diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusTracingModule.java b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusTracingModule.java
index 1269f3fdf4..829acc3d16 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusTracingModule.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusTracingModule.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import io.opencensus.trace.EndSpanOptions;
 import io.opencensus.trace.MessageEvent;
 import io.opencensus.trace.MessageEvent.Type;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Span;
+import io.opencensus.trace.Span.Kind;
 import io.opencensus.trace.SpanContext;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Status;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Tracer;
@@ -234,10 +235,9 @@ final class CensusTracingModule {
       this.isSampledToLocalTracing = method.isSampledToLocalTracing();
       this.span =
           censusTracer
-              .spanBuilderWithExplicitParent(
-                  generateTraceSpanName(false, method.getFullMethodName()),
-                  parentSpan)
+              .spanBuilderWithExplicitParent(method.getFullMethodName(), parentSpan)
               .setRecordEvents(true)
+              .setSpanKind(Kind.CLIENT)
               .startSpan();
     }
 
@@ -303,10 +303,9 @@ final class CensusTracingModule {
       checkNotNull(fullMethodName, "fullMethodName");
       this.span =
           censusTracer
-              .spanBuilderWithRemoteParent(
-                  generateTraceSpanName(true, fullMethodName),
-                  remoteSpan)
+              .spanBuilderWithRemoteParent(fullMethodName, remoteSpan)
               .setRecordEvents(true)
+              .setSpanKind(Kind.SERVER)
               .startSpan();
     }
 
@@ -402,19 +401,4 @@ final class CensusTracingModule {
       };
     }
   }
-
-  /**
-   * Convert a full method name to a tracing span name.
-   *
-   * @param isServer {@code false} if the span is on the client-side, {@code true} if on the
-   *                 server-side
-   * @param fullMethodName the method name as returned by
-   *        {@link MethodDescriptor#getFullMethodName}.
-   */
-  @VisibleForTesting
-  static String generateTraceSpanName(boolean isServer, String fullMethodName) {
-    String prefix = isServer ? "Recv" : "Sent";
-    return prefix + "." + fullMethodName.replace('/', '.');
-  }
-
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusModulesTest.java b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusModulesTest.java
index c0376e5082..c39e6c6854 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusModulesTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/io/grpc/internal/CensusModulesTest.java
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ import io.opencensus.trace.EndSpanOptions;
 import io.opencensus.trace.MessageEvent;
 import io.opencensus.trace.MessageEvent.Type;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Span;
+import io.opencensus.trace.Span.Kind;
 import io.opencensus.trace.SpanBuilder;
 import io.opencensus.trace.SpanContext;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Tracer;
@@ -294,12 +295,14 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
 
     if (nonDefaultContext) {
       verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithExplicitParent(
-          eq("Sent.package1.service2.method3"), same(fakeClientParentSpan));
+          eq("package1.service2/method3"), same(fakeClientParentSpan));
       verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setRecordEvents(eq(true));
+      verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setSpanKind(eq(Kind.CLIENT));
     } else {
       verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithExplicitParent(
-          eq("Sent.package1.service2.method3"), isNull(Span.class));
+          eq("package1.service2/method3"), isNull(Span.class));
       verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setRecordEvents(eq(true));
+      verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setSpanKind(eq(Kind.CLIENT));
     }
     verify(spyClientSpan, never()).end(any(EndSpanOptions.class));
 
@@ -497,7 +500,7 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
     ClientStreamTracer clientStreamTracer =
         callTracer.newClientStreamTracer(CallOptions.DEFAULT, headers);
     verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithExplicitParent(
-        eq("Sent.package1.service2.method3"), isNull(Span.class));
+        eq("package1.service2/method3"), isNull(Span.class));
     verify(spyClientSpan, never()).end(any(EndSpanOptions.class));
 
     clientStreamTracer.outboundMessage(0);
@@ -604,8 +607,9 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
     CensusTracingModule.ClientCallTracer callTracer =
         censusTracing.newClientCallTracer(fakeClientParentSpan, method);
     verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithExplicitParent(
-        eq("Sent.package1.service2.method3"), same(fakeClientParentSpan));
+        eq("package1.service2/method3"), same(fakeClientParentSpan));
     verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setRecordEvents(eq(true));
+    verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setSpanKind(eq(Kind.CLIENT));
 
     callTracer.callEnded(Status.DEADLINE_EXCEEDED.withDescription("3 seconds"));
     verify(spyClientSpan).end(
@@ -780,8 +784,9 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
     verify(mockTracingPropagationHandler).toByteArray(same(fakeClientSpanContext));
     verifyNoMoreInteractions(mockTracingPropagationHandler);
     verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithExplicitParent(
-        eq("Sent.package1.service2.method3"), same(fakeClientParentSpan));
+        eq("package1.service2/method3"), same(fakeClientParentSpan));
     verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setRecordEvents(eq(true));
+    verify(spyClientSpanBuilder).setSpanKind(eq(Kind.CLIENT));
     verifyNoMoreInteractions(tracer);
     assertTrue(headers.containsKey(censusTracing.tracingHeader));
 
@@ -790,8 +795,9 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
             method.getFullMethodName(), headers);
     verify(mockTracingPropagationHandler).fromByteArray(same(binarySpanContext));
     verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithRemoteParent(
-        eq("Recv.package1.service2.method3"), same(spyClientSpan.getContext()));
+        eq("package1.service2/method3"), same(spyClientSpan.getContext()));
     verify(spyServerSpanBuilder).setRecordEvents(eq(true));
+    verify(spyServerSpanBuilder).setSpanKind(eq(Kind.SERVER));
 
     Context filteredContext = serverTracer.filterContext(Context.ROOT);
     assertSame(spyServerSpan, ContextUtils.CONTEXT_SPAN_KEY.get(filteredContext));
@@ -861,8 +867,10 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
     censusTracing.getServerTracerFactory().newServerStreamTracer(
         method.getFullMethodName(), headers);
     verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithRemoteParent(
-        eq("Recv.package1.service2.method3"), isNull(SpanContext.class));
+        eq("package1.service2/method3"), isNull(SpanContext.class));
     verify(spyServerSpanBuilder).setRecordEvents(eq(true));
+    verify(spyServerSpanBuilder).setSpanKind(eq(Kind.SERVER));
+
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -1013,8 +1021,9 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
         tracerFactory.newServerStreamTracer(method.getFullMethodName(), new Metadata());
     verifyZeroInteractions(mockTracingPropagationHandler);
     verify(tracer).spanBuilderWithRemoteParent(
-        eq("Recv.package1.service2.method3"), isNull(SpanContext.class));
+        eq("package1.service2/method3"), isNull(SpanContext.class));
     verify(spyServerSpanBuilder).setRecordEvents(eq(true));
+    verify(spyServerSpanBuilder).setSpanKind(eq(Kind.SERVER));
 
     Context filteredContext = serverStreamTracer.filterContext(Context.ROOT);
     assertSame(spyServerSpan, ContextUtils.CONTEXT_SPAN_KEY.get(filteredContext));
@@ -1110,15 +1119,6 @@ public class CensusModulesTest {
     }
   }
 
-
-  @Test
-  public void generateTraceSpanName() {
-    assertEquals(
-        "Sent.io.grpc.Foo", CensusTracingModule.generateTraceSpanName(false, "io.grpc/Foo"));
-    assertEquals(
-        "Recv.io.grpc.Bar", CensusTracingModule.generateTraceSpanName(true, "io.grpc/Bar"));
-  }
-
   private static void assertNoServerContent(StatsTestUtils.MetricsRecord record) {
     assertNull(record.getMetric(DeprecatedCensusConstants.RPC_SERVER_ERROR_COUNT));
     assertNull(record.getMetric(DeprecatedCensusConstants.RPC_SERVER_REQUEST_COUNT));