diff --git a/src/radical/analytics/entity.py b/src/radical/analytics/entity.py
index 8b3916f..1abf634 100644
--- a/src/radical/analytics/entity.py
+++ b/src/radical/analytics/entity.py
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ def __init__(self, _uid, _profile, _details):
         self._cfg         = self._details.get('cfg',         dict())
         self._resources   = self._details.get('resources',   dict())
 
+        self._name        =  self._description.get('name') \
+                          or self._description.get('job_name') \
+                          or self._uid
+
         # if have no etype tree information, guess the etype from uid
         if not self._etype:
             self._etype = self._uid.split('.')[0]
@@ -64,6 +68,7 @@ def __getstate__(self):
 
         state = {
                  'uid'         : self._uid,
+                 'name'        : self._name,
                  'etype'       : self._etype,
                  'details'     : self._details,
                  'description' : self._description,
@@ -101,6 +106,10 @@ def __setstate__(self, state):
         self._t_stop       = state['t_stop']
         self._ttc          = state['ttc']
 
+        self._name         =  self._description.get('name') \
+                           or self._description.get('job_name') \
+                           or self._uid
+
 
     # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
     #
@@ -124,6 +133,10 @@ def t_range(self):
     def uid(self):
         return self._uid
 
+    @property
+    def name(self):
+        return self._name
+
     @property
     def etype(self):
         return self._etype
diff --git a/src/radical/analytics/session.py b/src/radical/analytics/session.py
index 9ef7798..560c1c4 100644
--- a/src/radical/analytics/session.py
+++ b/src/radical/analytics/session.py
@@ -478,14 +478,15 @@ def _initialize_properties(self):
 
     # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
     #
-    def _apply_filter(self, etype=None, uid=None, state=None,
-                            event=None, time=None):
+    def _apply_filter(self, etype=None, uid=None, name=None,
+                            state=None, event=None, time=None):
 
         # iterate through all self._entities and collect UIDs of all entities
         # which match the given set of filters (after removing all events which
         # are not in the given time ranges)
         etype = ru.as_list(etype)
         uids  = ru.as_list(uid)
+        names = ru.as_list(name)
         state = ru.as_list(state)
         event = ru.as_list(event)
         time  = ru.as_list(time )
@@ -519,6 +520,30 @@ def _apply_filter(self, etype=None, uid=None, state=None,
                 if not keep:
                     continue
 
+            if names:
+                try:
+                    re_pattern = re.Pattern
+                except AttributeError:
+                    re_pattern = None
+                    self._log.warn('re.Pattern is not supported within this '
+                                   'python version')
+
+                keep = False
+                for name in names:
+                    if re_pattern and isinstance(name, re_pattern):
+                        # name is actually a regex we use for matching
+                        if name.match(entity.name):
+                            keep = True
+                            break
+                    else:
+                        # name is a specific string to look out for
+                        if entity.name == name:
+                            keep = True
+                            break
+
+                if not keep:
+                    continue
+
             if state:
                 match = False
                 for s,stuple in list(entity.states.items()):
@@ -588,20 +613,21 @@ def list(self, pname=None):
 
     # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
     #
-    def get(self, etype=None, uid=None, state=None, event=None, time=None):
+    def get(self, etype=None, uid=None, name=None,
+                  state=None, event=None, time=None):
 
-        uids = self._apply_filter(etype=etype, uid=uid, state=state,
-                                  event=event, time=time)
+        uids = self._apply_filter(etype=etype, uid=uid, name=name,
+                                  state=state, event=event, time=time)
         return [self._entities[_uid] for _uid in uids]
 
 
     # --------------------------------------------------------------------------
     #
-    def filter(self, etype=None, uid=None, state=None, event=None, time=None,
-               inplace=True):
+    def filter(self, etype=None, uid=None, name=None,
+                     state=None, event=None, time=None, inplace=True):
 
-        uids = self._apply_filter(etype=etype, uid=uid, state=state,
-                                  event=event, time=time)
+        uids = self._apply_filter(etype=etype, uid=uid, name=name,
+                                  state=state, event=event, time=time)
 
         if inplace:
             # filter our own entity list, and refresh the entity based on
diff --git a/src/radical/analytics/utils/plot.py b/src/radical/analytics/utils/plot.py
index f96e505..a9c9128 100644
--- a/src/radical/analytics/utils/plot.py
+++ b/src/radical/analytics/utils/plot.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import pandas        as pd
 import numpy         as np
 import matplotlib    as mpl
+
 import radical.utils as ru