diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractKotlinCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractKotlinCodegen.java
index d39a440b051..98187b8a7d7 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractKotlinCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractKotlinCodegen.java
@@ -705,6 +705,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractKotlinCodegen extends DefaultCodegen implements Co
     @Override
     public String toVarName(String name) {
         // sanitize name
+        name = sanitizeKotlinSpecificNames(name);
         name = sanitizeName(name, "\\W-[\\$]");
 
         if (name.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT).matches("^_*class$")) {
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/kotlin-client/api.mustache b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/kotlin-client/api.mustache
index 12726a03057..cea3724397f 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/kotlin-client/api.mustache
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/resources/kotlin-client/api.mustache
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class {{classname}}(basePath: kotlin.String = "{{{basePath}}}") : ApiClient(base
     @Suppress("UNCHECKED_CAST"){{/returnType}}
     fun {{operationId}}({{#allParams}}{{paramName}}: {{{dataType}}}{{^required}}?{{/required}}{{#hasMore}}, {{/hasMore}}{{/allParams}}) : {{#returnType}}{{{returnType}}}{{/returnType}}{{^returnType}}Unit{{/returnType}} {
         val localVariableBody: kotlin.Any? = {{#hasBodyParam}}{{#bodyParams}}{{paramName}}{{/bodyParams}}{{/hasBodyParam}}{{^hasBodyParam}}{{^hasFormParams}}null{{/hasFormParams}}{{#hasFormParams}}mapOf({{#formParams}}"{{{baseName}}}" to "${{paramName}}"{{#hasMore}}, {{/hasMore}}{{/formParams}}){{/hasFormParams}}{{/hasBodyParam}}
-        val localVariableQuery: MultiValueMap = {{^hasQueryParams}}mapOf(){{/hasQueryParams}}{{#hasQueryParams}}mapOf({{#queryParams}}"{{baseName}}" to {{#isContainer}}toMultiValue({{paramName}}.toList(), "{{collectionFormat}}"){{/isContainer}}{{^isContainer}}listOf("${{paramName}}"){{/isContainer}}{{#hasMore}}, {{/hasMore}}{{/queryParams}}){{/hasQueryParams}}
+        val localVariableQuery: MultiValueMap = {{^hasQueryParams}}mapOf(){{/hasQueryParams}}{{#hasQueryParams}}mapOf({{#queryParams}}"{{paramName}}" to {{#isContainer}}toMultiValue({{paramName}}.toList(), "{{collectionFormat}}"){{/isContainer}}{{^isContainer}}listOf("${{paramName}}"){{/isContainer}}{{#hasMore}}, {{/hasMore}}{{/queryParams}}){{/hasQueryParams}}
         val localVariableHeaders: kotlin.collections.Map<kotlin.String,kotlin.String> = mapOf({{#hasFormParams}}"Content-Type" to "multipart/form-data"{{/hasFormParams}}{{^hasHeaderParams}}){{/hasHeaderParams}}{{#hasHeaderParams}}{{#hasFormParams}}, {{/hasFormParams}}{{#headerParams}}"{{baseName}}" to {{#isContainer}}{{paramName}}.joinToString(separator = collectionDelimiter("{{collectionFormat}}")){{/isContainer}}{{^isContainer}}{{paramName}}.toString(){{/isContainer}}{{#hasMore}}, {{/hasMore}}{{/headerParams}}){{/hasHeaderParams}}
         val localVariableConfig = RequestConfig(
             RequestMethod.{{httpMethod}},
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/kotlin/AbstractKotlinCodegenTest.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/kotlin/AbstractKotlinCodegenTest.java
index d746d2707fc..41b99d922bb 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/kotlin/AbstractKotlinCodegenTest.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/kotlin/AbstractKotlinCodegenTest.java
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ public class AbstractKotlinCodegenTest {
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void escapeSpecialCharactersCamelize() {
+    public void convertModelName() {
         assertEquals(codegen.toModelName("$"), "Dollar");
         assertEquals(codegen.toModelName("$$"), "DollarDollar");
         assertEquals(codegen.toModelName("Pony?"), "PonyQuestionMark");
@@ -105,4 +105,18 @@ public class AbstractKotlinCodegenTest {
         assertEquals(codegen.toModelName("$another-fake?"), "DollarAnotherMinusFakeQuestionMark");
         assertEquals(codegen.toModelName("Pony>=>="), "PonyGreaterThanEqualGreaterThanEqual");
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void convertVarName() throws Exception {
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("name"), "name");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("$name"), "dollarName");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("nam$$e"), "namDollarDollarE");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("user-name"), "userMinusName");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("user_name"), "userName");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("user|name"), "userPipeName");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("Pony?"), "ponyQuestionMark");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("nam#e"), "namHashE");
+        assertEquals(codegen.toVarName("Pony>=>="), "ponyGreaterThanEqualGreaterThanEqual");
+    }
+
 }
\ No newline at end of file