diff --git a/blockly_compressed.js b/blockly_compressed.js
index c0abf06ca..ca985ea13 100644
--- a/blockly_compressed.js
+++ b/blockly_compressed.js
@@ -1215,8 +1215,8 @@ Blockly.Generator.prototype.valueToCode=function(a,b,c){if(isNaN(c))throw'Expect
 Blockly.Generator.prototype.statementToCode=function(a,b){var c=a.getInputTargetBlock(b),d=this.blockToCode(c);if(!goog.isString(d))throw'Expecting code from statement block "'+c.type+'".';d&&(d=this.prefixLines(d,this.INDENT));return d};Blockly.Generator.prototype.addLoopTrap=function(a,b){this.INFINITE_LOOP_TRAP&&(a=this.INFINITE_LOOP_TRAP.replace(/%1/g,"'"+b+"'")+a);this.STATEMENT_PREFIX&&(a+=this.prefixLines(this.STATEMENT_PREFIX.replace(/%1/g,"'"+b+"'"),this.INDENT));return a};
 Blockly.Generator.prototype.INDENT="  ";Blockly.Generator.prototype.addReservedWords=function(a){this.RESERVED_WORDS_+=a+","};Blockly.Generator.prototype.FUNCTION_NAME_PLACEHOLDER_="{leCUI8hutHZI4480Dc}";Blockly.Generator.prototype.provideFunction_=function(a,b){if(!this.definitions_[a]){var c=this.variableDB_.getDistinctName(a,this.NAME_TYPE);this.functionNames_[a]=c;this.definitions_[a]=b.join("\n").replace(this.FUNCTION_NAME_PLACEHOLDER_REGEXP_,c)}return this.functionNames_[a]};
 // Copyright 2012 Google Inc.  Apache License 2.0
-Blockly.Names=function(a,b){this.prependDollar=b||!1;this.reservedDict_=Object.create(null);if(a)for(var c=a.split(","),d=0;d<c.length;d++)this.reservedDict_[c[d]]=!0;this.reset()};Blockly.Names.prototype.reset=function(){this.db_=Object.create(null);this.dbReverse_=Object.create(null)};
-Blockly.Names.prototype.getName=function(a,b){var c=a.toLowerCase()+"_"+b,d="VARIABLE"==b&&this.prependDollar?"$":"";if(c in this.db_)return d+this.db_[c];d=this.getDistinctName(a,b);this.db_[c]="VARIABLE"==b&&this.prependDollar?d.substr(1):d;return d};Blockly.Names.prototype.getDistinctName=function(a,b){for(var c=this.safeName_(a),d="";this.dbReverse_[c+d]||c+d in this.reservedDict_;)d=d?d+1:2;c+=d;this.dbReverse_[c]=!0;return("VARIABLE"==b&&this.prependDollar?"$":"")+c};
+Blockly.Names=function(a,b){this.variablePrefix_=b||"";this.reservedDict_=Object.create(null);if(a)for(var c=a.split(","),d=0;d<c.length;d++)this.reservedDict_[c[d]]=!0;this.reset()};Blockly.Names.prototype.reset=function(){this.db_=Object.create(null);this.dbReverse_=Object.create(null)};
+Blockly.Names.prototype.getName=function(a,b){var c=a.toLowerCase()+"_"+b,d=b==Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE?this.variablePrefix_:"";if(c in this.db_)return d+this.db_[c];var e=this.getDistinctName(a,b);this.db_[c]=e.substr(d.length);return e};Blockly.Names.prototype.getDistinctName=function(a,b){for(var c=this.safeName_(a),d="";this.dbReverse_[c+d]||c+d in this.reservedDict_;)d=d?d+1:2;c+=d;this.dbReverse_[c]=!0;return(b==Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE?this.variablePrefix_:"")+c};
 Blockly.Names.prototype.safeName_=function(a){a?(a=encodeURI(a.replace(/ /g,"_")).replace(/[^\w]/g,"_"),-1!="0123456789".indexOf(a[0])&&(a="my_"+a)):a="unnamed";return a};Blockly.Names.equals=function(a,b){return a.toLowerCase()==b.toLowerCase()};
 // Copyright 2012 Google Inc.  Apache License 2.0
 Blockly.Procedures={};Blockly.Procedures.NAME_TYPE="PROCEDURE";Blockly.Procedures.allProcedures=function(a){a=a.getAllBlocks();for(var b=[],c=[],d=0;d<a.length;d++){var e=a[d].getProcedureDef;e&&(e=e.call(a[d]))&&(e[2]?b.push(e):c.push(e))}c.sort(Blockly.Procedures.procTupleComparator_);b.sort(Blockly.Procedures.procTupleComparator_);return[c,b]};Blockly.Procedures.procTupleComparator_=function(a,b){var c=a[0].toLowerCase(),d=b[0].toLowerCase();return c>d?1:c<d?-1:0};
diff --git a/core/names.js b/core/names.js
index c7fbf8c8f..bfe942ab9 100644
--- a/core/names.js
+++ b/core/names.js
@@ -31,16 +31,17 @@ goog.provide('Blockly.Names');
  * Class for a database of entity names (variables, functions, etc).
  * @param {string} reservedWords A comma-separated string of words that are
  *     illegal for use as names in a language (e.g. 'new,if,this,...').
+ * @param {string=} opt_variablePrefix Some languages need a '$' or a namespace
+ *     before all variable names.
  * @constructor
- * @param namesPrependDollar boolean indicating whether the languages requires dollar signs ($) before a variable
  */
-Blockly.Names = function(reservedWords, namesPrependDollar) {
-  this.prependDollar = namesPrependDollar || false;
+Blockly.Names = function(reservedWords, opt_variablePrefix) {
+  this.variablePrefix_ = opt_variablePrefix || '';
   this.reservedDict_ = Object.create(null);
   if (reservedWords) {
     var splitWords = reservedWords.split(',');
-    for (var x = 0; x < splitWords.length; x++) {
-      this.reservedDict_[splitWords[x]] = true;
+    for (var i = 0; i < splitWords.length; i++) {
+      this.reservedDict_[splitWords[i]] = true;
     }
   }
   this.reset();
@@ -72,12 +73,13 @@ Blockly.Names.prototype.reset = function() {
  */
 Blockly.Names.prototype.getName = function(name, type) {
   var normalized = name.toLowerCase() + '_' + type;
-  var prepend = type=='VARIABLE' && this.prependDollar ? '$' : '';
+  var prefix = (type == Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE) ?
+      this.variablePrefix_ : '';
   if (normalized in this.db_) {
-    return prepend + this.db_[normalized];
+    return prefix + this.db_[normalized];
   }
   var safeName = this.getDistinctName(name, type);
-  this.db_[normalized] = type=='VARIABLE' && this.prependDollar ? safeName.substr(1) : safeName;
+  this.db_[normalized] = safeName.substr(prefix.length);
   return safeName;
 };
 
@@ -101,8 +103,9 @@ Blockly.Names.prototype.getDistinctName = function(name, type) {
   }
   safeName += i;
   this.dbReverse_[safeName] = true;
-  var prepend = type=='VARIABLE' && this.prependDollar ? '$' : '';
-  return prepend + safeName;
+  var prefix = (type == Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE) ?
+      this.variablePrefix_ : '';
+  return prefix + safeName;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/generators/dart.js b/generators/dart.js
index 0bcc4a721..d660b6458 100644
--- a/generators/dart.js
+++ b/generators/dart.js
@@ -91,9 +91,9 @@ Blockly.Dart.init = function(workspace) {
 
   var defvars = [];
   var variables = Blockly.Variables.allVariables(workspace);
-  for (var x = 0; x < variables.length; x++) {
-    defvars[x] = 'var ' +
-        Blockly.Dart.variableDB_.getName(variables[x],
+  for (var i = 0; i < variables.length; i++) {
+    defvars[i] = 'var ' +
+        Blockly.Dart.variableDB_.getName(variables[i],
         Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE) + ';';
   }
   Blockly.Dart.definitions_['variables'] = defvars.join('\n');
diff --git a/generators/javascript.js b/generators/javascript.js
index 76f2d87ba..79e142565 100644
--- a/generators/javascript.js
+++ b/generators/javascript.js
@@ -123,9 +123,9 @@ Blockly.JavaScript.init = function(workspace) {
 
   var defvars = [];
   var variables = Blockly.Variables.allVariables(workspace);
-  for (var x = 0; x < variables.length; x++) {
-    defvars[x] = 'var ' +
-        Blockly.JavaScript.variableDB_.getName(variables[x],
+  for (var i = 0; i < variables.length; i++) {
+    defvars[i] = 'var ' +
+        Blockly.JavaScript.variableDB_.getName(variables[i],
         Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE) + ';';
   }
   Blockly.JavaScript.definitions_['variables'] = defvars.join('\n');
diff --git a/generators/php.js b/generators/php.js
index 8155607b9..d40a1e0ba 100644
--- a/generators/php.js
+++ b/generators/php.js
@@ -96,15 +96,15 @@ Blockly.PHP.init = function(workspace) {
 
   if (!Blockly.PHP.variableDB_) {
     Blockly.PHP.variableDB_ =
-        new Blockly.Names(Blockly.PHP.RESERVED_WORDS_, true);
+        new Blockly.Names(Blockly.PHP.RESERVED_WORDS_, '$');
   } else {
     Blockly.PHP.variableDB_.reset();
   }
 
   var defvars = [];
   var variables = Blockly.Variables.allVariables(workspace);
-  for (var x = 0; x < variables.length; x++) {
-    defvars[x] = Blockly.PHP.variableDB_.getName(variables[x],
+  for (var i = 0; i < variables.length; i++) {
+    defvars[i] = Blockly.PHP.variableDB_.getName(variables[i],
         Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE) + ';';
   }
   Blockly.PHP.definitions_['variables'] = defvars.join('\n');
diff --git a/generators/python.js b/generators/python.js
index f0a5b957e..a01896900 100644
--- a/generators/python.js
+++ b/generators/python.js
@@ -104,8 +104,8 @@ Blockly.Python.init = function(workspace) {
 
   var defvars = [];
   var variables = Blockly.Variables.allVariables(workspace);
-  for (var x = 0; x < variables.length; x++) {
-    defvars[x] = Blockly.Python.variableDB_.getName(variables[x],
+  for (var i = 0; i < variables.length; i++) {
+    defvars[i] = Blockly.Python.variableDB_.getName(variables[i],
         Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE) + ' = None';
   }
   Blockly.Python.definitions_['variables'] = defvars.join('\n');
diff --git a/php_compressed.js b/php_compressed.js
index 5ce8b717f..251dbb88e 100644
--- a/php_compressed.js
+++ b/php_compressed.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 Blockly.PHP=new Blockly.Generator("PHP");Blockly.PHP.addReservedWords("__halt_compiler,abstract,and,array,as,break,callable,case,catch,class,clone,const,continue,declare,default,die,do,echo,else,elseif,empty,enddeclare,endfor,endforeach,endif,endswitch,endwhile,eval,exit,extends,final,for,foreach,function,global,goto,if,implements,include,include_once,instanceof,insteadof,interface,isset,list,namespace,new,or,print,private,protected,public,require,require_once,return,static,switch,throw,trait,try,unset,use,var,while,xor,PHP_VERSION,PHP_MAJOR_VERSION,PHP_MINOR_VERSION,PHP_RELEASE_VERSION,PHP_VERSION_ID,PHP_EXTRA_VERSION,PHP_ZTS,PHP_DEBUG,PHP_MAXPATHLEN,PHP_OS,PHP_SAPI,PHP_EOL,PHP_INT_MAX,PHP_INT_SIZE,DEFAULT_INCLUDE_PATH,PEAR_INSTALL_DIR,PEAR_EXTENSION_DIR,PHP_EXTENSION_DIR,PHP_PREFIX,PHP_BINDIR,PHP_BINARY,PHP_MANDIR,PHP_LIBDIR,PHP_DATADIR,PHP_SYSCONFDIR,PHP_LOCALSTATEDIR,PHP_CONFIG_FILE_PATH,PHP_CONFIG_FILE_SCAN_DIR,PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX,E_ERROR,E_WARNING,E_PARSE,E_NOTICE,E_CORE_ERROR,E_CORE_WARNING,E_COMPILE_ERROR,E_COMPILE_WARNING,E_USER_ERROR,E_USER_WARNING,E_USER_NOTICE,E_DEPRECATED,E_USER_DEPRECATED,E_ALL,E_STRICT,__COMPILER_HALT_OFFSET__,TRUE,FALSE,NULL,__CLASS__,__DIR__,__FILE__,__FUNCTION__,__LINE__,__METHOD__,__NAMESPACE__,__TRAIT__");
 Blockly.PHP.ORDER_ATOMIC=0;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_CLONE=1;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_NEW=1;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_MEMBER=2;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_FUNCTION_CALL=2;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_INCREMENT=3;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_DECREMENT=3;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_LOGICAL_NOT=4;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_BITWISE_NOT=4;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_UNARY_PLUS=4;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_UNARY_NEGATION=4;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_MULTIPLICATION=5;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_DIVISION=5;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_MODULUS=5;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_ADDITION=6;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_SUBTRACTION=6;
 Blockly.PHP.ORDER_BITWISE_SHIFT=7;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_RELATIONAL=8;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_IN=8;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_INSTANCEOF=8;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_EQUALITY=9;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_BITWISE_AND=10;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_BITWISE_XOR=11;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_BITWISE_OR=12;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_CONDITIONAL=13;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_ASSIGNMENT=14;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_LOGICAL_AND=15;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_LOGICAL_OR=16;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_COMMA=17;Blockly.PHP.ORDER_NONE=99;
-Blockly.PHP.init=function(a){Blockly.PHP.definitions_=Object.create(null);Blockly.PHP.functionNames_=Object.create(null);Blockly.PHP.variableDB_?Blockly.PHP.variableDB_.reset():Blockly.PHP.variableDB_=new Blockly.Names(Blockly.PHP.RESERVED_WORDS_,!0);var b=[];a=Blockly.Variables.allVariables(a);for(var c=0;c<a.length;c++)b[c]=Blockly.PHP.variableDB_.getName(a[c],Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE)+";";Blockly.PHP.definitions_.variables=b.join("\n")};
+Blockly.PHP.init=function(a){Blockly.PHP.definitions_=Object.create(null);Blockly.PHP.functionNames_=Object.create(null);Blockly.PHP.variableDB_?Blockly.PHP.variableDB_.reset():Blockly.PHP.variableDB_=new Blockly.Names(Blockly.PHP.RESERVED_WORDS_,"$");var b=[];a=Blockly.Variables.allVariables(a);for(var c=0;c<a.length;c++)b[c]=Blockly.PHP.variableDB_.getName(a[c],Blockly.Variables.NAME_TYPE)+";";Blockly.PHP.definitions_.variables=b.join("\n")};
 Blockly.PHP.finish=function(a){var b=[],c;for(c in Blockly.PHP.definitions_)b.push(Blockly.PHP.definitions_[c]);return b.join("\n\n")+"\n\n\n"+a};Blockly.PHP.scrubNakedValue=function(a){return a+";\n"};Blockly.PHP.quote_=function(a){a=a.replace(/\\/g,"\\\\").replace(/\n/g,"\\\n").replace(/'/g,"\\'");return"'"+a+"'"};
 Blockly.PHP.scrub_=function(a,b){var c="";if(!a.outputConnection||!a.outputConnection.targetConnection){var d=a.getCommentText();d&&(c+=Blockly.PHP.prefixLines(d,"// ")+"\n");for(var e=0;e<a.inputList.length;e++)a.inputList[e].type==Blockly.INPUT_VALUE&&(d=a.inputList[e].connection.targetBlock())&&(d=Blockly.PHP.allNestedComments(d))&&(c+=Blockly.PHP.prefixLines(d,"// "))}e=a.nextConnection&&a.nextConnection.targetBlock();e=Blockly.PHP.blockToCode(e);return c+b+e};
 // Copyright 2015 Google Inc.  Apache License 2.0