diff --git a/include/spdk/nvmf.h b/include/spdk/nvmf.h
index 3e26a2ae6..588e8e342 100644
--- a/include/spdk/nvmf.h
+++ b/include/spdk/nvmf.h
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+#define NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH	256
+
 struct spdk_nvmf_tgt;
 struct spdk_nvmf_subsystem;
 struct spdk_nvmf_ctrlr;
@@ -64,6 +66,7 @@ struct spdk_json_write_ctx;
 struct spdk_nvmf_transport;
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts {
+	char		name[NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH];
 	uint32_t	max_subsystems;
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c b/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c
index 4f1f0a9c2..1b1370172 100644
--- a/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c
+++ b/lib/event/subsystems/nvmf/conf.c
@@ -186,7 +186,10 @@ spdk_nvmf_parse_nvmf_tgt(void)
 {
 	int rc;
 	int using_deprecated_options;
-	struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts opts = { 0 };
+	struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts opts = {
+		.name = "nvmf_tgt",
+		.max_subsystems = 0
+	};
 
 	if (!g_spdk_nvmf_tgt_max_subsystems) {
 		using_deprecated_options = spdk_nvmf_parse_tgt_max_subsystems();
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
index d9c3ef7cf..b90e838c8 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf.c
@@ -221,13 +221,27 @@ spdk_nvmf_tgt_destroy_poll_group_qpairs(struct spdk_nvmf_poll_group *group)
 struct spdk_nvmf_tgt *
 spdk_nvmf_tgt_create(struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts *opts)
 {
-	struct spdk_nvmf_tgt *tgt;
+	struct spdk_nvmf_tgt *tgt, *tmp_tgt;
+
+	if (strnlen(opts->name, NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH) == NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH) {
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Provided target name exceeds the max length of %u.\n", NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	TAILQ_FOREACH(tmp_tgt, &g_nvmf_tgts, link) {
+		if (!strncmp(opts->name, tmp_tgt->name, strlen(tmp_tgt->name))) {
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Provided target name must be unique.\n");
+			return NULL;
+		}
+	}
 
 	tgt = calloc(1, sizeof(*tgt));
 	if (!tgt) {
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
+	snprintf(tgt->name, NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH, "%s", opts->name);
+
 	if (!opts || !opts->max_subsystems) {
 		tgt->max_subsystems = SPDK_NVMF_DEFAULT_MAX_SUBSYSTEMS;
 	} else {
@@ -251,7 +265,7 @@ spdk_nvmf_tgt_create(struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts *opts)
 				spdk_nvmf_tgt_create_poll_group,
 				spdk_nvmf_tgt_destroy_poll_group,
 				sizeof(struct spdk_nvmf_poll_group),
-				"nvmf_tgt");
+				tgt->name);
 
 	return tgt;
 }
diff --git a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
index a74d9b3ce..616de2eb4 100644
--- a/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
+++ b/lib/nvmf/nvmf_internal.h
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@ enum spdk_nvmf_qpair_state {
 typedef void (*spdk_nvmf_state_change_done)(void *cb_arg, int status);
 
 struct spdk_nvmf_tgt {
+	char					name[NVMF_TGT_NAME_MAX_LENGTH];
+
 	uint64_t				discovery_genctr;
 
 	uint32_t				max_subsystems;
diff --git a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/fc.c/fc_ut.c b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/fc.c/fc_ut.c
index 9aeb3e522..cd95d258c 100644
--- a/test/unit/lib/nvmf/fc.c/fc_ut.c
+++ b/test/unit/lib/nvmf/fc.c/fc_ut.c
@@ -264,8 +264,11 @@ static void
 create_transport_test(void)
 {
 	const struct spdk_nvmf_transport_ops *ops = NULL;
-	struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts tgt_opts = { 0 };
 	struct spdk_nvmf_transport_opts opts = { 0 };
+	struct spdk_nvmf_target_opts tgt_opts = {
+		.name = "nvmf_test_tgt",
+		.max_subsystems = 0
+	};
 
 	allocate_threads(8);
 	set_thread(0);