diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index fe07847f836d7..3dfae718e95fc 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -556,8 +556,9 @@ Deprecated or removed
     `ReinterpretArray`. The three argument form of `reinterpret` that implicitly reshapes
     has been deprecated ([#23750]).
 
-  * `num2hex` and `hex2num` have been deprecated in favor of `reinterpret` combined with `parse`/`hex`
-    ([#22088])
+  * `bits` has been deprecated in favor of `bitstring` ([#WHATAREBIRDS]).
+
+  * `num2hex` and `hex2num` have been deprecated in favor of `reinterpret` combined with `parse`/`hex` ([#22088]).
 
 
 Command-line option changes
diff --git a/base/deprecated.jl b/base/deprecated.jl
index fce361c891a24..f5d39cbf23dec 100644
--- a/base/deprecated.jl
+++ b/base/deprecated.jl
@@ -1913,6 +1913,9 @@ end
 @deprecate float(x::AbstractString) parse(Float64, x)
 @deprecate float(a::AbstractArray{<:AbstractString}) parse.(Float64, a)
 
+# deprecate bits to bitstring
+@deprecate bits(x) bitstring(x)
+
 # issue #24167
 @deprecate EnvHash EnvDict
 
diff --git a/base/exports.jl b/base/exports.jl
index 09fd49d701fb2..671af6fef777c 100644
--- a/base/exports.jl
+++ b/base/exports.jl
@@ -722,7 +722,7 @@ export
     Base64DecodePipe,
     startswith,
     bin,
-    bits,
+    bitstring,
     bytes2hex,
     chomp,
     chop,
diff --git a/base/intfuncs.jl b/base/intfuncs.jl
index e60408dce1f33..bfcf322bafdb5 100644
--- a/base/intfuncs.jl
+++ b/base/intfuncs.jl
@@ -708,26 +708,26 @@ julia> dec(20, 3)
 dec
 
 """
-    bits(n)
+    bitstring(n)
 
 A string giving the literal bit representation of a number.
 
 # Examples
 ```jldoctest
-julia> bits(4)
+julia> bitstring(4)
 "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000100"
 
-julia> bits(2.2)
+julia> bitstring(2.2)
 "0100000000000001100110011001100110011001100110011001100110011010"
 ```
 """
-function bits end
+function bitstring end
 
-bits(x::Union{Bool,Int8,UInt8})           = bin(reinterpret(UInt8,x),8)
-bits(x::Union{Int16,UInt16,Float16})      = bin(reinterpret(UInt16,x),16)
-bits(x::Union{Char,Int32,UInt32,Float32}) = bin(reinterpret(UInt32,x),32)
-bits(x::Union{Int64,UInt64,Float64})      = bin(reinterpret(UInt64,x),64)
-bits(x::Union{Int128,UInt128})            = bin(reinterpret(UInt128,x),128)
+bitstring(x::Union{Bool,Int8,UInt8})           = bin(reinterpret(UInt8,x),8)
+bitstring(x::Union{Int16,UInt16,Float16})      = bin(reinterpret(UInt16,x),16)
+bitstring(x::Union{Char,Int32,UInt32,Float32}) = bin(reinterpret(UInt32,x),32)
+bitstring(x::Union{Int64,UInt64,Float64})      = bin(reinterpret(UInt64,x),64)
+bitstring(x::Union{Int128,UInt128})            = bin(reinterpret(UInt128,x),128)
 
 """
     digits([T<:Integer], n::Integer, base::T=10, pad::Integer=1)
diff --git a/base/operators.jl b/base/operators.jl
index 6fdb836f227c4..60860e71b3d08 100644
--- a/base/operators.jl
+++ b/base/operators.jl
@@ -518,10 +518,10 @@ this is equivalent to `x >> -n`.
 julia> Int8(3) << 2
 12
 
-julia> bits(Int8(3))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(3))
 "00000011"
 
-julia> bits(Int8(12))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(12))
 "00001100"
 ```
 See also [`>>`](@ref), [`>>>`](@ref).
@@ -548,19 +548,19 @@ right by `n` bits, where `n >= 0`, filling with `0`s if `x >= 0`, `1`s if `x <
 julia> Int8(13) >> 2
 3
 
-julia> bits(Int8(13))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(13))
 "00001101"
 
-julia> bits(Int8(3))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(3))
 "00000011"
 
 julia> Int8(-14) >> 2
 -4
 
-julia> bits(Int8(-14))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(-14))
 "11110010"
 
-julia> bits(Int8(-4))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(-4))
 "11111100"
 ```
 See also [`>>>`](@ref), [`<<`](@ref).
@@ -589,10 +589,10 @@ For [`Unsigned`](@ref) integer types, this is equivalent to [`>>`](@ref). For
 julia> Int8(-14) >>> 2
 60
 
-julia> bits(Int8(-14))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(-14))
 "11110010"
 
-julia> bits(Int8(60))
+julia> bitstring(Int8(60))
 "00111100"
 ```
 
diff --git a/doc/src/manual/integers-and-floating-point-numbers.md b/doc/src/manual/integers-and-floating-point-numbers.md
index 5f0a66fae35ac..75dfabf19a7f4 100644
--- a/doc/src/manual/integers-and-floating-point-numbers.md
+++ b/doc/src/manual/integers-and-floating-point-numbers.md
@@ -311,10 +311,10 @@ can be seen using the `bits` function: :
 julia> 0.0 == -0.0
 true
 
-julia> bits(0.0)
+julia> bitstring(0.0)
 "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
 
-julia> bits(-0.0)
+julia> bitstring(-0.0)
 "1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000"
 ```
 
@@ -443,13 +443,13 @@ julia> nextfloat(x)
 julia> prevfloat(x)
 1.2499999f0
 
-julia> bits(prevfloat(x))
+julia> bitstring(prevfloat(x))
 "00111111100111111111111111111111"
 
-julia> bits(x)
+julia> bitstring(x)
 "00111111101000000000000000000000"
 
-julia> bits(nextfloat(x))
+julia> bitstring(nextfloat(x))
 "00111111101000000000000000000001"
 ```
 
diff --git a/test/intfuncs.jl b/test/intfuncs.jl
index 16ecaeb3cea65..779ce240add9a 100644
--- a/test/intfuncs.jl
+++ b/test/intfuncs.jl
@@ -133,11 +133,11 @@ end
 
     @test base(2, 5, 7) == "0000101"
 
-    @test bits(Int16(3)) == "0000000000000011"
-    @test bits('3') == "00000000000000000000000000110011"
-    @test bits(1035) == (Int == Int32 ? "00000000000000000000010000001011" :
+    @test bitstring(Int16(3)) == "0000000000000011"
+    @test bitstring('3') == "00000000000000000000000000110011"
+    @test bitstring(1035) == (Int == Int32 ? "00000000000000000000010000001011" :
         "0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000010000001011")
-    @test bits(Int128(3)) == "00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000011"
+    @test bitstring(Int128(3)) == "00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000011"
 end
 @testset "digits/base" begin
     @test digits(4, 2) == [0, 0, 1]
diff --git a/test/numbers.jl b/test/numbers.jl
index d7aa0436b10c5..3f944f4823212 100644
--- a/test/numbers.jl
+++ b/test/numbers.jl
@@ -2369,8 +2369,8 @@ end
 @test -0.0 + false === -0.0
 
 @testset "issue #5881" begin
-    @test bits(true) == "00000001"
-    @test bits(false) == "00000000"
+    @test bitstring(true) == "00000001"
+    @test bitstring(false) == "00000000"
 end
 @testset "edge cases of intrinsics" begin
     let g() = sqrt(-1.0)