diff --git a/scanpy/get/_aggregated.py b/scanpy/get/_aggregated.py
index 78888272b5..058fd9921f 100644
--- a/scanpy/get/_aggregated.py
+++ b/scanpy/get/_aggregated.py
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ def aggregate(
     by: str | list[str],
     func: AggType | Iterable[AggType],
     *,
-    dim: Literal["obs", "var"] | None = None,
+    axis: Literal[0, 1] | None = None,
     dof: int = 1,
     layer: str | None = None,
     obsm: str | None = None,
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ def aggregate(
         Key of the column to be grouped-by.
     func
         How to aggregate.
-    dim
+    axis
         Axis on which to find group by column.
     dof
         Degrees of freedom for variance. Defaults to 1.
@@ -221,36 +221,36 @@ def aggregate(
 
     Note that this filters out any combination of groups that wasn't present in the original data.
     """
-    if dim not in ["obs", "var", None]:
-        raise ValueError(f"dim must be one of 'obs' or 'var', was '{dim}'")
+    if axis not in [0, 1, None]:
+        raise ValueError(f"axis must be one of 0 or 1, was '{axis}'")
     # TODO replace with get helper
     data = adata.X
     if sum(p is not None for p in [varm, obsm, layer]) > 1:
         raise TypeError("Please only provide one (or none) of varm, obsm, or layer")
 
-    if dim is None:
+    if axis is None:
         if varm:
-            dim = "var"
+            axis = 1
         else:
-            dim = "obs"
+            axis = 0
 
     if varm is not None:
-        if dim != "var":
-            raise ValueError("varm can only be used when dim is 'var'")
+        if axis != 1:
+            raise ValueError("varm can only be used when axis is 1")
         data = adata.varm[varm]
     elif obsm is not None:
-        if dim != "obs":
-            raise ValueError("obsm can only be used when dim is 'obs'")
+        if axis != 0:
+            raise ValueError("obsm can only be used when axis is 0")
         data = adata.obsm[obsm]
     elif layer is not None:
         data = adata.layers[layer]
-        if dim == "var":
+        if axis == 1:
             data = data.T
-    elif dim == "var":
+    elif axis == 1:
         # i.e., all of `varm`, `obsm`, `layers` are None so we use `X` which must be transposed
         data = data.T
 
-    dim_df = getattr(adata, dim)
+    dim_df = getattr(adata, ["obs", "var"][axis])
     categorical, new_label_df = _combine_categories(dim_df, by)
     # Actual computation
     layers = aggregate(
@@ -262,10 +262,10 @@ def aggregate(
     result = AnnData(
         layers=layers,
         obs=new_label_df,
-        var=getattr(adata, "var" if dim == "obs" else "obs"),
+        var=getattr(adata, "var" if axis == 0 else "obs"),
     )
 
-    if dim == "var":
+    if axis == 1:
         return result.T
     else:
         return result
diff --git a/scanpy/tests/test_aggregated.py b/scanpy/tests/test_aggregated.py
index e6e8f0c5e3..9d035237ce 100644
--- a/scanpy/tests/test_aggregated.py
+++ b/scanpy/tests/test_aggregated.py
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ def test_aggregate_axis(array_type, metric):
     ].copy()
     adata.X = array_type(adata.X)
     expected = sc.get.aggregate(adata, ["louvain"], metric)
-    actual = sc.get.aggregate(adata.T, ["louvain"], metric, dim="var").T
+    actual = sc.get.aggregate(adata.T, ["louvain"], metric, axis=1).T
 
     assert_equal(expected, actual)
 
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ def test_aggregate_incorrect_dim():
     adata = pbmc3k_processed().raw.to_adata()
 
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="was 'foo'"):
-        sc.get.aggregate(adata, ["louvain"], "sum", dim="foo")
+        sc.get.aggregate(adata, ["louvain"], "sum", axis="foo")
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(