diff --git a/docs/scaling/README.md b/docs/scaling/README.md
index 59e69f3c4b6a..64aa38c95db2 100644
--- a/docs/scaling/README.md
+++ b/docs/scaling/README.md
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ There are three main components to the autoscaling system: autoscaler, activator
 
 ## Queue-proxy
 Whenever a user deploys an application, it is injected with a queue-proxy sidecar container. This queue-proxy does the following:
- - Any request coming to the application user-container will go to the queue-proxy and then be routed to the user-container
- - Any readiness and liveness probes defined by the user will be replaced with queue-proxy probes externally to the pod while the user-containers probe endpoints will only be accessed by the proxy.
+ - Any request coming to the application serving container will go to the queue-proxy and then be routed to the serving container.
+ - Any readiness and liveness probes defined by the user will be replaced with queue-proxy probes externally to the pod while the serving container probe endpoints will only be accessed by the proxy.
  - Makes sure that no more than the ‘defined container concurrency’ requests reach the application's instance at once by queueing other requests. For example if a revision defines a concurrency limit of 5, the queue-proxy makes sure that no more than 5 requests reach the application's instance at once. If there are more requests being sent to it than that, it will queue them locally.
  - Collects metrics about the load of requests the application  container receives and reports the `average concurrency` and `requests per second` on a separate port.
 
diff --git a/pkg/apis/config/defaults.go b/pkg/apis/config/defaults.go
index df45e8ee0b8c..26fce6ca6820 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/config/defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/config/defaults.go
@@ -56,9 +56,15 @@ const (
 	// specified by the user, if `name:` is omitted.
 	DefaultInitContainerName = "init-container"
 
+	// DefaultServingContainerName is the default name we give to the container
+	// that serves traffic, if `name:` is omitted.
+	DefaultServingContainerName = "user-container"
+
 	// DefaultUserContainerName is the default name we give to the container
 	// specified by the user, if `name:` is omitted.
-	DefaultUserContainerName = "user-container"
+	// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+	// DefaultServingContainerName.
+	DefaultUserContainerName = DefaultServingContainerName
 
 	// DefaultContainerConcurrency is the default container concurrency. It will be set if ContainerConcurrency is not specified.
 	DefaultContainerConcurrency = 0
@@ -73,8 +79,11 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
-	DefaultInitContainerNameTemplate = mustParseTemplate(DefaultInitContainerName)
-	DefaultUserContainerNameTemplate = mustParseTemplate(DefaultUserContainerName)
+	DefaultInitContainerNameTemplate    = mustParseTemplate(DefaultInitContainerName)
+	DefaultServingContainerNameTemplate = mustParseTemplate(DefaultServingContainerName)
+	// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+	// DefaultServingContainerNameTemplate.
+	DefaultUserContainerNameTemplate = DefaultServingContainerNameTemplate
 )
 
 func defaultDefaultsConfig() *Defaults {
@@ -84,7 +93,7 @@ func defaultDefaultsConfig() *Defaults {
 		RevisionResponseStartTimeoutSeconds: DefaultRevisionResponseStartTimeoutSeconds,
 		RevisionIdleTimeoutSeconds:          DefaultRevisionIdleTimeoutSeconds,
 		InitContainerNameTemplate:           DefaultInitContainerNameTemplate,
-		UserContainerNameTemplate:           DefaultUserContainerNameTemplate,
+		UserContainerNameTemplate:           DefaultServingContainerNameTemplate,
 		ContainerConcurrency:                DefaultContainerConcurrency,
 		ContainerConcurrencyMaxLimit:        DefaultMaxRevisionContainerConcurrency,
 		AllowContainerConcurrencyZero:       DefaultAllowContainerConcurrencyZero,
@@ -226,9 +235,16 @@ func containerNameFromTemplate(ctx context.Context, tmpl *ObjectMetaTemplate) st
 	return buf.String()
 }
 
+// ServingContainerName returns the name of the serving container based on the context.
+func (d Defaults) ServingContainerName(ctx context.Context) string {
+	return containerNameFromTemplate(ctx, d.UserContainerNameTemplate)
+}
+
 // UserContainerName returns the name of the user container based on the context.
+// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+// ServingContainerName.
 func (d Defaults) UserContainerName(ctx context.Context) string {
-	return containerNameFromTemplate(ctx, d.UserContainerNameTemplate)
+	return d.ServingContainerName(ctx)
 }
 
 // InitContainerName returns the name of the init container based on the context.
diff --git a/pkg/apis/config/defaults_test.go b/pkg/apis/config/defaults_test.go
index 5fb94099a86f..3b450e99b331 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/config/defaults_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/config/defaults_test.go
@@ -308,8 +308,8 @@ func TestTemplating(t *testing.T) {
 				Namespace: "guardians",
 			})
 
-			if got, want := def.UserContainerName(ctx), test.want; got != want {
-				t.Errorf("UserContainerName() = %v, wanted %v", got, want)
+			if got, want := def.ServingContainerName(ctx), test.want; got != want {
+				t.Errorf("ServingContainerName() = %v, wanted %v", got, want)
 			}
 
 			if got, want := def.InitContainerName(ctx), test.want; got != want {
diff --git a/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation.go b/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation.go
index fd90e0f1583f..e291f7ed1af1 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation.go
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ func ValidatePodSpec(ctx context.Context, ps corev1.PodSpec) *apis.FieldError {
 	case 0:
 		errs = errs.Also(apis.ErrMissingField("containers"))
 	case 1:
-		errs = errs.Also(ValidateUserContainer(ctx, ps.Containers[0], volumes, port).
+		errs = errs.Also(ValidateServingContainer(ctx, ps.Containers[0], volumes, port).
 			ViaFieldIndex("containers", 0))
 	default:
 		errs = errs.Also(validateContainers(ctx, ps.Containers, volumes, port))
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ func validateContainers(ctx context.Context, containers []corev1.Container, volu
 		if len(containers[i].Ports) == 0 {
 			errs = errs.Also(validateSidecarContainer(WithinSidecarContainer(ctx), containers[i], volumes).ViaFieldIndex("containers", i))
 		} else {
-			errs = errs.Also(ValidateUserContainer(WithinUserContainer(ctx), containers[i], volumes, port).ViaFieldIndex("containers", i))
+			errs = errs.Also(ValidateServingContainer(WithinServingContainer(ctx), containers[i], volumes, port).ViaFieldIndex("containers", i))
 		}
 	}
 	return errs
@@ -585,8 +585,8 @@ func validateInitContainer(ctx context.Context, container corev1.Container, volu
 	return errs.Also(validate(WithinInitContainer(ctx), container, volumes))
 }
 
-// ValidateUserContainer validate fields for serving containers
-func ValidateUserContainer(ctx context.Context, container corev1.Container, volumes map[string]corev1.Volume, port corev1.ContainerPort) (errs *apis.FieldError) {
+// ValidateServingContainer validates fields for containers that serve traffic.
+func ValidateServingContainer(ctx context.Context, container corev1.Container, volumes map[string]corev1.Volume, port corev1.ContainerPort) (errs *apis.FieldError) {
 	// Liveness Probes
 	errs = errs.Also(validateProbe(container.LivenessProbe, &port, true).ViaField("livenessProbe"))
 	// Readiness Probes
@@ -594,6 +594,13 @@ func ValidateUserContainer(ctx context.Context, container corev1.Container, volu
 	return errs.Also(validate(ctx, container, volumes))
 }
 
+// ValidateUserContainer validate fields for serving containers
+// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+// ValidateServingContainer.
+func ValidateUserContainer(ctx context.Context, container corev1.Container, volumes map[string]corev1.Volume, port corev1.ContainerPort) (errs *apis.FieldError) {
+	return ValidateServingContainer(ctx, container, volumes, port)
+}
+
 func validate(ctx context.Context, container corev1.Container, volumes map[string]corev1.Volume) *apis.FieldError {
 	if equality.Semantic.DeepEqual(container, corev1.Container{}) {
 		return apis.ErrMissingField(apis.CurrentField)
@@ -1035,14 +1042,22 @@ func warnDefaultContainerSecurityContext(ctx context.Context, psc *corev1.PodSec
 	return errs
 }
 
-// This is attached to contexts as they are passed down through a user container
+// This is attached to contexts as they are passed down through a serving container
 // being validated.
-type userContainer struct{}
+type servingContainer struct{}
+
+// WithinServingContainer notes on the context that further validation or defaulting
+// is within the context of a serving container in the revision.
+func WithinServingContainer(ctx context.Context) context.Context {
+	return context.WithValue(ctx, servingContainer{}, struct{}{})
+}
 
 // WithinUserContainer notes on the context that further validation or defaulting
 // is within the context of a user container in the revision.
+// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+// WithinServingContainer.
 func WithinUserContainer(ctx context.Context) context.Context {
-	return context.WithValue(ctx, userContainer{}, struct{}{})
+	return WithinServingContainer(ctx)
 }
 
 // This is attached to contexts as they are passed down through a sidecar container
diff --git a/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation_test.go
index 711f7a565dea..18b81839ce02 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/serving/k8s_validation_test.go
@@ -2146,10 +2146,10 @@ func TestUserContainerValidation(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 			port, err := validateContainersPorts([]corev1.Container{test.c})
 
-			got := err.Also(ValidateUserContainer(ctx, test.c, test.volumes, port))
+			got := err.Also(ValidateServingContainer(ctx, test.c, test.volumes, port))
 			got = got.Filter(apis.ErrorLevel)
 			if diff := cmp.Diff(test.want.Error(), got.Error()); diff != "" {
-				t.Errorf("ValidateUserContainer (-want, +got): \n%s", diff)
+				t.Errorf("ValidateServingContainer (-want, +got): \n%s", diff)
 			}
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/apis/serving/v1/revision_defaults.go b/pkg/apis/serving/v1/revision_defaults.go
index be8c81238032..a81e2d1b4bb3 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/serving/v1/revision_defaults.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/serving/v1/revision_defaults.go
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ func (rs *RevisionSpec) SetDefaults(ctx context.Context) {
 	for idx := range rs.PodSpec.InitContainers {
 		containerNames.Insert(rs.PodSpec.InitContainers[idx].Name)
 	}
-	defaultUserContainerName := cfg.Defaults.UserContainerName(ctx)
-	applyDefaultContainerNames(rs.PodSpec.Containers, containerNames, defaultUserContainerName)
+	defaultServingContainerName := cfg.Defaults.ServingContainerName(ctx)
+	applyDefaultContainerNames(rs.PodSpec.Containers, containerNames, defaultServingContainerName)
 	defaultInitContainerName := cfg.Defaults.InitContainerName(ctx)
 	applyDefaultContainerNames(rs.PodSpec.InitContainers, containerNames, defaultInitContainerName)
 	for idx := range rs.PodSpec.Containers {
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ func (rs *RevisionSpec) applyDefault(ctx context.Context, container *corev1.Cont
 	// If there are multiple containers then default probes will be applied to the container where user specified PORT
 	// default probes will not be applied for non serving containers
 	if len(rs.PodSpec.Containers) == 1 || len(container.Ports) != 0 {
-		rs.applyUserContainerDefaultReadinessProbe(container)
+		rs.applyServingContainerDefaultReadinessProbe(container)
 	}
 	rs.applyReadinessProbeDefaults(container)
 	rs.applyGRPCProbeDefaults(container)
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ func (rs *RevisionSpec) applyDefault(ctx context.Context, container *corev1.Cont
 	}
 }
 
-func (*RevisionSpec) applyUserContainerDefaultReadinessProbe(container *corev1.Container) {
+func (*RevisionSpec) applyServingContainerDefaultReadinessProbe(container *corev1.Container) {
 	if container.ReadinessProbe == nil {
 		container.ReadinessProbe = &corev1.Probe{}
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/revision/resources/deploy.go b/pkg/reconciler/revision/resources/deploy.go
index 63d398a6dc2c..c70037e82055 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/revision/resources/deploy.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/revision/resources/deploy.go
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@ var (
 
 	// This PreStop hook is actually calling an endpoint on the queue-proxy
 	// because of the way PreStop hooks are called by kubelet. We use this
-	// to block the user-container from exiting before the queue-proxy is ready
+	// to block the serving container from exiting before the queue-proxy is ready
 	// to exit so we can guarantee that there are no more requests in flight.
-	userLifecycle = &corev1.Lifecycle{
+	servingLifecycle = &corev1.Lifecycle{
 		PreStop: &corev1.LifecycleHandler{
 			HTTPGet: &corev1.HTTPGetAction{
 				Port: intstr.FromInt(networking.QueueAdminPort),
@@ -110,6 +110,9 @@ var (
 			},
 		},
 	}
+	// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+	// servingLifecycle.
+	userLifecycle = servingLifecycle
 )
 
 func addToken(tokenVolume *corev1.Volume, filename string, audience string, expiry *int64) {
@@ -205,7 +208,7 @@ func makePodSpec(rev *v1.Revision, cfg *config.Config) (*corev1.PodSpec, error)
 		extraVolumes = append(extraVolumes, certVolume(networking.ServingCertName))
 	}
 
-	podSpec := BuildPodSpec(rev, append(BuildUserContainers(rev), *queueContainer), cfg)
+	podSpec := BuildPodSpec(rev, append(BuildServingContainers(rev), *queueContainer), cfg)
 	podSpec.Volumes = append(podSpec.Volumes, extraVolumes...)
 
 	if val := cfg.Deployment.PodRuntimeClassName(rev.ObjectMeta.Labels); podSpec.RuntimeClassName == nil {
@@ -235,8 +238,8 @@ func makePodSpec(rev *v1.Revision, cfg *config.Config) (*corev1.PodSpec, error)
 	return podSpec, nil
 }
 
-// BuildUserContainers makes an array of containers from the Revision template.
-func BuildUserContainers(rev *v1.Revision) []corev1.Container {
+// BuildServingContainers makes an array of containers from the Revision template.
+func BuildServingContainers(rev *v1.Revision) []corev1.Container {
 	containers := make([]corev1.Container, 0, len(rev.Spec.PodSpec.Containers))
 	for i := range rev.Spec.PodSpec.Containers {
 		var container corev1.Container
@@ -258,10 +261,17 @@ func BuildUserContainers(rev *v1.Revision) []corev1.Container {
 	return containers
 }
 
+// BuildUserContainers makes an array of containers from the Revision template.
+// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+// BuildServingContainers.
+func BuildUserContainers(rev *v1.Revision) []corev1.Container {
+	return BuildServingContainers(rev)
+}
+
 func makeContainer(container corev1.Container, rev *v1.Revision) corev1.Container {
 	// Adding or removing an overwritten corev1.Container field here? Don't forget to
 	// update the fieldmasks / validations in pkg/apis/serving
-	container.Lifecycle = userLifecycle
+	container.Lifecycle = servingLifecycle
 	container.Env = append(container.Env, getKnativeEnvVar(rev)...)
 
 	// Explicitly disable stdin and tty allocation
@@ -289,7 +299,7 @@ func makeServingContainer(servingContainer corev1.Container, rev *v1.Revision) c
 	servingContainer.Ports = buildContainerPorts(userPort)
 	servingContainer.Env = append(servingContainer.Env, buildUserPortEnv(userPortStr))
 	container := makeContainer(servingContainer, rev)
-	// If the user provides a liveness probe, we should rewrite in the port on the user-container for them.
+	// If the user provides a liveness probe, we should rewrite in the port on the serving container for them.
 	rewriteUserLivenessProbe(container.LivenessProbe, int(userPort))
 	return container
 }
diff --git a/pkg/webhook/podspec_dryrun.go b/pkg/webhook/podspec_dryrun.go
index 852efc101b61..34c1139ddfd3 100644
--- a/pkg/webhook/podspec_dryrun.go
+++ b/pkg/webhook/podspec_dryrun.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func validatePodSpec(ctx context.Context, ps v1.RevisionSpec, namespace string)
 		Spec:       ps,
 	}
 	rev.SetDefaults(ctx)
-	podSpec := resources.BuildPodSpec(rev, resources.BuildUserContainers(rev), nil /*configs*/)
+	podSpec := resources.BuildPodSpec(rev, resources.BuildServingContainers(rev), nil /*configs*/)
 
 	// Make a sample pod with the template Revisions & PodSpec and dryrun call to API-server
 	pod := &corev1.Pod{
diff --git a/test/conformance/runtime/liveness_probe_test.go b/test/conformance/runtime/liveness_probe_test.go
index 74cd379decd2..60dd7aff6291 100644
--- a/test/conformance/runtime/liveness_probe_test.go
+++ b/test/conformance/runtime/liveness_probe_test.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func TestLivenessWithFail(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("The endpoint for Route %s at %s didn't return success: %v", names.Route, url, err)
 	}
 
-	// Check that user-container hasn't been restarted yet.
+	// Check that the serving container hasn't been restarted yet.
 	deploymentName := resourcenames.Deployment(resources.Revision)
 	podList, err := clients.KubeClient.CoreV1().Pods(test.ServingFlags.TestNamespace).List(context.Background(), metav1.ListOptions{})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ func TestLivenessWithFail(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for i := range podList.Items {
 		pod := &podList.Items[i]
-		if strings.Contains(pod.Name, deploymentName) && test.UserContainerRestarted(pod) {
-			t.Fatal("User container unexpectedly restarted")
+		if strings.Contains(pod.Name, deploymentName) && test.ServingContainerRestarted(pod) {
+			t.Fatal("Serving container unexpectedly restarted")
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -122,21 +122,21 @@ func TestLivenessWithFail(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("POST to /start-failing failed: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Wait for the user-container to be restarted.
+	// Wait for the serving container to be restarted.
 	if err := pkgtest.WaitForPodListState(
 		context.Background(),
 		clients.KubeClient,
 		func(p *corev1.PodList) (bool, error) {
 			for i := range p.Items {
 				pod := &p.Items[i]
-				if strings.Contains(pod.Name, deploymentName) && test.UserContainerRestarted(pod) {
+				if strings.Contains(pod.Name, deploymentName) && test.ServingContainerRestarted(pod) {
 					return true, nil
 				}
 			}
 			return false, nil
 		},
 		"WaitForContainerRestart", test.ServingFlags.TestNamespace); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("Failed waiting for user-container to be restarted: %v", err)
+		t.Fatalf("Failed waiting for serving container to be restarted: %v", err)
 	}
 
 	// After restart, verify the liveness probe passes a few times again.
diff --git a/test/e2e/readiness_test.go b/test/e2e/readiness_test.go
index f2e85639eb8c..03dd01751f84 100644
--- a/test/e2e/readiness_test.go
+++ b/test/e2e/readiness_test.go
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ func TestLivenessProbeAwareOfStartupProbe(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("The endpoint %s for Route %s didn't serve the expected text %q: %v", url, names.Route, test.HelloWorldText, err)
 	}
 
-	// Check that user-container hasn't been restarted.
+	// Check that the serving container hasn't been restarted.
 	deploymentName := resourcenames.Deployment(resources.Revision)
 	podList, err := clients.KubeClient.CoreV1().Pods(test.ServingFlags.TestNamespace).List(context.Background(), metav1.ListOptions{})
 	if err != nil {
@@ -246,8 +246,8 @@ func TestLivenessProbeAwareOfStartupProbe(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for i := range podList.Items {
 		pod := &podList.Items[i]
-		if strings.Contains(pod.Name, deploymentName) && test.UserContainerRestarted(pod) {
-			t.Fatal("User container unexpectedly restarted")
+		if strings.Contains(pod.Name, deploymentName) && test.ServingContainerRestarted(pod) {
+			t.Fatal("Serving container unexpectedly restarted")
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/test/util.go b/test/util.go
index 2d72b9ad3937..215c9d83d464 100644
--- a/test/util.go
+++ b/test/util.go
@@ -108,12 +108,19 @@ func AddTestAnnotation(t testing.TB, m metav1.ObjectMeta) {
 	})
 }
 
-// UserContainerRestarted checks if the container was restarted.
-func UserContainerRestarted(pod *corev1.Pod) bool {
+// ServingContainerRestarted checks if the serving container was restarted.
+func ServingContainerRestarted(pod *corev1.Pod) bool {
 	for _, status := range pod.Status.ContainerStatuses {
-		if status.Name == config.DefaultUserContainerName && status.RestartCount > 0 {
+		if status.Name == config.DefaultServingContainerName && status.RestartCount > 0 {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
 	return false
 }
+
+// UserContainerRestarted checks if the container was restarted.
+// Kept for compatibility with existing callers; new code should use
+// ServingContainerRestarted.
+func UserContainerRestarted(pod *corev1.Pod) bool {
+	return ServingContainerRestarted(pod)
+}