diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/groups_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/groups_controller.rb
index cc38608eda5..001f6520093 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/groups_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/groups_controller.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ class Admin::GroupsController < Admin::ApplicationController
 
   def index
     @groups = Group.with_statistics.with_route
-    @groups = @groups.sort(@sort = params[:sort])
+    @groups = @groups.sort_by_attribute(@sort = params[:sort])
     @groups = @groups.search(params[:name]) if params[:name].present?
     @groups = @groups.page(params[:page])
   end
diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb
index 156a8e2c515..bfeb5a2d097 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/users_controller.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ class Admin::UsersController < Admin::ApplicationController
   def index
     @users = User.order_name_asc.filter(params[:filter])
     @users = @users.search_with_secondary_emails(params[:search_query]) if params[:search_query].present?
-    @users = @users.sort(@sort = params[:sort])
+    @users = @users.sort_by_attribute(@sort = params[:sort])
     @users = @users.page(params[:page])
   end
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/concerns/group_tree.rb b/app/controllers/concerns/group_tree.rb
index fafb10090ca..56770a17406 100644
--- a/app/controllers/concerns/group_tree.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/concerns/group_tree.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module GroupTree
               end
 
     @groups = @groups.with_selects_for_list(archived: params[:archived])
-                .sort(@sort = params[:sort])
+                .sort_by_attribute(@sort = params[:sort])
                 .page(params[:page])
 
     respond_to do |format|
diff --git a/app/controllers/groups/group_members_controller.rb b/app/controllers/groups/group_members_controller.rb
index f210434b2d7..134b0dfc0db 100644
--- a/app/controllers/groups/group_members_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/groups/group_members_controller.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class Groups::GroupMembersController < Groups::ApplicationController
     @members = GroupMembersFinder.new(@group).execute
     @members = @members.non_invite unless can?(current_user, :admin_group, @group)
     @members = @members.search(params[:search]) if params[:search].present?
-    @members = @members.sort(@sort)
+    @members = @members.sort_by_attribute(@sort)
     @members = @members.page(params[:page]).per(50)
     @members = present_members(@members.includes(:user))
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/projects/milestones_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects/milestones_controller.rb
index e898136d203..c5a044541f1 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects/milestones_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects/milestones_controller.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class Projects::MilestonesController < Projects::ApplicationController
 
   def index
     @sort = params[:sort] || 'due_date_asc'
-    @milestones = milestones.sort(@sort)
+    @milestones = milestones.sort_by_attribute(@sort)
 
     respond_to do |format|
       format.html do
diff --git a/app/controllers/projects/project_members_controller.rb b/app/controllers/projects/project_members_controller.rb
index e9b4679f94c..cfa5e72af64 100644
--- a/app/controllers/projects/project_members_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/projects/project_members_controller.rb
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class Projects::ProjectMembersController < Projects::ApplicationController
       @group_links = @group_links.where(group_id: @project.invited_groups.search(params[:search]).select(:id))
     end
 
-    @project_members = present_members(@project_members.sort(@sort).page(params[:page]))
+    @project_members = present_members(@project_members.sort_by_attribute(@sort).page(params[:page]))
     @requesters = present_members(AccessRequestsFinder.new(@project).execute(current_user))
     @project_member = @project.project_members.new
   end
diff --git a/app/finders/admin/projects_finder.rb b/app/finders/admin/projects_finder.rb
index 2c8f21c2400..53b77f5fed9 100644
--- a/app/finders/admin/projects_finder.rb
+++ b/app/finders/admin/projects_finder.rb
@@ -62,6 +62,6 @@ class Admin::ProjectsFinder
 
   def sort(items)
     sort = params.fetch(:sort) { 'latest_activity_desc' }
-    items.sort(sort)
+    items.sort_by_attribute(sort)
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb b/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb
index b2d4f9938ff..61c72aa22a8 100644
--- a/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb
+++ b/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ class IssuableFinder
   def sort(items)
     # Ensure we always have an explicit sort order (instead of inheriting
     # multiple orders when combining ActiveRecord::Relation objects).
-    params[:sort] ? items.sort(params[:sort], excluded_labels: label_names) : items.reorder(id: :desc)
+    params[:sort] ? items.sort_by_attribute(params[:sort], excluded_labels: label_names) : items.reorder(id: :desc)
   end
 
   def by_assignee(items)
diff --git a/app/finders/projects_finder.rb b/app/finders/projects_finder.rb
index 005612ededc..c7d6bc6cfdc 100644
--- a/app/finders/projects_finder.rb
+++ b/app/finders/projects_finder.rb
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ class ProjectsFinder < UnionFinder
   end
 
   def sort(items)
-    params[:sort].present? ? items.sort(params[:sort]) : items.order_id_desc
+    params[:sort].present? ? items.sort_by_attribute(params[:sort]) : items.order_id_desc
   end
 
   def by_archived(projects)
diff --git a/app/finders/todos_finder.rb b/app/finders/todos_finder.rb
index 150f4c7688b..09e2c586f2a 100644
--- a/app/finders/todos_finder.rb
+++ b/app/finders/todos_finder.rb
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ class TodosFinder
   end
 
   def sort(items)
-    params[:sort] ? items.sort(params[:sort]) : items.order_id_desc
+    params[:sort] ? items.sort_by_attribute(params[:sort]) : items.order_id_desc
   end
 
   def by_action(items)
diff --git a/app/models/concerns/issuable.rb b/app/models/concerns/issuable.rb
index 5a566f3ac02..b45395343cc 100644
--- a/app/models/concerns/issuable.rb
+++ b/app/models/concerns/issuable.rb
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ module Issuable
       fuzzy_search(query, [:title, :description])
     end
 
-    def sort(method, excluded_labels: [])
+    def sort_by_attribute(method, excluded_labels: [])
       sorted =
         case method.to_s
         when 'downvotes_desc'     then order_downvotes_desc
diff --git a/app/models/concerns/milestoneish.rb b/app/models/concerns/milestoneish.rb
index caf8afa97f9..5130ecec472 100644
--- a/app/models/concerns/milestoneish.rb
+++ b/app/models/concerns/milestoneish.rb
@@ -45,11 +45,11 @@ module Milestoneish
   end
 
   def sorted_issues(user)
-    issues_visible_to_user(user).preload_associations.sort('label_priority')
+    issues_visible_to_user(user).preload_associations.sort_by_attribute('label_priority')
   end
 
   def sorted_merge_requests
-    merge_requests.sort('label_priority')
+    merge_requests.sort_by_attribute('label_priority')
   end
 
   def upcoming?
diff --git a/app/models/group.rb b/app/models/group.rb
index d99af79b5fe..3cfe21ac93b 100644
--- a/app/models/group.rb
+++ b/app/models/group.rb
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ class Group < Namespace
       Gitlab::Database.postgresql?
     end
 
-    def sort(method)
+    def sort_by_attribute(method)
       if method == 'storage_size_desc'
         # storage_size is a virtual column so we need to
         # pass a string to avoid AR adding the table name
diff --git a/app/models/issue.rb b/app/models/issue.rb
index 6a94d60c828..13abc6c1a0d 100644
--- a/app/models/issue.rb
+++ b/app/models/issue.rb
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ class Issue < ActiveRecord::Base
     'project_id'
   end
 
-  def self.sort(method, excluded_labels: [])
+  def self.sort_by_attribute(method, excluded_labels: [])
     case method.to_s
     when 'due_date'      then order_due_date_asc
     when 'due_date_asc'  then order_due_date_asc
diff --git a/app/models/member.rb b/app/models/member.rb
index e1a32148538..eac4a22a03f 100644
--- a/app/models/member.rb
+++ b/app/models/member.rb
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class Member < ActiveRecord::Base
       joins(:user).merge(User.search(query))
     end
 
-    def sort(method)
+    def sort_by_attribute(method)
       case method.to_s
       when 'access_level_asc' then reorder(access_level: :asc)
       when 'access_level_desc' then reorder(access_level: :desc)
diff --git a/app/models/milestone.rb b/app/models/milestone.rb
index e7d397f40f5..dafae58d121 100644
--- a/app/models/milestone.rb
+++ b/app/models/milestone.rb
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ class Milestone < ActiveRecord::Base
     User.joins(assigned_issues: :milestone).where("milestones.id = ?", id).uniq
   end
 
-  def self.sort(method)
+  def self.sort_by_attribute(method)
     case method.to_s
     when 'due_date_asc'
       reorder(Gitlab::Database.nulls_last_order('due_date', 'ASC'))
diff --git a/app/models/project.rb b/app/models/project.rb
index b343786d2c9..3bd0d3445fe 100644
--- a/app/models/project.rb
+++ b/app/models/project.rb
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ class Project < ActiveRecord::Base
       Gitlab::VisibilityLevel.options
     end
 
-    def sort(method)
+    def sort_by_attribute(method)
       case method.to_s
       when 'storage_size_desc'
         # storage_size is a joined column so we need to
diff --git a/app/models/todo.rb b/app/models/todo.rb
index 8afacd188e0..a2ab405fdbe 100644
--- a/app/models/todo.rb
+++ b/app/models/todo.rb
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class Todo < ActiveRecord::Base
     # Priority sorting isn't displayed in the dropdown, because we don't show
     # milestones, but still show something if the user has a URL with that
     # selected.
-    def sort(method)
+    def sort_by_attribute(method)
       sorted =
         case method.to_s
         when 'priority', 'label_priority' then order_by_labels_priority
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index f934b654225..ba51595e6a3 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ class User < ActiveRecord::Base
       end
     end
 
-    def sort(method)
+    def sort_by_attribute(method)
       order_method = method || 'id_desc'
 
       case order_method.to_s
diff --git a/spec/models/concerns/issuable_spec.rb b/spec/models/concerns/issuable_spec.rb
index f8874d14e3f..05693f067e1 100644
--- a/spec/models/concerns/issuable_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/concerns/issuable_spec.rb
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ describe Issuable do
     end
   end
 
-  describe "#sort" do
+  describe "#sort_by_attribute" do
     let(:project) { create(:project) }
 
     context "by milestone due date" do
@@ -193,12 +193,12 @@ describe Issuable do
       let!(:issue3) { create(:issue, project: project) }
 
       it "sorts desc" do
-        issues = project.issues.sort('milestone_due_desc')
+        issues = project.issues.sort_by_attribute('milestone_due_desc')
         expect(issues).to match_array([issue2, issue1, issue, issue3])
       end
 
       it "sorts asc" do
-        issues = project.issues.sort('milestone_due_asc')
+        issues = project.issues.sort_by_attribute('milestone_due_asc')
         expect(issues).to match_array([issue1, issue2, issue, issue3])
       end
     end
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ describe Issuable do
 
       it 'has no duplicates across pages' do
         sorted_issue_ids = 1.upto(10).map do |i|
-          project.issues.sort('milestone_due_desc').page(i).per(1).first.id
+          project.issues.sort_by_attribute('milestone_due_desc').page(i).per(1).first.id
         end
 
         expect(sorted_issue_ids).to eq(sorted_issue_ids.uniq)
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index 100418da804..4027c420e47 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -1451,7 +1451,7 @@ describe User do
     end
   end
 
-  describe '#sort' do
+  describe '#sort_by_attribute' do
     before do
       described_class.delete_all
       @user = create :user, created_at: Date.today, current_sign_in_at: Date.today, name: 'Alpha'
@@ -1460,7 +1460,7 @@ describe User do
     end
 
     context 'when sort by recent_sign_in' do
-      let(:users) { described_class.sort('recent_sign_in') }
+      let(:users) { described_class.sort_by_attribute('recent_sign_in') }
 
       it 'sorts users by recent sign-in time' do
         expect(users.first).to eq(@user)
@@ -1473,7 +1473,7 @@ describe User do
     end
 
     context 'when sort by oldest_sign_in' do
-      let(:users) { described_class.sort('oldest_sign_in') }
+      let(:users) { described_class.sort_by_attribute('oldest_sign_in') }
 
       it 'sorts users by the oldest sign-in time' do
         expect(users.first).to eq(@user1)
@@ -1486,15 +1486,15 @@ describe User do
     end
 
     it 'sorts users in descending order by their creation time' do
-      expect(described_class.sort('created_desc').first).to eq(@user)
+      expect(described_class.sort_by_attribute('created_desc').first).to eq(@user)
     end
 
     it 'sorts users in ascending order by their creation time' do
-      expect(described_class.sort('created_asc').first).to eq(@user2)
+      expect(described_class.sort_by_attribute('created_asc').first).to eq(@user2)
     end
 
     it 'sorts users by id in descending order when nil is passed' do
-      expect(described_class.sort(nil).first).to eq(@user2)
+      expect(described_class.sort_by_attribute(nil).first).to eq(@user2)
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/requests/projects/cycle_analytics_events_spec.rb b/spec/requests/projects/cycle_analytics_events_spec.rb
index eef860821e5..bcc3e3a2678 100644
--- a/spec/requests/projects/cycle_analytics_events_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/projects/cycle_analytics_events_spec.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe 'cycle analytics events' do
     it 'lists the issue events' do
       get project_cycle_analytics_issue_path(project, format: :json)
 
-      first_issue_iid = project.issues.sort(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
+      first_issue_iid = project.issues.sort_by_attribute(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
 
       expect(json_response['events']).not_to be_empty
       expect(json_response['events'].first['iid']).to eq(first_issue_iid)
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ describe 'cycle analytics events' do
     it 'lists the plan events' do
       get project_cycle_analytics_plan_path(project, format: :json)
 
-      first_mr_short_sha = project.merge_requests.sort(:created_asc).first.commits.first.short_id
+      first_mr_short_sha = project.merge_requests.sort_by_attribute(:created_asc).first.commits.first.short_id
 
       expect(json_response['events']).not_to be_empty
       expect(json_response['events'].first['short_sha']).to eq(first_mr_short_sha)
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ describe 'cycle analytics events' do
 
       expect(json_response['events']).not_to be_empty
 
-      first_mr_iid = project.merge_requests.sort(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
+      first_mr_iid = project.merge_requests.sort_by_attribute(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
 
       expect(json_response['events'].first['iid']).to eq(first_mr_iid)
     end
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ describe 'cycle analytics events' do
     it 'lists the review events' do
       get project_cycle_analytics_review_path(project, format: :json)
 
-      first_mr_iid = project.merge_requests.sort(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
+      first_mr_iid = project.merge_requests.sort_by_attribute(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
 
       expect(json_response['events']).not_to be_empty
       expect(json_response['events'].first['iid']).to eq(first_mr_iid)
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ describe 'cycle analytics events' do
     it 'lists the production events' do
       get project_cycle_analytics_production_path(project, format: :json)
 
-      first_issue_iid = project.issues.sort(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
+      first_issue_iid = project.issues.sort_by_attribute(:created_desc).pluck(:iid).first.to_s
 
       expect(json_response['events']).not_to be_empty
       expect(json_response['events'].first['iid']).to eq(first_issue_iid)