diff --git a/lib/Model.php b/lib/Model.php
index b20f5762..462cba0c 100644
--- a/lib/Model.php
+++ b/lib/Model.php
@@ -1687,13 +1687,11 @@ public static function from(string $from): Relation
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param string|array<string|mixed> $include
-     *
      * @return Relation<static>
      */
-    public static function include(string|array $include): Relation
+    public static function includes(): Relation
     {
-        return static::Relation()->include($include);
+        return static::Relation()->includes(...func_get_args());
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/lib/Relation.php b/lib/Relation.php
index afab6b7d..1e5d7ce1 100644
--- a/lib/Relation.php
+++ b/lib/Relation.php
@@ -247,13 +247,39 @@ public function from(string $from): Relation
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param string|array<string|mixed> $include
+     * The purpose of includes is to solve N+1 problems in relational situations.
+     * Let's say you have an Author, and authors write many Books. You would
+     * ordinarily need to execute one query (+1) to retrieve the Author,
+     * then one query for each of his books (N).
+     *
+     * You can avoid this problem by specifying relationships to be included in the
+     * result set. For example:
+     *
+     * $users = User::includes('address');
+     *  foreach($users as $user) {
+     *    $user->address->city
+     *  }
+     *
+     * ...allows you to access the address attribute of the User model without
+     * firing an additional query. This will often result in a performance
+     * improvement over a simple join.  You can also specify multiple
+     * relationships, like this:
+     *
+     * $users = User::includes('address', 'friends');
+     *
+     * Loading nested relationships is possible using a Hash:
+     *
+     * $users = User::includes(
+     *   'address',
+     *   'friends' => ['address', 'followers']
+     * )
      *
      * @return Relation<TModel>
      */
-    public function include(string|array $include): Relation
+    public function includes(): Relation
     {
-        $this->options['include'] = $include;
+        $includes = static::toSingleArg(...func_get_args());
+        $this->options['include'] = $includes;
 
         return $this;
     }
diff --git a/test/ActiveRecordIncludesTest.php b/test/ActiveRecordIncludesTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..52eec592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/ActiveRecordIncludesTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace test;
+
+use test\models\Venue;
+
+class ActiveRecordIncludesTest extends \DatabaseTestCase
+{
+    public function testSimpleString(): void
+    {
+        $venue = Venue::includes('events')
+            ->first();
+
+        $this->assertEquals('Monday Night Music Club feat. The Shivers', $venue->events[0]->title);
+    }
+
+    public function testChainSimpleString(): void
+    {
+        $venue = Venue::includes('events')
+            ->includes('hosts')
+            ->first();
+
+        $this->assertEquals('Monday Night Music Club feat. The Shivers', $venue->events[0]->title);
+        $this->assertEquals('David Letterman', $venue->hosts[0]->name);
+    }
+
+    public function testArrayOfSimpleStrings(): void
+    {
+        $venue = Venue::includes(['events', 'hosts'])
+            ->first();
+        $this->assertEquals('Monday Night Music Club feat. The Shivers', $venue->events[0]->title);
+        $this->assertEquals('David Letterman', $venue->hosts[0]->name);
+    }
+
+    public function testListOfSimpleStrings(): void
+    {
+        $venue = Venue::includes('events', 'hosts')
+            ->first();
+        $this->assertEquals('Monday Night Music Club feat. The Shivers', $venue->events[0]->title);
+        $this->assertEquals('David Letterman', $venue->hosts[0]->name);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/HasManyThroughTest.php b/test/HasManyThroughTest.php
index c28e2914..119d09a7 100644
--- a/test/HasManyThroughTest.php
+++ b/test/HasManyThroughTest.php
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ public function testHasManyThrough()
 
     public function testHasManyThroughInclude()
     {
-        $user = User::include([
+        $user = User::includes([
             'user_newsletters'
         ])->find(1);
 
@@ -37,16 +37,16 @@ public function testHasManyThroughInclude()
 
     public function testHasManyThroughIncludeEager()
     {
-        $venue = Venue::include('events')->find(1);
+        $venue = Venue::includes('events')->find(1);
         $this->assertEquals(1, $venue->events[0]->id);
 
-        $venue = Venue::include('hosts')->find(1);
+        $venue = Venue::includes('hosts')->find(1);
         $this->assertEquals(1, $venue->hosts[0]->id);
     }
 
     public function testHasManyThoughIncludeEagerWithNamespace()
     {
-        $user = User::include('newsletters')->find(1);
+        $user = User::includes('newsletters')->find(1);
 
         $this->assertEquals(1, $user->id);
         $this->assertEquals(1, $user->newsletters[0]->id);
diff --git a/test/RelationshipTest.php b/test/RelationshipTest.php
index 4b24d63e..ddb93643 100644
--- a/test/RelationshipTest.php
+++ b/test/RelationshipTest.php
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ public function testHasManyBasic()
     public function testEagerLoadingThreeLevelsDeep()
     {
         /* Before fix Undefined offset: 0 */
-        $venue = Venue::include([
+        $venue = Venue::includes([
             'events'=>[
                 'host'=>[
                     'events'
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingRespectsAssociationOptions()
                 ]
             ]
         ];
-        $venues = Venue::include('events')->find([2, 6]);
+        $venues = Venue::includes('events')->find([2, 6]);
 
         $this->assert_sql_has('WHERE (length(title) = ?) AND (venue_id IN(?,?)) ORDER BY id asc', ActiveRecord\Table::load(Event::class)->last_sql);
         $this->assertEquals(1, count($venues[0]->events));
@@ -724,13 +724,13 @@ public function testEagerLoadingWithThrough()
                 'order' => 'hosts.id asc'
             ]
         ];
-        $venues = Venue::include('hosts')->find([2, 6]);
+        $venues = Venue::includes('hosts')->find([2, 6]);
         $this->assertEquals(2, count($venues));
     }
 
     public function testEagerLoadingHasManyX()
     {
-        $venues = Venue::include('events')->find([2, 6]);
+        $venues = Venue::includes('events')->find([2, 6]);
         $this->assert_sql_has('WHERE venue_id IN(?,?)', ActiveRecord\Table::load(Event::class)->last_sql);
 
         foreach ($venues[0]->events as $event) {
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingHasManyX()
 
     public function testEagerLoadingHasManyWithNoRelatedRows()
     {
-        $venues = Venue::include('events')->find([7, 8]);
+        $venues = Venue::includes('events')->find([7, 8]);
 
         foreach ($venues as $v) {
             $this->assertTrue(empty($v->events));
@@ -758,7 +758,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingHasManyArrayOfIncludes()
             'books' => true,
             'awesome_people' => true
         ];
-        $authors = Author::include(['books', 'awesome_people'])
+        $authors = Author::includes(['books', 'awesome_people'])
             ->find([1, 2]);
 
         $assocs = ['books', 'awesome_people'];
@@ -782,7 +782,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingHasManyArrayOfIncludes()
 
     public function testEagerLoadingHasManyNested()
     {
-        $venues = Venue::include(['events' => ['host']])
+        $venues = Venue::includes(['events' => ['host']])
             ->find([1, 2]);
 
         $this->assertEquals(2, count($venues));
@@ -803,7 +803,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingHasManyNested()
 
     public function testEagerLoadingBelongsTo()
     {
-        $events = Event::include('venue')
+        $events = Event::includes('venue')
             ->find([1, 2, 3, 5, 7]);
 
         foreach ($events as $event) {
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingBelongsTo()
 
     public function testEagerLoadingBelongsToArrayOfIncludes()
     {
-        $events = Event::include(['venue', 'host'])->find([1, 2, 3, 5, 7]);
+        $events = Event::includes(['venue', 'host'])->find([1, 2, 3, 5, 7]);
 
         foreach ($events as $event) {
             $this->assertEquals($event->venue_id, $event->venue->id);
@@ -836,7 +836,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingBelongsToNested()
             'author' => true
         ];
 
-        $books = Book::include([
+        $books = Book::includes([
             'author' => [
                 'awesome_people'
             ]
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingBelongsToWithNoRelatedRows()
         $e1 = Event::create(['venue_id' => 200, 'host_id' => 200, 'title' => 'blah', 'type' => 'Music']);
         $e2 = Event::create(['venue_id' => 200, 'host_id' => 200, 'title' => 'blah2', 'type' => 'Music']);
 
-        $events = Event::include('venue')
+        $events = Event::includes('venue')
             ->find([$e1->id, $e2->id]);
 
         foreach ($events as $e) {
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingBelongsToWithNoRelatedRows()
 
     public function testEagerLoadingClonesRelatedObjects()
     {
-        $events = Event::include('venue')
+        $events = Event::includes('venue')
             ->find([2, 3]);
 
         $venue = $events[0]->venue;
@@ -883,7 +883,7 @@ public function testEagerLoadingClonesRelatedObjects()
 
     public function testEagerLoadingClonesNestedRelatedObjects()
     {
-        $venues = Venue::include(['events' => ['host']])
+        $venues = Venue::includes(['events' => ['host']])
             ->find([1, 2, 6, 9]);
 
         $unchanged_host = $venues[2]->events[0]->host;
diff --git a/test/phpstan/ModelToRelation.php b/test/phpstan/ModelToRelation.php
index 015680d1..49fc26d8 100644
--- a/test/phpstan/ModelToRelation.php
+++ b/test/phpstan/ModelToRelation.php
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ public function where(): Relation
     /**
      * @return Relation<Book>
      */
-    public function include(): Relation
+    public function includes(): Relation
     {
-        return Book::include([]);
+        return Book::includes([]);
     }
 }