diff --git a/api/types.go b/api/types.go
index e1c82bbc..80e2bbd7 100644
--- a/api/types.go
+++ b/api/types.go
@@ -239,6 +239,7 @@ type ID struct {
 	RPCProtocolVersion    protocol.ID
 	Error                 string
 	IPFS                  IPFSID
+	Hostname              string
 	//PublicKey          crypto.PubKey
 }
 
@@ -253,6 +254,7 @@ type IDSerial struct {
 	RPCProtocolVersion    string           `json:"rpc_protocol_version"`
 	Error                 string           `json:"error"`
 	IPFS                  IPFSIDSerial     `json:"ipfs"`
+	Hostname              string           `json:"hostname"`
 	//PublicKey          []byte
 }
 
@@ -279,6 +281,7 @@ func (id ID) ToSerial() IDSerial {
 		RPCProtocolVersion:    string(id.RPCProtocolVersion),
 		Error:                 id.Error,
 		IPFS:                  id.IPFS.ToSerial(),
+		Hostname:              id.Hostname,
 	}
 }
 
@@ -306,6 +309,7 @@ func (ids IDSerial) ToID() ID {
 	id.RPCProtocolVersion = protocol.ID(ids.RPCProtocolVersion)
 	id.Error = ids.Error
 	id.IPFS = ids.IPFS.ToIPFSID()
+	id.Hostname = ids.Hostname
 	return id
 }
 
diff --git a/cluster.go b/cluster.go
index 26a8cd32..165375f0 100644
--- a/cluster.go
+++ b/cluster.go
@@ -599,6 +599,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) ID() api.ID {
 		Commit:                Commit,
 		RPCProtocolVersion:    RPCProtocol,
 		IPFS:                  ipfsID,
+		Hostname:              c.config.Hostname,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/cluster_config.go b/cluster_config.go
index ee12c2a6..25822f21 100644
--- a/cluster_config.go
+++ b/cluster_config.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"os"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -44,6 +45,9 @@ type Config struct {
 	ID         peer.ID
 	PrivateKey crypto.PrivKey
 
+	// User-defined hostname for use as human-readable identifier.
+	Hostname string
+
 	// Cluster secret for private network. Peers will be in the same cluster if and
 	// only if they have the same ClusterSecret. The cluster secret must be exactly
 	// 64 characters and contain only hexadecimal characters (`[0-9a-f]`).
@@ -100,6 +104,7 @@ type Config struct {
 // like strings, and key names aim to be self-explanatory for the user.
 type configJSON struct {
 	ID                  string   `json:"id"`
+	Hostname            string   `json:"hostname"`
 	PrivateKey          string   `json:"private_key"`
 	Secret              string   `json:"secret"`
 	Peers               []string `json:"peers"`
@@ -194,6 +199,9 @@ func (cfg *Config) Validate() error {
 
 // this just sets non-generated defaults
 func (cfg *Config) setDefaults() {
+	hostname, _ := os.Hostname()
+	cfg.Hostname = hostname
+
 	addr, _ := ma.NewMultiaddr(DefaultListenAddr)
 	cfg.ListenAddr = addr
 	cfg.Peers = []ma.Multiaddr{}
@@ -226,6 +234,10 @@ func (cfg *Config) LoadJSON(raw []byte) error {
 	}
 	cfg.ID = id
 
+	if jcfg.Hostname != "" {
+		cfg.Hostname = jcfg.Hostname
+	}
+
 	pkb, err := base64.StdEncoding.DecodeString(jcfg.PrivateKey)
 	if err != nil {
 		err = fmt.Errorf("error decoding private_key: %s", err)
@@ -330,6 +342,7 @@ func (cfg *Config) ToJSON() (raw []byte, err error) {
 
 	// Set all configuration fields
 	jcfg.ID = cfg.ID.Pretty()
+	jcfg.Hostname = cfg.Hostname
 	jcfg.PrivateKey = pKey
 	jcfg.Secret = EncodeClusterSecret(cfg.Secret)
 	jcfg.Peers = clusterPeers
diff --git a/ipfs-cluster-ctl/formatters.go b/ipfs-cluster-ctl/formatters.go
index ffbbeb4d..9674d2fc 100644
--- a/ipfs-cluster-ctl/formatters.go
+++ b/ipfs-cluster-ctl/formatters.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func textFormatPrintIDSerial(obj *api.IDSerial) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	fmt.Printf("%s | Sees %d other peers\n", obj.ID, len(obj.ClusterPeers)-1)
+	fmt.Printf("%s | '%s' | Sees %d other peers\n", obj.ID, obj.Hostname, len(obj.ClusterPeers)-1)
 	addrs := make(sort.StringSlice, 0, len(obj.Addresses))
 	for _, a := range obj.Addresses {
 		addrs = append(addrs, string(a))