diff --git a/amaranth/hdl/_ir.py b/amaranth/hdl/_ir.py
index f3e9fc9ae..e5af19dd8 100644
--- a/amaranth/hdl/_ir.py
+++ b/amaranth/hdl/_ir.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import enum
 import warnings
 
-from .._utils import flatten
+from .._utils import flatten, validate_name
 from .. import tracer, _unused
 from . import _ast, _cd, _ir, _nir
 
@@ -309,11 +309,13 @@ class Instance(Fragment):
     def __init__(self, type, *args, src_loc=None, src_loc_at=0, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(src_loc=src_loc or tracer.get_src_loc(src_loc_at))
 
+        validate_name(type, "Instance type")
         self.type        = type
         self.parameters  = OrderedDict()
         self.named_ports = OrderedDict()
 
         for (kind, name, value) in args:
+            validate_name(name, "Instance argument name")
             if kind == "a":
                 self.attrs[name] = value
             elif kind == "p":
@@ -331,6 +333,7 @@ def __init__(self, type, *args, src_loc=None, src_loc_at=0, **kwargs):
                                 .format((kind, name, value)))
 
         for kw, arg in kwargs.items():
+            validate_name(kw, "Instance keyword argument name")
             if kw.startswith("a_"):
                 self.attrs[kw[2:]] = arg
             elif kw.startswith("p_"):
diff --git a/tests/test_hdl_ir.py b/tests/test_hdl_ir.py
index 133c32fd4..03cb9a03e 100644
--- a/tests/test_hdl_ir.py
+++ b/tests/test_hdl_ir.py
@@ -734,6 +734,17 @@ def test_construct(self):
             ("io6", (io6, "io")),
         ]))
 
+    def test_wrong_name(self):
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(TypeError,
+                r"^Instance type must be a string, not 1$"):
+            Instance(1)
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(TypeError,
+                r"^Instance argument name must be a string, not 1$"):
+            Instance("foo", ("a", 1, 2))
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(NameError,
+                r"^Instance keyword argument name ' ' contains whitespace/control character ' '$"):
+            Instance("foo", **{" ": 2})
+
     def test_cast_ports(self):
         inst = Instance("foo",
             ("i", "s1", 1),