38..2b6b60ac97 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ function get_comment_class( $class = '', $comment_id = null, $post_id = null ) {
 	if ( $comment->user_id > 0 && $user = get_userdata($comment->user_id) ) {
 		// For all registered users, 'byuser'
 		$classes[] = 'byuser';
-		$classes[] = 'comment-author-' . sanitise_css_classname($user->user_nicename, $comment->user_id);
+		$classes[] = 'comment-author-' . sanitize_html_class($user->user_nicename, $comment->user_id);
 		// For comment authors who are the author of the post
 		if ( $post = get_post($post_id) ) {
 			if ( $comment->user_id === $post->post_author )
diff --git a/wp-includes/formatting.php b/wp-includes/formatting.php
index 409930a071..d192504927 100644
--- a/wp-includes/formatting.php
+++ b/wp-includes/formatting.php
@@ -719,26 +719,30 @@ function sanitize_sql_orderby( $orderby ){
 }
 
 /**
- * Santises a css classname to ensure it only contains valid characters
+ * Santizes a html classname to ensure it only contains valid characters
  * 
- * Strips the classname down to A-Z,a-z,0-9,'-' if this results in an empty
+ * Strips the string down to A-Z,a-z,0-9,'-' if this results in an empty
  * string then it will return the alternative value supplied.
+ * 
+ * @todo Expand to support the full range of CDATA that a class attribute can contain.
  *  
- * @param string $classname The classname to be sanitised
- * @param string $alternative The value to return if the sanitisation end's up as an empty string.
- * @return string The sanitised value
+ * @since 2.8.0
+ *  
+ * @param string $class The classname to be sanitized
+ * @param string $fallback The value to return if the sanitization end's up as an empty string.
+ * @return string The sanitized value
  */
-function sanitise_css_classname($classname, $alternative){
+function sanitize_html_class($class, $fallback){
 	//Strip out any % encoded octets
-	$sanitised = preg_replace('|%[a-fA-F0-9][a-fA-F0-9]|', '', $classname);
+	$sanitized = preg_replace('|%[a-fA-F0-9][a-fA-F0-9]|', '', $class);
 	
 	//Limit to A-Z,a-z,0-9,'-'
-	$sanitised = preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9-]/', '', $sanitised);
+	$sanitized = preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9-]/', '', $sanitized);
 	
-	if ('' == $sanitised)
-		$sanitised = $alternative;
+	if ('' == $sanitized)
+		$sanitized = $fallback;
 	
-	return apply_filters('sanitise_css_classname',$sanitised, $classname, $alternative);	
+	return apply_filters('sanitize_html_class',$sanitized, $class, $fallback);	
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/wp-includes/post-template.php b/wp-includes/post-template.php
index 4afad533b5..dd948a2fc4 100644
--- a/wp-includes/post-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/post-template.php
@@ -326,14 +326,14 @@ function get_post_class( $class = '', $post_id = null ) {
 	foreach ( (array) get_the_category($post->ID) as $cat ) {
 		if ( empty($cat->slug ) )
 			continue;
-		$classes[] = 'category-' . sanitise_css_classname($cat->slug, $cat->cat_ID);
+		$classes[] = 'category-' . sanitize_html_class($cat->slug, $cat->cat_ID);
 	}
 
 	// Tags
 	foreach ( (array) get_the_tags($post->ID) as $tag ) {
 		if ( empty($tag->slug ) )
 			continue;
-		$classes[] = 'tag-' . sanitise_css_classname($tag->slug, $tag->term_id);
+		$classes[] = 'tag-' . sanitize_html_class($tag->slug, $tag->term_id);
 	}
 
 	if ( !empty($class) ) {
@@ -407,15 +407,15 @@ function get_body_class( $class = '' ) {
 		if ( is_author() ) {
 			$author = $wp_query->get_queried_object();
 			$classes[] = 'author';
-			$classes[] = 'author-' . sanitise_css_classname($author->user_nicename , $author->user_id);
+			$classes[] = 'author-' . sanitize_html_class($author->user_nicename , $author->user_id);
 		} elseif ( is_category() ) {
 			$cat = $wp_query->get_queried_object();
 			$classes[] = 'category';
-			$classes[] = 'category-' . sanitise_css_classname($cat->slug, $cat->cat_ID);
+			$classes[] = 'category-' . sanitize_html_class($cat->slug, $cat->cat_ID);
 		} elseif ( is_tag() ) {
 			$tags = $wp_query->get_queried_object();
 			$classes[] = 'tag';
-			$classes[] = 'tag-' . sanitise_css_classname($tags->slug, $tags->term_id);
+			$classes[] = 'tag-' . sanitize_html_class($tags->slug, $tags->term_id);
 		}
 	} elseif ( is_page() ) {
 		$classes[] = 'page';