diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
index 5a5a377efc..7ae79fea34 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystemSpec.scala
@@ -26,6 +26,26 @@ class ActorSystemSpec extends AkkaSpec("""akka.extensions = ["akka.actor.TestExt
 
   "An ActorSystem" must {
 
+    "reject invalid names" in {
+      for (
+        n ← Seq(
+          "hallo_welt",
+          "-hallowelt",
+          "hallo*welt",
+          "hallo@welt",
+          "hallo#welt",
+          "hallo$welt",
+          "hallo%welt",
+          "hallo/welt")
+      ) intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
+        ActorSystem(n)
+      }
+    }
+
+    "allow valid names" in {
+      ActorSystem("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789-").shutdown()
+    }
+
     "support extensions" in {
       TestExtension(system).system must be === system
       system.extension(TestExtension).system must be === system
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
index 2c217a9109..a56e920eb2 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorSystem.scala
@@ -416,8 +416,10 @@ abstract class ExtendedActorSystem extends ActorSystem {
 
 class ActorSystemImpl protected[akka] (val name: String, applicationConfig: Config, classLoader: ClassLoader) extends ExtendedActorSystem {
 
-  if (!name.matches("""^\w+$"""))
-    throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid ActorSystem name [" + name + "], must contain only word characters (i.e. [a-zA-Z_0-9])")
+  if (!name.matches("""^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9-]*$"""))
+    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+      "invalid ActorSystem name [" + name +
+        "], must contain only word characters (i.e. [a-zA-Z_0-9] plus non-leading '-')")
 
   import ActorSystem._
 
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteCommunicationSpec.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteCommunicationSpec.scala
index 4475998c4e..ad0ce2108b 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteCommunicationSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteCommunicationSpec.scala
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@ akka {
     port = 12345
   }
   actor.deployment {
-    /blub.remote = "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346"
-    /looker/child.remote = "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346"
+    /blub.remote = "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12346"
+    /looker/child.remote = "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12346"
     /looker/child/grandchild.remote = "akka://RemoteCommunicationSpec@localhost:12345"
   }
 }
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ akka {
   import RemoteCommunicationSpec._
 
   val conf = ConfigFactory.parseString("akka.remote.netty.port=12346").withFallback(system.settings.config)
-  val other = ActorSystem("remote_sys", conf)
+  val other = ActorSystem("remote-sys", conf)
 
   val remote = other.actorOf(Props(new Actor {
     def receive = {
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ akka {
     }
   }), "echo")
 
-  val here = system.actorFor("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346/user/echo")
+  val here = system.actorFor("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12346/user/echo")
 
   override def atTermination() {
     other.shutdown()
@@ -88,13 +88,13 @@ akka {
 
     "send dead letters on remote if actor does not exist" in {
       EventFilter.warning(pattern = "dead.*buh", occurrences = 1).intercept {
-        system.actorFor("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346/does/not/exist") ! "buh"
+        system.actorFor("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12346/does/not/exist") ! "buh"
       }(other)
     }
 
     "create and supervise children on remote node" in {
       val r = system.actorOf(Props[Echo], "blub")
-      r.path.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12346/remote/RemoteCommunicationSpec@localhost:12345/user/blub"
+      r.path.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12346/remote/RemoteCommunicationSpec@localhost:12345/user/blub"
       r ! 42
       expectMsg(42)
       EventFilter[Exception]("crash", occurrences = 1).intercept {
diff --git a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteRouterSpec.scala b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteRouterSpec.scala
index 4b090a0e79..1255489691 100644
--- a/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteRouterSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-remote/src/test/scala/akka/remote/RemoteRouterSpec.scala
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ akka {
     /blub {
       router = round-robin
       nr-of-instances = 2
-      target.nodes = ["akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347"]
+      target.nodes = ["akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347"]
     }
     /elastic-blub {
       router = round-robin
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ akka {
         lower-bound = 2
         upper-bound = 3
       }
-      target.nodes = ["akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347"]
+      target.nodes = ["akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347"]
     }
     /remote-blub {
-      remote = "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347"
+      remote = "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347"
       router = round-robin
       nr-of-instances = 2
     }
@@ -47,12 +47,12 @@ akka {
       remote = "akka://RemoteRouterSpec"
       router = round-robin
       nr-of-instances = 2
-      target.nodes = ["akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347"]
+      target.nodes = ["akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347"]
     }
     /local-blub2 {
       router = round-robin
       nr-of-instances = 4
-      target.nodes = ["akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347"]
+      target.nodes = ["akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347"]
     }
   }
 }
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
     nr-of-instances = 4
   }
 }""").withFallback(system.settings.config)
-  val other = ActorSystem("remote_sys", conf)
+  val other = ActorSystem("remote-sys", conf)
 
   override def atTermination() {
     other.shutdown()
@@ -84,13 +84,13 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       val children = replies.toSet
       children must have size 2
       children.map(_.parent) must have size 1
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }
 
     "deploy its children on remote host driven by programatic definition" in {
       val router = system.actorOf(Props[Echo].withRouter(new RemoteRouterConfig(RoundRobinRouter(2),
-        Seq(Address("akka", "remote_sys", "localhost", 12347)))), "blub2")
+        Seq(Address("akka", "remote-sys", "localhost", 12347)))), "blub2")
       val replies = for (i ← 1 to 5) yield {
         router ! ""
         expectMsgType[ActorRef].path
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       val children = replies.toSet
       children must have size 2
       children.map(_.parent) must have size 1
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }
 
@@ -111,13 +111,13 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       val children = replies.toSet
       children.size must be >= 2
       children.map(_.parent) must have size 1
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }
 
     "deploy remote routers based on configuration" in {
       val router = system.actorOf(Props[Echo].withRouter(FromConfig), "remote-blub")
-      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       val replies = for (i ← 1 to 5) yield {
         router ! ""
         expectMsgType[ActorRef].path
@@ -127,14 +127,14 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       val parents = children.map(_.parent)
       parents must have size 1
       parents.head must be(router.path)
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }
 
     "deploy remote routers based on explicit deployment" in {
       val router = system.actorOf(Props[Echo].withRouter(RoundRobinRouter(2))
-        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")))), "remote-blub2")
-      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")))), "remote-blub2")
+      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       val replies = for (i ← 1 to 5) yield {
         router ! ""
         expectMsgType[ActorRef].path
@@ -144,13 +144,13 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       val parents = children.map(_.parent)
       parents must have size 1
       parents.head must be(router.path)
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }
 
     "let remote deployment be overridden by local configuration" in {
       val router = system.actorOf(Props[Echo].withRouter(RoundRobinRouter(2))
-        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")))), "local-blub")
+        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")))), "local-blub")
       router.path.address.toString must be("akka://RemoteRouterSpec")
       val replies = for (i ← 1 to 5) yield {
         router ! ""
@@ -160,15 +160,15 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       children must have size 2
       val parents = children.map(_.parent)
       parents must have size 1
-      parents.head.address must be(Address("akka", "remote_sys", "localhost", 12347))
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      parents.head.address must be(Address("akka", "remote-sys", "localhost", 12347))
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }
 
     "let remote deployment router be overridden by local configuration" in {
       val router = system.actorOf(Props[Echo].withRouter(RoundRobinRouter(2))
-        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")))), "local-blub2")
-      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")))), "local-blub2")
+      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       val replies = for (i ← 1 to 5) yield {
         router ! ""
         expectMsgType[ActorRef].path
@@ -178,14 +178,14 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       val parents = children.map(_.parent)
       parents must have size 1
       parents.head must be(router.path)
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }
 
     "let remote deployment be overridden by remote configuration" in {
       val router = system.actorOf(Props[Echo].withRouter(RoundRobinRouter(2))
-        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")))), "remote-override")
-      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+        .withDeploy(Deploy(scope = RemoteScope(AddressFromURIString("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")))), "remote-override")
+      router.path.address.toString must be("akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       val replies = for (i ← 1 to 5) yield {
         router ! ""
         expectMsgType[ActorRef].path
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ akka.actor.deployment {
       val parents = children.map(_.parent)
       parents must have size 1
       parents.head must be(router.path)
-      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote_sys@localhost:12347")
+      children foreach (_.address.toString must be === "akka://remote-sys@localhost:12347")
       system.stop(router)
     }