diff --git a/examples/dynamic-segments/app.js b/examples/dynamic-segments/app.js
index dbe5718461..44022f9ff1 100644
--- a/examples/dynamic-segments/app.js
+++ b/examples/dynamic-segments/app.js
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ var User = React.createClass({
       <div className="User">
         <h1>User id: {userId}</h1>
         <ul>
-          <li><Link to="user.task" params={{userId: userId, taskId: "foo"}}>foo task</Link></li>
-          <li><Link to="user.task" params={{userId: userId, taskId: "bar"}}>bar task</Link></li>
+          <li><Link to="task" params={{userId: userId, taskId: "foo"}}>foo task</Link></li>
+          <li><Link to="task" params={{userId: userId, taskId: "bar"}}>bar task</Link></li>
         </ul>
         <RouteHandler/>
       </div>
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ var routes = (
   <Route path="/" handler={App}>
     <Route name="user" path="/user/:userId" handler={User}>
       <Route name="task" path="tasks/:taskId" handler={Task}/>
-      <Redirect from="todos/:taskId" to="user.task"/>
+      <Redirect from="todos/:taskId" to="task"/>
     </Route>
   </Route>
 );
diff --git a/examples/partial-app-loading/dashboard.js b/examples/partial-app-loading/dashboard.js
index bba8c70189..d268c0fc35 100644
--- a/examples/partial-app-loading/dashboard.js
+++ b/examples/partial-app-loading/dashboard.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ var Dashboard = React.createClass({
       <div>
         <h1>Dashboard!</h1>
         <ul>
-          <li><Link to="dashboard.inbox">Inbox</Link></li>
+          <li><Link to="inbox">Inbox</Link></li>
         </ul>
         <RouteHandler/>
       </div>
diff --git a/modules/Route.js b/modules/Route.js
index 64ba778eee..c2fb2454a9 100644
--- a/modules/Route.js
+++ b/modules/Route.js
@@ -15,102 +15,30 @@ function Route(name, path, ignoreScrollBehavior, isDefault, isNotFound, onEnter,
   this.handler = handler;
 }
 
-Route.prototype.toString = function () {
-  var string = '<Route';
-
-  if (this.name)
-    string += ` name="${this.name}"`;
-
-  string += ` path="${this.path}">`;
-
-  return string;
-};
-
 /**
  * Appends the given route to this route's child routes.
  */
-Route.prototype.appendChildRoute = function (route) {
+Route.prototype.appendChild = function (route) {
   invariant(
     route instanceof Route,
-    'route.appendChildRoute must use a valid Route'
+    'route.appendChild must use a valid Route'
   );
 
   if (!this.childRoutes)
     this.childRoutes = [];
 
-  if (route.name) {
-    invariant(
-      this.childRoutes.every(function (childRoute) {
-        return childRoute.name !== route.name;
-      }),
-      'Route %s may not have more than one child route named "%s"',
-      this, route.name
-    );
-  }
-
   this.childRoutes.push(route);
 };
 
-/**
- * Allows looking up a child route using a "." delimited string, e.g.:
- *
- *   route.appendChildRoute(
- *     Router.createRoute({ name: 'user' }, function () {
- *       Router.createRoute({ name: 'new' });
- *     })
- *   );
- *
- *   var NewUserRoute = route.lookupChildRoute('user.new');
- *
- * See also Route.findRouteByName.
- */
-Route.prototype.lookupChildRoute = function (names) {
-  if (!this.childRoutes)
-    return null;
-
-  return Route.findRouteByName(this.childRoutes, names);
-};
-
-/**
- * Searches the given array of routes and returns the route that matches
- * the given name. The name should be a . delimited string like "user.new"
- * that specifies the names of nested routes. Routes in the hierarchy that
- * do not have a name do not need to be specified in the search string.
- *
- *   var routes = [
- *     Router.createRoute({ name: 'user' }, function () {
- *       Router.createRoute({ name: 'new' });
- *     })
- *   ];
- *
- *   var NewUserRoute = Route.findRouteByName(routes, 'user.new');
- */
-Route.findRouteByName = function (routes, names) {
-  if (typeof names === 'string')
-    names = names.split('.');
-
-  var route, foundRoute;
-  for (var i = 0, len = routes.length; i < len; ++i) {
-    route = routes[i];
-
-    if (route.name === names[0]) {
-      if (names.length === 1)
-        return route;
-
-      if (!route.childRoutes)
-        return null;
+Route.prototype.toString = function () {
+  var string = '<Route';
 
-      return Route.findRouteByName(route.childRoutes, names.slice(1));
-    } else if (route.name == null) {
-      // Transparently skip over unnamed routes in the tree.
-      foundRoute = route.lookupChildRoute(names);
+  if (this.name)
+    string += ` name="${this.name}"`;
 
-      if (foundRoute != null)
-        return foundRoute;
-    }
-  }
+  string += ` path="${this.path}">`;
 
-  return null;
+  return string;
 };
 
 var _currentRoute;
@@ -223,7 +151,7 @@ Route.createRoute = function (options, callback) {
       parentRoute.notFoundRoute = route;
     }
 
-    parentRoute.appendChildRoute(route);
+    parentRoute.appendChild(route);
   }
 
   // Any routes created in the callback
diff --git a/modules/__tests__/Router-test.js b/modules/__tests__/Router-test.js
index 3046f9f9db..dbda478f72 100644
--- a/modules/__tests__/Router-test.js
+++ b/modules/__tests__/Router-test.js
@@ -827,7 +827,7 @@ describe('Router.makePath', function () {
 
   describe('when there is a route with the given name', function () {
     it('returns the correct path', function () {
-      expect(router.makePath('home.users.user', { id: 6 })).toEqual('/home/users/6');
+      expect(router.makePath('user', { id: 6 })).toEqual('/home/users/6');
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/modules/createRouter.js b/modules/createRouter.js
index 6a5948b5c8..f798adb1ee 100644
--- a/modules/createRouter.js
+++ b/modules/createRouter.js
@@ -63,6 +63,26 @@ function hasMatch(routes, route, prevParams, nextParams, prevQuery, nextQuery) {
   });
 }
 
+function addRoutesToNamedRoutes(routes, namedRoutes) {
+  var route;
+  for (var i = 0, len = routes.length; i < len; ++i) {
+    route = routes[i];
+
+    if (route.name) {
+      invariant(
+        namedRoutes[route.name] == null,
+        'You may not have more than one route named "%s"',
+        route.name
+      );
+
+      namedRoutes[route.name] = route;
+    }
+
+    if (route.childRoutes)
+      addRoutesToNamedRoutes(route.childRoutes, namedRoutes);
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Creates and returns a new router using the given options. A router
  * is a ReactComponent class that knows how to react to changes in the
@@ -134,6 +154,7 @@ function createRouter(options) {
 
       clearAllRoutes: function () {
         this.cancelPendingTransition();
+        this.namedRoutes = {};
         this.routes = [];
       },
 
@@ -144,6 +165,8 @@ function createRouter(options) {
         if (isReactChildren(routes))
           routes = createRoutesFromReactChildren(routes);
 
+        addRoutesToNamedRoutes(routes, this.namedRoutes);
+
         this.routes.push.apply(this.routes, routes);
       },
 
@@ -174,7 +197,7 @@ function createRouter(options) {
         if (Path.isAbsolute(to)) {
           path = to;
         } else {
-          var route = (to instanceof Route) ? to : Route.findRouteByName(this.routes, to);
+          var route = (to instanceof Route) ? to : this.namedRoutes[to];
 
           invariant(
             route instanceof Route,