diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/LocalActorRefProviderSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/LocalActorRefProviderSpec.scala
index 2414a173cf..629fb814c4 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/LocalActorRefProviderSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/actor/LocalActorRefProviderSpec.scala
@@ -54,5 +54,14 @@ class LocalActorRefProviderSpec extends AkkaSpec {
       }
     }
 
+    "throw suitable exceptions for malformed actor names" in {
+      intercept[InvalidActorNameException](system.actorOf(Props.empty, null)).getMessage.contains("null") must be(true)
+      intercept[InvalidActorNameException](system.actorOf(Props.empty, "")).getMessage.contains("empty") must be(true)
+      intercept[InvalidActorNameException](system.actorOf(Props.empty, "$hallo")).getMessage.contains("conform") must be(true)
+      intercept[InvalidActorNameException](system.actorOf(Props.empty, "a%")).getMessage.contains("conform") must be(true)
+      intercept[InvalidActorNameException](system.actorOf(Props.empty, "a?")).getMessage.contains("conform") must be(true)
+      intercept[InvalidActorNameException](system.actorOf(Props.empty, "üß")).getMessage.contains("conform") must be(true)
+    }
+
   }
 }
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
index 6a532136b4..f213afd987 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorCell.scala
@@ -222,8 +222,13 @@ private[akka] class ActorCell(
   def actorOf(props: Props): ActorRef = _actorOf(props, randomName())
 
   def actorOf(props: Props, name: String): ActorRef = {
-    if (name == null || name == "" || name.charAt(0) == '$')
-      throw new InvalidActorNameException("actor name must not be null, empty or start with $")
+    import ActorPath.ElementRegex
+    name match {
+      case null           ⇒ throw new InvalidActorNameException("actor name must not be null")
+      case ""             ⇒ throw new InvalidActorNameException("actor name must not be empty")
+      case ElementRegex() ⇒ // this is fine
+      case _              ⇒ throw new InvalidActorNameException("illegal actor name '" + name + "', must conform to " + ElementRegex)
+    }
     if (childrenRefs contains name)
       throw new InvalidActorNameException("actor name " + name + " is not unique!")
     _actorOf(props, name)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala
index 399011fd7a..1bd6c9fa98 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/akka/actor/ActorPath.scala
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ object ActorPath {
     }
     rec(s.length, Nil)
   }
+
+  val ElementRegex = """[-\w:@&=+,.!~*'_;][-\w:@&=+,.!~*'$_;]*""".r
 }
 
 /**