diff --git a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgetmanager.js b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgetmanager.js
index ca1b9f7..3625b13 100644
--- a/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgetmanager.js
+++ b/IPython/html/static/notebook/js/widgetmanager.js
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
         },
 
         WidgetManager.prototype.create_view = function(model, options, view) {
-            var view_name = model.get('view_name');
+            var view_name = model.get('_view_name');
             var ViewType = WidgetManager._view_types[view_name];
             if (ViewType !== undefined && ViewType !== null) {
 
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py
index 151e0cf..05b3ac3 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class Widget(LoggingConfigurable):
     #-------------------------------------------------------------------------
     model_name = Unicode('WidgetModel', help="""Name of the backbone model 
         registered in the front-end to create and sync this widget with.""")
-    view_name = Unicode(help="""Default view registered in the front-end
+    _view_name = Unicode(help="""Default view registered in the front-end
         to use to represent the widget.""", sync=True)
     _comm = Instance('IPython.kernel.comm.Comm')
 
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_bool.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_bool.py
index 6cebbca..91b3f90 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_bool.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_bool.py
@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ class _BoolWidget(DOMWidget):
 
 
 class CheckBoxWidget(_BoolWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('CheckBoxView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('CheckBoxView', sync=True)
 
 
 class ToggleButtonWidget(_BoolWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ToggleButtonView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ToggleButtonView', sync=True)
     
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_button.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_button.py
index cedc1f8..c2f552e 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_button.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_button.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ from IPython.utils.traitlets import Unicode, Bool
 # Classes
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 class ButtonWidget(DOMWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ButtonView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ButtonView', sync=True)
 
     # Keys
     description = Unicode('', help="Description of the button (label).", sync=True)
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_container.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_container.py
index e02b24b..82d4ae2 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_container.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_container.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from IPython.utils.traitlets import Unicode, Bool, List, Instance
 # Classes
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 class ContainerWidget(DOMWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ContainerView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ContainerView', sync=True)
 
     # Keys, all private and managed by helper methods.  Flexible box model
     # classes...
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class ContainerWidget(DOMWidget):
 
 
 class PopupWidget(ContainerWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('PopupView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('PopupView', sync=True)
     
     description = Unicode(sync=True)
     button_text = Unicode(sync=True)
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_float.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_float.py
index 18176f0..5132331 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_float.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_float.py
@@ -42,18 +42,18 @@ class _BoundedFloatWidget(_FloatWidget):
 
 
 class FloatTextWidget(_FloatWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('FloatTextView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('FloatTextView', sync=True)
 
 
 class BoundedFloatTextWidget(_BoundedFloatWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('FloatTextView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('FloatTextView', sync=True)
 
 
 class FloatSliderWidget(_BoundedFloatWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('FloatSliderView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('FloatSliderView', sync=True)
     orientation = Enum([u'horizontal', u'vertical'], u'horizontal', 
         help="Vertical or horizontal.", sync=True)
 
 
 class FloatProgressWidget(_BoundedFloatWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ProgressView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ProgressView', sync=True)
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_image.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_image.py
index 139b9db..0621ed4 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_image.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_image.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from IPython.utils.traitlets import Unicode, CUnicode, Bytes
 # Classes
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 class ImageWidget(DOMWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ImageView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ImageView', sync=True)
     
     # Define the custom state properties to sync with the front-end
     format = Unicode('png', sync=True)
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_int.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_int.py
index a5ce31d..97c2e0e 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_int.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_int.py
@@ -42,18 +42,18 @@ class _BoundedIntWidget(_IntWidget):
 
 
 class IntTextWidget(_IntWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('IntTextView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('IntTextView', sync=True)
 
 
 class BoundedIntTextWidget(_BoundedIntWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('IntTextView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('IntTextView', sync=True)
 
 
 class IntSliderWidget(_BoundedIntWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('IntSliderView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('IntSliderView', sync=True)
     orientation = Enum([u'horizontal', u'vertical'], u'horizontal', 
         help="Vertical or horizontal.", sync=True)
 
 
 class IntProgressWidget(_BoundedIntWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ProgressView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ProgressView', sync=True)
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selection.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selection.py
index eac867e..bb54c61 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selection.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selection.py
@@ -85,16 +85,16 @@ class _SelectionWidget(DOMWidget):
 
 
 class ToggleButtonsWidget(_SelectionWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ToggleButtonsView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ToggleButtonsView', sync=True)
 
 
 class DropdownWidget(_SelectionWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('DropdownView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('DropdownView', sync=True)
 
 
 class RadioButtonsWidget(_SelectionWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('RadioButtonsView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('RadioButtonsView', sync=True)
     
 
 class ListBoxWidget(_SelectionWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('ListBoxView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('ListBoxView', sync=True)
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selectioncontainer.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selectioncontainer.py
index f27b523..0f9156a 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selectioncontainer.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_selectioncontainer.py
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ class _SelectionContainerWidget(ContainerWidget):
 
 
 class AccordionWidget(_SelectionContainerWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('AccordionView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('AccordionView', sync=True)
 
 
 class TabWidget(_SelectionContainerWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('TabView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('TabView', sync=True)
diff --git a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_string.py b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_string.py
index 72539d3..52020b6 100644
--- a/IPython/html/widgets/widget_string.py
+++ b/IPython/html/widgets/widget_string.py
@@ -26,22 +26,22 @@ class _StringWidget(DOMWidget):
 
 
 class HTMLWidget(_StringWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('HTMLView', sync=True)    
+    _view_name = Unicode('HTMLView', sync=True)    
 
 
 class LatexWidget(_StringWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('LatexView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('LatexView', sync=True)
 
 
 class TextAreaWidget(_StringWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('TextAreaView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('TextAreaView', sync=True)
 
     def scroll_to_bottom(self):
         self.send({"method": "scroll_to_bottom"})
 
 
 class TextBoxWidget(_StringWidget):
-    view_name = Unicode('TextBoxView', sync=True)
+    _view_name = Unicode('TextBoxView', sync=True)
 
     def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         super(TextBoxWidget, self).__init__(**kwargs)