diff --git a/doc/api/deprecations.md b/doc/api/deprecations.md
index ba9580a7f5cca5..6fd8d1d4f5ec81 100644
--- a/doc/api/deprecations.md
+++ b/doc/api/deprecations.md
@@ -979,6 +979,16 @@ Type: Runtime
 This was an undocumented helper function not intended for use outside Node.js
 core and obsoleted by the removal of NPN (Next Protocol Negotiation) support.
 
+<a id="DEP0108"></a>
+### DEP0108: zlib.bytesRead
+
+Type: Documentation-only
+
+Deprecated alias for [`zlib.bytesWritten`][]. This original name was chosen
+because it also made sense to interpret the value as the number of bytes
+read by the engine, but is inconsistent with other streams in Node.js that
+expose values under these names.
+
 [`--pending-deprecation`]: cli.html#cli_pending_deprecation
 [`Buffer.allocUnsafeSlow(size)`]: buffer.html#buffer_class_method_buffer_allocunsafeslow_size
 [`Buffer.from(array)`]: buffer.html#buffer_class_method_buffer_from_array
@@ -1058,6 +1068,7 @@ core and obsoleted by the removal of NPN (Next Protocol Negotiation) support.
 [`util.types`]: util.html#util_util_types
 [`util`]: util.html
 [`worker.exitedAfterDisconnect`]: cluster.html#cluster_worker_exitedafterdisconnect
+[`zlib.bytesWritten`]: zlib.html#zlib_zlib_byteswritten
 [alloc]: buffer.html#buffer_class_method_buffer_alloc_size_fill_encoding
 [alloc_unsafe_size]: buffer.html#buffer_class_method_buffer_allocunsafe_size
 [from_arraybuffer]: buffer.html#buffer_class_method_buffer_from_arraybuffer_byteoffset_length
diff --git a/doc/api/zlib.md b/doc/api/zlib.md
index 4a9103a9793754..0a554b40afeb5d 100644
--- a/doc/api/zlib.md
+++ b/doc/api/zlib.md
@@ -400,13 +400,28 @@ class of the compressor/decompressor classes.
 ### zlib.bytesRead
 <!-- YAML
 added: v8.1.0
+deprecated: REPLACEME
 -->
 
+> Stability: 0 - Deprecated: Use [`zlib.bytesWritten`][] instead.
+
 * {number}
 
-The `zlib.bytesRead` property specifies the number of bytes read by the engine
-before the bytes are processed (compressed or decompressed, as appropriate for
-the derived class).
+Deprecated alias for [`zlib.bytesWritten`][]. This original name was chosen
+because it also made sense to interpret the value as the number of bytes
+read by the engine, but is inconsistent with other streams in Node.js that
+expose values under these names.
+
+### zlib.bytesWritten
+<!-- YAML
+added: REPLACEME
+-->
+
+* {number}
+
+The `zlib.bytesWritten` property specifies the number of bytes written to
+the engine, before the bytes are processed (compressed or decompressed,
+as appropriate for the derived class).
 
 ### zlib.close([callback])
 <!-- YAML
@@ -763,7 +778,8 @@ Decompress a chunk of data with [Unzip][].
 [InflateRaw]: #zlib_class_zlib_inflateraw
 [Inflate]: #zlib_class_zlib_inflate
 [Memory Usage Tuning]: #zlib_memory_usage_tuning
+[options]: #zlib_class_options
 [Unzip]: #zlib_class_zlib_unzip
 [`UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE`]: cli.html#cli_uv_threadpool_size_size
-[options]: #zlib_class_options
+[`zlib.bytesWritten`]: #zlib_zlib_byteswritten
 [zlib documentation]: https://zlib.net/manual.html#Constants
diff --git a/lib/zlib.js b/lib/zlib.js
index 01a2ebe9335bad..a39e9c20eeb1bc 100644
--- a/lib/zlib.js
+++ b/lib/zlib.js
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ function Zlib(opts, mode) {
     }
   }
   Transform.call(this, opts);
-  this.bytesRead = 0;
+  this.bytesWritten = 0;
   this._handle = new binding.Zlib(mode);
   this._handle.jsref = this; // Used by processCallback() and zlibOnError()
   this._handle.onerror = zlibOnError;
@@ -327,6 +327,21 @@ Object.defineProperty(Zlib.prototype, '_closed', {
   }
 });
 
+// `bytesRead` made sense as a name when looking from the zlib engine's
+// perspective, but it is inconsistent with all other streams exposed by Node.js
+// that have this concept, where it stands for the number of bytes read
+// *from* the stream (that is, net.Socket/tls.Socket & file system streams).
+Object.defineProperty(Zlib.prototype, 'bytesRead', {
+  configurable: true,
+  enumerable: true,
+  get() {
+    return this.bytesWritten;
+  },
+  set(value) {
+    this.bytesWritten = value;
+  }
+});
+
 Zlib.prototype.params = function params(level, strategy, callback) {
   checkRangesOrGetDefault(level, 'level', Z_MIN_LEVEL, Z_MAX_LEVEL);
   checkRangesOrGetDefault(strategy, 'strategy', Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY, Z_FIXED);
@@ -501,7 +516,7 @@ function processChunkSync(self, chunk, flushFlag) {
     }
   }
 
-  self.bytesRead = inputRead;
+  self.bytesWritten = inputRead;
 
   if (nread >= kMaxLength) {
     _close(self);
@@ -558,8 +573,8 @@ function processCallback() {
   var availOutAfter = state[0];
   var availInAfter = state[1];
 
-  var inDelta = (handle.availInBefore - availInAfter);
-  self.bytesRead += inDelta;
+  const inDelta = handle.availInBefore - availInAfter;
+  self.bytesWritten += inDelta;
 
   var have = handle.availOutBefore - availOutAfter;
   if (have > 0) {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-zlib-bytes-read.js b/test/parallel/test-zlib-bytes-read.js
index 6262c2514954d0..493478e78d33d0 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-zlib-bytes-read.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-zlib-bytes-read.js
@@ -33,13 +33,13 @@ for (const method of [
   const comp = zlib[method[0]]();
   comp.on('data', function(d) {
     compData = Buffer.concat([compData, d]);
-    assert.strictEqual(this.bytesRead, compWriter.size,
+    assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, compWriter.size,
                        `Should get write size on ${method[0]} data.`);
   });
   comp.on('end', common.mustCall(function() {
-    assert.strictEqual(this.bytesRead, compWriter.size,
+    assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, compWriter.size,
                        `Should get write size on ${method[0]} end.`);
-    assert.strictEqual(this.bytesRead, expectStr.length,
+    assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, expectStr.length,
                        `Should get data size on ${method[0]} end.`);
 
     {
@@ -49,12 +49,12 @@ for (const method of [
       const decomp = zlib[method[1]]();
       decomp.on('data', function(d) {
         decompData = Buffer.concat([decompData, d]);
-        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesRead, decompWriter.size,
+        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, decompWriter.size,
                            `Should get write size on ${method[0]}/` +
                            `${method[1]} data.`);
       });
       decomp.on('end', common.mustCall(function() {
-        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesRead, compData.length,
+        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, compData.length,
                            `Should get compressed size on ${method[0]}/` +
                            `${method[1]} end.`);
         assert.strictEqual(decompData.toString(), expectStr,
@@ -74,14 +74,16 @@ for (const method of [
       const decomp = zlib[method[1]]();
       decomp.on('data', function(d) {
         decompData = Buffer.concat([decompData, d]);
-        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesRead, decompWriter.size,
+        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, decompWriter.size,
                            `Should get write size on ${method[0]}/` +
                            `${method[1]} data.`);
       });
       decomp.on('end', common.mustCall(function() {
-        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesRead, compData.length,
+        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, compData.length,
                            `Should get compressed size on ${method[0]}/` +
                            `${method[1]} end.`);
+        // Checking legacy name.
+        assert.strictEqual(this.bytesWritten, this.bytesRead);
         assert.strictEqual(decompData.toString(), expectStr,
                            `Should get original string on ${method[0]}/` +
                            `${method[1]} end.`);