diff --git a/data/schema.ibmdb2.sql b/data/schema.ibmdb2.sql
index e6ca77b3..2b33fac6 100644
--- a/data/schema.ibmdb2.sql
+++ b/data/schema.ibmdb2.sql
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 CREATE TABLE user
 (
-    user_id       INTEGER PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY (START WITH 1 INCREMENT BY 1),
+    id            INTEGER PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY (START WITH 1 INCREMENT BY 1),
     username      VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     email         VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     display_name  VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT NULL,
diff --git a/data/schema.mysql.sql b/data/schema.mysql.sql
index 225ab6ee..353db239 100644
--- a/data/schema.mysql.sql
+++ b/data/schema.mysql.sql
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 CREATE TABLE `user`
 (
-    `user_id`       INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
+    `id`            INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
     `username`      VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     `email`         VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     `display_name`  VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT NULL,
diff --git a/data/schema.pgsql.sql b/data/schema.pgsql.sql
index 8fd397a9..86a67497 100644
--- a/data/schema.pgsql.sql
+++ b/data/schema.pgsql.sql
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 CREATE TABLE public.user
 (                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
-  user_id		serial NOT NULL,
+    id   		serial NOT NULL,
 	username	character varying(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
 	email		character varying(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
 	display_name	character varying(50) DEFAULT NULL,
 	password	character varying(128) NOT NULL,
 	state		smallint,
 
-CONSTRAINT user_pkey 		PRIMARY KEY (user_id),
+CONSTRAINT user_pkey 		PRIMARY KEY (id),
 CONSTRAINT user_username_key 	UNIQUE (username),
 CONSTRAINT user_email_key 	UNIQUE (email)
 );
diff --git a/data/schema.sql b/data/schema.sql
index 2780cb6f..d973813a 100644
--- a/data/schema.sql
+++ b/data/schema.sql
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 CREATE TABLE user
 (
-    user_id       INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT NOT NULL,
+    id            INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT NOT NULL,
     username      VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     email         VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     display_name  VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT NULL,
diff --git a/data/schema.sqlite.sql b/data/schema.sqlite.sql
index 5aad8f11..9fe43ec5 100644
--- a/data/schema.sqlite.sql
+++ b/data/schema.sqlite.sql
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 CREATE TABLE user
 (
-    user_id       INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL,
+    id            INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL,
     username      VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     email         VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL UNIQUE,
     display_name  VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT NULL,
diff --git a/docs/check-user-logged-in.md b/docs/check-user-logged-in.md
index 7d274928..c8f850b8 100644
--- a/docs/check-user-logged-in.md
+++ b/docs/check-user-logged-in.md
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ ZfcUser provides a Controller Plugin ([zfcUserAuthentication](https://github.com
 if ($this->zfcUserAuthentication()->hasIdentity()) {
     //get the email of the user
     echo $this->zfcUserAuthentication()->getIdentity()->getEmail();
-    //get the user_id of the user
+    //get the id of the user
     echo $this->zfcUserAuthentication()->getIdentity()->getId();
     //get the username of the user
     echo $this->zfcUserAuthentication()->getIdentity()->getUsername();
diff --git a/docs/custom-action-when-user-register.md b/docs/custom-action-when-user-register.md
index 28475ff0..7ba96920 100644
--- a/docs/custom-action-when-user-register.md
+++ b/docs/custom-action-when-user-register.md
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ $em->attach('ZfcUser\Service\User', 'register', function($e) {
 ```
 
 ## Retrieving the User Id
-If you need to retrieve the `user_id`, just attach to `register.post` and the user entity should have it.
+If you need to retrieve the `id`, just attach to `register.post` and the user entity should have it.
 
 ## Example
 
diff --git a/src/ZfcUser/Form/Base.php b/src/ZfcUser/Form/Base.php
index 1060923f..159d24a2 100644
--- a/src/ZfcUser/Form/Base.php
+++ b/src/ZfcUser/Form/Base.php
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ public function __construct()
         ));
 
         $this->add(array(
-            'name' => 'userId',
+            'name' => 'id',
             'type' => 'Zend\Form\Element\Hidden',
             'attributes' => array(
                 'type' => 'hidden'
diff --git a/src/ZfcUser/Form/Register.php b/src/ZfcUser/Form/Register.php
index e8c2197e..d28875c7 100644
--- a/src/ZfcUser/Form/Register.php
+++ b/src/ZfcUser/Form/Register.php
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ public function __construct($name, RegistrationOptionsInterface $options)
         $this->setRegistrationOptions($options);
         parent::__construct($name);
 
-        $this->remove('userId');
+        $this->remove('id');
         if (!$this->getRegistrationOptions()->getEnableUsername()) {
             $this->remove('username');
         }
diff --git a/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/User.php b/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/User.php
index 08c10dec..1ba21355 100644
--- a/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/User.php
+++ b/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/User.php
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public function findByUsername($username)
     public function findById($id)
     {
         $select = $this->getSelect()
-                       ->where(array('user_id' => $id));
+                       ->where(array('id' => $id));
 
         $entity = $this->select($select)->current();
         $this->getEventManager()->trigger('find', $this, array('entity' => $entity));
@@ -53,14 +53,14 @@ public function insert($entity, $tableName = null, Hydrator $hydrator = null)
     {
         $hydrator = $hydrator ?: $this->getHydrator();
         $result = parent::insert($entity, $tableName, $hydrator);
-        $hydrator->hydrate(array('user_id' => $result->getGeneratedValue()), $entity);
+        $entity->setId($result->getGeneratedValue());
         return $result;
     }
 
     public function update($entity, $where = null, $tableName = null, Hydrator $hydrator = null)
     {
         if (!$where) {
-            $where = array('user_id' => $entity->getId());
+            $where = array('id' => $entity->getId());
         }
 
         return parent::update($entity, $where, $tableName, $hydrator);
diff --git a/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/UserHydrator.php b/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/UserHydrator.php
index 9323b3dc..14df34c2 100644
--- a/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/UserHydrator.php
+++ b/src/ZfcUser/Mapper/UserHydrator.php
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ public function extract($object)
     {
         $this->guardUserObject($object);
         $data = parent::extract($object);
-        return $this->mapField('id', 'user_id', $data);
+        if ($data['id'] === null) {
+            unset($data['id']);
+        }
+        return $data;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -50,7 +53,6 @@ public function extract($object)
     public function hydrate(array $data, $object)
     {
         $this->guardUserObject($object);
-        $data = $this->mapField('user_id', 'id', $data);
         return parent::hydrate($data, $object);
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/BaseTest.php b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/BaseTest.php
index 4bc76b0a..367c4111 100644
--- a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/BaseTest.php
+++ b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/BaseTest.php
@@ -20,6 +20,6 @@ public function testConstruct()
         $this->assertArrayHasKey('password', $elements);
         $this->assertArrayHasKey('passwordVerify', $elements);
         $this->assertArrayHasKey('submit', $elements);
-        $this->assertArrayHasKey('userId', $elements);
+        $this->assertArrayHasKey('id', $elements);
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/RegisterTest.php b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/RegisterTest.php
index 0fefbb22..971dde4b 100644
--- a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/RegisterTest.php
+++ b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Form/RegisterTest.php
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ public function testConstruct()
 
         $elements = $form->getElements();
 
-        $this->assertArrayNotHasKey('userId', $elements);
+        $this->assertArrayNotHasKey('id', $elements);
         $this->assertArrayNotHasKey('username', $elements);
         $this->assertArrayNotHasKey('display_name', $elements);
         $this->assertArrayHasKey('email', $elements);
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ public function testSetGetRegistrationOptions()
      * @param mixed $value = null
      * @return \ReflectionProperty
      */
-    public function helperMakePropertyAccessable ($objectOrClass, $property, $value = null)
+    public function helperMakePropertyAccessable($objectOrClass, $property, $value = null)
     {
         $reflectionProperty = new \ReflectionProperty($objectOrClass, $property);
         $reflectionProperty->setAccessible(true);
diff --git a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserHydratorTest.php b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserHydratorTest.php
index 2b0b7af3..44cc96ff 100644
--- a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserHydratorTest.php
+++ b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserHydratorTest.php
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ public function testHydrateWithValidUserObject()
             'display_name' => 'ZfcUser',
             'password' => 'c4zyP455w0rd!',
             'state' => '1',
-            'user_id' => 1
+            'id' => 1
         );
 
         $result = $this->hydrator->hydrate($expectArray, $user);
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public function testHydrateWithValidUserObject()
         $this->assertEquals($expectArray['display_name'], $result->getDisplayName());
         $this->assertEquals(static::ENCRYPTED_PASSWORD, $result->getPassword());
         $this->assertEquals((int) $expectArray['state'], $result->getState());
-        $this->assertEquals($expectArray['user_id'], $result->getId());
+        $this->assertEquals($expectArray['id'], $result->getId());
     }
 
     public function provideValidUserObjects()
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public function provideValidUserObjects()
             'display_name' => 'ZfcUser',
             'password' => 'ZfcUserPassword',
             'state' => 1,
-            'user_id' => 1
+            'id' => 1
         );
 
         $return[]=array($this->buildUser($buffer), $buffer);
@@ -123,9 +123,6 @@ private function buildUser(array $data)
     {
         $user = new UserEntity;
         foreach ($data as $key => $value) {
-            if ($key == 'user_id') {
-                $key = 'id';
-            }
             $method = 'set' . str_replace(" ", "", ucwords(str_replace("_", " ", $key)));
             call_user_func(array($user, $method), $value);
         }
diff --git a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserTest.php b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserTest.php
index 1fe001a2..a8be7847 100644
--- a/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserTest.php
+++ b/tests/ZfcUserTest/Mapper/UserTest.php
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ public function providerTestFindBy()
                 array($user->getId()),
                 array(
                     'whereArgs'=>array(
-                        array('user_id'=>$user->getId()),
+                        array('id'=>$user->getId()),
                         'AND'
                     )
                 ),