diff --git a/autogen/agentchat/conversable_agent.py b/autogen/agentchat/conversable_agent.py
index 83712fe285c..584a03ca0df 100644
--- a/autogen/agentchat/conversable_agent.py
+++ b/autogen/agentchat/conversable_agent.py
@@ -137,8 +137,10 @@ def __init__(
         )
 
         self._name = name
-        if self._name.isidentifier() is False:
-            raise ValueError("The agent name must be a valid Python identifier.")
+
+        if ConversableAgent._validate_name(name) is False:
+            raise ValueError(f"Invalid name: '{name}'. Only letters, numbers, '_' and '-' are allowed.")
+
         # a dictionary of conversations, default value is list
         if chat_messages is None:
             self._oai_messages = defaultdict(list)
@@ -258,6 +260,12 @@ def __init__(
             "a_process_message_before_send": [],
         }
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _validate_name(name: str) -> bool:
+        """Validate the name of the agent."""
+        pattern = r'^[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+$'
+        return bool(re.match(pattern, name))
+
     def _validate_llm_config(self, llm_config):
         assert llm_config in (None, False) or isinstance(
             llm_config, dict