diff --git a/taskflow/atom.py b/taskflow/atom.py
index 59c51405..d690adc3 100644
--- a/taskflow/atom.py
+++ b/taskflow/atom.py
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ class Atom(object):
 
     @property
     def name(self):
+        """A non-unique name for this atom (human readable)."""
         return self._name
 
     def __str__(self):
diff --git a/taskflow/flow.py b/taskflow/flow.py
index e5f91480..34ee58e2 100644
--- a/taskflow/flow.py
+++ b/taskflow/flow.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class Flow(object):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, name):
-        self._name = str(name)
+        self._name = six.text_type(name)
 
     @property
     def name(self):