diff --git a/swh/loader/svn/loader.py b/swh/loader/svn/loader.py
--- a/swh/loader/svn/loader.py
+++ b/swh/loader/svn/loader.py
@@ -69,12 +69,20 @@
         visit_date: Optional[datetime] = None,
         destination_path: Optional[str] = None,
         swh_revision: Optional[str] = None,
-        start_from_scratch: bool = False,
+        ignore_history: bool = False,
         temp_directory: str = "/tmp",
         debug: bool = False,
         check_revision: int = 0,
         max_content_size: Optional[int] = None,
     ):
+        """Load an svn repository.
+
+        Args:
+            ...
+            ignore_history: If True, as opposed to start from the last snapshot (if
+                any), starts systematically from the initial commit of the repository.
+
+        """
         super().__init__(
             storage=storage,
             logging_class="swh.loader.svn.SvnLoader",
@@ -102,7 +110,7 @@
         self._load_status = "uneventful"
         self.visit_date = visit_date
         self.destination_path = destination_path
-        self.start_from_scratch = start_from_scratch
+        self.ignore_history = ignore_history
         self.snapshot = None
         # state from previous visit
         self.latest_snapshot = None
@@ -225,12 +233,13 @@
         return swh_revision_id == revision_id
 
     def start_from(
-        self, start_from_scratch: bool = False
+        self, ignore_history: bool = False
     ) -> Tuple[int, int, Dict[int, Tuple[bytes, ...]]]:
         """Determine from where to start the loading.
 
         Args:
-            start_from_scratch: As opposed to start from the last snapshot
+            ignore_history: As opposed to start from the last snapshot, starts
+                systematically from the initial commit.
 
         Returns:
             tuple (revision_start, revision_end, revision_parents)
@@ -254,7 +263,7 @@
         revision_parents: Dict[int, Tuple[bytes, ...]] = {revision_start: ()}
 
         # start from a previous revision if any
-        if not start_from_scratch and self.latest_revision is not None:
+        if not ignore_history and self.latest_revision is not None:
             extra_headers = dict(self.latest_revision.extra_headers)
             revision_start = int(extra_headers[b"svn_revision"])
             revision_parents = {
@@ -416,7 +425,7 @@
 
         try:
             revision_start, revision_end, revision_parents = self.start_from(
-                self.start_from_scratch
+                self.ignore_history
             )
             self.swh_revision_gen = self.process_svn_revisions(
                 self.svnrepo, revision_start, revision_end, revision_parents
@@ -552,7 +561,7 @@
         origin_url: Optional[str] = None,
         destination_path: Optional[str] = None,
         swh_revision: Optional[str] = None,
-        start_from_scratch: bool = False,
+        ignore_history: bool = False,
         visit_date: Optional[datetime] = None,
         temp_directory: str = "/tmp",
         debug: bool = False,
@@ -565,7 +574,7 @@
             origin_url=origin_url,
             destination_path=destination_path,
             swh_revision=swh_revision,
-            start_from_scratch=start_from_scratch,
+            ignore_history=ignore_history,
             visit_date=visit_date,
             temp_directory=temp_directory,
             debug=debug,
@@ -612,7 +621,7 @@
         origin_url: Optional[str] = None,
         destination_path: Optional[str] = None,
         swh_revision: Optional[str] = None,
-        start_from_scratch: bool = False,
+        ignore_history: bool = False,
         visit_date: Optional[datetime] = None,
         temp_directory: str = "/tmp",
         debug: bool = False,
@@ -625,7 +634,7 @@
             origin_url=origin_url,
             destination_path=destination_path,
             swh_revision=swh_revision,
-            start_from_scratch=start_from_scratch,
+            ignore_history=ignore_history,
             visit_date=visit_date,
             temp_directory=temp_directory,
             debug=debug,
diff --git a/swh/loader/svn/tasks.py b/swh/loader/svn/tasks.py
--- a/swh/loader/svn/tasks.py
+++ b/swh/loader/svn/tasks.py
@@ -27,22 +27,21 @@
     destination_path: Optional[str] = None,
     swh_revision: Optional[str] = None,
     visit_date: Optional[str] = None,
-    start_from_scratch: Optional[bool] = False,
+    ignore_history: Optional[bool] = False,
 ):
     """Import a svn repository
 
     Args:
-        - url: (mandatory) svn's repository url to ingest data from
-        - origin_url: Optional original url override to use as origin reference
-            in the archive. If not provided, "url" is used as origin.
-        - destination_path: (optional) root directory to
-          locally retrieve svn's data
-        - swh_revision: (optional) extra revision hex to
-          start from. See swh.loader.svn.SvnLoader.process
-          docstring
-        - visit_date: Optional date to override the visit date
-        - start_from_scratch: Flag to allow starting back the svn repository from the
-          start
+        url: (mandatory) svn's repository url to ingest data from
+        origin_url: Optional original url override to use as origin reference in the
+            archive. If not provided, "url" is used as origin.
+        destination_path: (optional) root directory to locally retrieve svn's data
+        swh_revision: (optional) extra revision hex to start from. See
+          swh.loader.svn.SvnLoader.process docstring
+        visit_date: Optional date to override the visit date
+        ignore_history: If True, as opposed to start from the last snapshot (if
+            any), starts systematically from the initial commit of the repository.
+
 
     """
     loader = SvnLoader.from_configfile(
@@ -51,7 +50,7 @@
         destination_path=destination_path,
         swh_revision=swh_revision,
         visit_date=convert_to_datetime(visit_date),
-        start_from_scratch=start_from_scratch,
+        ignore_history=ignore_history,
     )
     return loader.load()
 
@@ -62,25 +61,25 @@
     url: Optional[str] = None,
     archive_path: Optional[str] = None,
     visit_date: Optional[str] = None,
-    start_from_scratch: Optional[bool] = False,
+    ignore_history: Optional[bool] = False,
 ):
     """1. Mount an svn dump from archive as a local svn repository
        2. Load it through the svn loader
        3. Clean up mounted svn repository archive
 
     Args:
-        - url: origin url
-        - archive_path: Path on disk to the archive holdin the svn repository to ingest
-        - visit_date: Optional date to override the visit date
-        - start_from_scratch: Flag to allow starting back the svn repository from the
-          start
+        url: origin url
+        archive_path: Path on disk to the archive holdin the svn repository to ingest
+        visit_date: Optional date to override the visit date
+        ignore_history: If True, as opposed to start from the last snapshot (if
+            any), starts systematically from the initial commit of the repository.
 
     """
     loader = SvnLoaderFromDumpArchive.from_configfile(
         url=url,
         archive_path=archive_path,
         visit_date=convert_to_datetime(visit_date),
-        start_from_scratch=start_from_scratch,
+        ignore_history=ignore_history,
     )
     return loader.load()
 
@@ -91,25 +90,25 @@
     url: Optional[str] = None,
     origin_url: Optional[str] = None,
     visit_date: Optional[str] = None,
-    start_from_scratch: Optional[bool] = False,
+    ignore_history: Optional[bool] = False,
 ):
     """1. Mount a remote svn dump as a local svn repository.
        2. Load it through the svn loader.
        3. Clean up mounted svn repository archive.
 
     Args:
-        - url: (mandatory) svn's repository url to ingest data from
-        - origin_url: Optional original url override to use as origin reference
+        url: (mandatory) svn's repository url to ingest data from
+        origin_url: Optional original url override to use as origin reference
             in the archive. If not provided, "url" is used as origin.
-        - visit_date: Optional date to override the visit date
-        - start_from_scratch: Flag to allow starting back the svn repository from the
-          start
+        visit_date: Optional date to override the visit date
+        ignore_history: If True, as opposed to start from the last snapshot (if
+            any), starts systematically from the initial commit of the repository.
 
     """
     loader = SvnLoaderFromRemoteDump.from_configfile(
         url=url,
         origin_url=origin_url,
         visit_date=convert_to_datetime(visit_date),
-        start_from_scratch=start_from_scratch,
+        ignore_history=ignore_history,
     )
     return loader.load()
diff --git a/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_loader.py b/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_loader.py
--- a/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_loader.py
+++ b/swh/loader/svn/tests/test_loader.py
@@ -346,10 +346,7 @@
     # Start from scratch loading yields the same result
 
     loader = SvnLoader(
-        swh_storage,
-        repo_updated_url,
-        origin_url=repo_initial_url,
-        start_from_scratch=True,
+        swh_storage, repo_updated_url, origin_url=repo_initial_url, ignore_history=True,
     )
     assert loader.load() == {"status": "eventful"}
     visit_status3 = assert_last_visit_matches(