diff --git a/.eslintrc b/.eslintrc
index eef33ec8a0..69c731b079 100644
--- a/.eslintrc
+++ b/.eslintrc
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@
 		"has_common": true,
 		"has_words": true,
 		"validate_email": true,
+		"validate_name": true,
 		"validate_phone": true,
 		"get_number_format": true,
 		"format_number": true,
diff --git a/frappe/exceptions.py b/frappe/exceptions.py
index ef75a36e03..9a1c1fb0b0 100644
--- a/frappe/exceptions.py
+++ b/frappe/exceptions.py
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ class TimestampMismatchError(ValidationError): pass
 class EmptyTableError(ValidationError): pass
 class LinkExistsError(ValidationError): pass
 class InvalidEmailAddressError(ValidationError): pass
+class InvalidNameError(ValidationError): pass
 class InvalidPhoneNumberError(ValidationError): pass
 class TemplateNotFoundError(ValidationError): pass
 class UniqueValidationError(ValidationError): pass
@@ -95,4 +96,4 @@ class DataTooLongException(ValidationError): pass
 # OAuth exceptions
 class InvalidAuthorizationHeader(CSRFTokenError): pass
 class InvalidAuthorizationPrefix(CSRFTokenError): pass
-class InvalidAuthorizationToken(CSRFTokenError): pass
\ No newline at end of file
+class InvalidAuthorizationToken(CSRFTokenError): pass
diff --git a/frappe/model/__init__.py b/frappe/model/__init__.py
index 7af987f4bc..93ef78df7b 100644
--- a/frappe/model/__init__.py
+++ b/frappe/model/__init__.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ table_fields = ('Table', 'Table MultiSelect')
 core_doctypes_list = ('DocType', 'DocField', 'DocPerm', 'DocType Action', 'DocType Link', 'User', 'Role', 'Has Role',
 	'Page', 'Module Def', 'Print Format', 'Report', 'Customize Form',
 	'Customize Form Field', 'Property Setter', 'Custom Field', 'Custom Script')
-data_field_options = ('Email', 'Phone')
+data_field_options = ('Email', 'Name', 'Phone')
 
 def copytables(srctype, src, srcfield, tartype, tar, tarfield, srcfields, tarfields=[]):
 	if not tarfields:
diff --git a/frappe/model/base_document.py b/frappe/model/base_document.py
index 9ab1ef7799..5d1d693f8e 100644
--- a/frappe/model/base_document.py
+++ b/frappe/model/base_document.py
@@ -571,6 +571,9 @@ class BaseDocument(object):
 				for email_address in frappe.utils.split_emails(data):
 					frappe.utils.validate_email_address(email_address, throw=True)
 
+			if data_field_options == "Name":
+				frappe.utils.validate_name(data, throw=True)
+
 			if data_field_options == "Phone":
 				frappe.utils.validate_phone_number(data, throw=True)
 
diff --git a/frappe/public/js/frappe/form/controls/data.js b/frappe/public/js/frappe/form/controls/data.js
index a7f0050d65..c943ec89bb 100644
--- a/frappe/public/js/frappe/form/controls/data.js
+++ b/frappe/public/js/frappe/form/controls/data.js
@@ -96,6 +96,9 @@ frappe.ui.form.ControlData = frappe.ui.form.ControlInput.extend({
 		if(this.df.options == 'Phone') {
 			this.df.invalid = !validate_phone(v);
 			return v;
+		} else if (this.df.options == 'Name') {
+			this.df.invalid = !validate_name(v);
+			return v;
 		} else if(this.df.options == 'Email') {
 			var email_list = frappe.utils.split_emails(v);
 			if (!email_list) {
diff --git a/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/datatype.js b/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/datatype.js
index 16f87b872f..1b9206f434 100644
--- a/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/datatype.js
+++ b/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/datatype.js
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ window.validate_phone = function(txt) {
 	return frappe.utils.validate_type(txt, "phone");
 };
 
+window.validate_name = function(txt) {
+	return frappe.utils.validate_type(txt, "name");
+};
+
 window.nth = function(number) {
 	number = cint(number);
 	var s = 'th';
@@ -73,4 +77,4 @@ window.has_common = function(list1, list2) {
 		if(in_list(list2, list1[i]))return true;
 	}
 	return false;
-};
\ No newline at end of file
+};
diff --git a/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/utils.js b/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/utils.js
index 315637092d..f07d47326e 100644
--- a/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/utils.js
+++ b/frappe/public/js/frappe/utils/utils.js
@@ -237,6 +237,9 @@ Object.assign(frappe.utils, {
 			case "phone":
 				regExp = /^([0-9\ \+\_\-\,\.\*\#\(\)]){1,20}$/;
 				break;
+			case "name":
+				regExp = /^[\w][\w\'\-]*([ \w][\w\'\-]+)*$/;
+				break;
 			case "number":
 				regExp = /^-?(?:\d+|\d{1,3}(?:,\d{3})+)?(?:\.\d+)?$/;
 				break;
diff --git a/frappe/utils/__init__.py b/frappe/utils/__init__.py
index 649d3bf72c..34432839bb 100644
--- a/frappe/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/frappe/utils/__init__.py
@@ -81,13 +81,29 @@ def validate_phone_number(phone_number, throw=False):
 		return False
 
 	phone_number = phone_number.strip()
-	match = re.match("([0-9\ \+\_\-\,\.\*\#\(\)]){1,20}$", phone_number)
+	match = re.match(r"([0-9\ \+\_\-\,\.\*\#\(\)]){1,20}$", phone_number)
 
 	if not match and throw:
 		frappe.throw(frappe._("{0} is not a valid Phone Number").format(phone_number), frappe.InvalidPhoneNumberError)
 
 	return bool(match)
 
+def validate_name(name, throw=False):
+	"""Returns True if the name is valid
+	valid names may have unicode and ascii characters, dash, quotes, numbers
+	anything else is considered invalid
+	"""
+	if not name:
+		return False
+
+	name = name.strip()
+	match = re.match(r"^[\w][\w\'\-]*([ \w][\w\'\-]+)*$", name)
+
+	if not match and throw:
+		frappe.throw(frappe._("{0} is not a valid Name").format(name), frappe.InvalidNameError)
+
+	return bool(match)
+
 def validate_email_address(email_str, throw=False):
 	"""Validates the email string"""
 	email = email_str = (email_str or "").strip()