diff --git a/gateways/Gateways.md b/gateways/Gateways.md
index ea5f3896..e9a8b9e1 100644
--- a/gateways/Gateways.md
+++ b/gateways/Gateways.md
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ A fjåge Gateway connects to a fjåge master container and sends/receives messag
 - `action: send` : parse and process the messsage as per the Gateway logic.
 - `action: shutdown` : close and stop the Gateway
 
+All gateway agents should use names prefixed with `gateway-`.
+
 ### `Gateway()` :: String hostname, Int port, (String settings) -> Gateway
 
 - Creates a gateway connecting to a specified master container specified by the arguments.
diff --git a/gateways/c/src/fjage.c b/gateways/c/src/fjage.c
index d15a3583..92b0832f 100644
--- a/gateways/c/src/fjage.c
+++ b/gateways/c/src/fjage.c
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ fjage_gw_t fjage_tcp_open(const char* hostname, int port) {
   fgw->intr = 0;
 #endif
   char s[64];
-  sprintf(s, "CGateway-%08x", rand());
+  sprintf(s, "gateway-%08x", rand());
   fgw->aid = fjage_aid_create(s);
   fgw->head = 0;
   update_watch(fgw);
diff --git a/gateways/js/src/fjage.js b/gateways/js/src/fjage.js
index edc775ba..aeb159a3 100644
--- a/gateways/js/src/fjage.js
+++ b/gateways/js/src/fjage.js
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ export class Gateway {
     this.queue = [];                      // incoming message queue
     this.connected = false;               // connection status
     this.debug = false;                   // debug info to be logged to console?
-    this.aid = new AgentID((isBrowser ? 'WebGW-' : 'NodeGW-')+_guid(4));         // gateway agent name
+    this.aid = new AgentID('gateway-'+_guid(4));         // gateway agent name
     this.connector = this._createConnector(url);
     this._addGWCache(this);
   }
diff --git a/gateways/python/fjagepy/__init__.py b/gateways/python/fjagepy/__init__.py
index c66ec69d..b67f98c1 100644
--- a/gateways/python/fjagepy/__init__.py
+++ b/gateways/python/fjagepy/__init__.py
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ def __init__(self, hostname, port=1100):
         self.logger = _log.getLogger('org.arl.fjage')
         self.cancel = False
         try:
-            self.aid = AgentID("PythonGW-" + str(_uuid.uuid4()), owner=self)
+            self.aid = AgentID("gateway-" + str(_uuid.uuid4()), owner=self)
             self.q = list()
             self.subscriptions = list()
             self.pending = dict()
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/org/arl/fjage/shell/BaseGroovyScript.groovy b/src/main/groovy/org/arl/fjage/shell/BaseGroovyScript.groovy
index ef6097bc..21737409 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/org/arl/fjage/shell/BaseGroovyScript.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/org/arl/fjage/shell/BaseGroovyScript.groovy
@@ -103,9 +103,10 @@ abstract class BaseGroovyScript extends Script {
   /**
    * Lists all the agents.
    *
+   * @param all true to list all agents, false to hide special agents.
    * @return a string representation of all agents.
    */
-  String ps() {
+  String ps(boolean all=false) {
     Binding binding = getBinding()
     if (binding.hasVariable('__agent__')) {
       Agent a = binding.getVariable('__agent__')
@@ -114,6 +115,7 @@ abstract class BaseGroovyScript extends Script {
       StringBuffer s = new StringBuffer()
       boolean first = true
       for (AgentID aid: agentIDs) {
+        if (!all && aid.name.contains('-')) continue  // hide gateways and other special agents
         if (!first) s.append('\n')
         s.append(aid)
         if (aid.type == null) s.append(': REMOTE')
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/Container.java b/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/Container.java
index 6f030c00..8ccde170 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/Container.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/Container.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 import java.lang.reflect.*;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.*;
+import java.util.regex.*;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 /**
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@ public class Container {
 
   //////////// Private attributes
 
+  private static final Pattern NAME_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("^[a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*$");
+
   protected String name;
   protected Platform platform;
   protected Map<AgentID,Agent> agents = new ConcurrentHashMap<AgentID,Agent>();
@@ -189,6 +192,14 @@ public boolean getAutoClone() {
 
   /**
    * Adds an agent to the container.
+   * <p>
+   * Agent names should only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores.
+   * The first character should not be a digit. Names with special characters
+   * such as '-', '.', '@', etc are considered reserved and should be avoided.
+   * <p>
+   * While agent names inconsistent with this guideline may not be rejected
+   * today, they may not work well on all platforms. In future, we may enforce
+   * this guideline more strictly.
    *
    * @param name name of the agent.
    * @param agent the agent object.
@@ -199,6 +210,8 @@ public AgentID add(String name, Agent agent) {
       log.warning("Undefined agent name");
       return null;
     }
+    Matcher matcher = NAME_PATTERN.matcher(name);
+    if (!matcher.matches()) log.warning("Agent name "+name+" does not meet naming guidelines and may be disallowed in future");
     AgentID aid = new AgentID(name);
     aid.setType(agent.getClass().getName());
     if (isDuplicate(aid)) {
@@ -227,7 +240,7 @@ public AgentID add(String name, Agent agent) {
    * @return an agent id if successful, null on failure.
    */
   public AgentID add(Agent agent) {
-    return add(agent.getClass().getName()+"@"+agent.hashCode(), agent);
+    return add(agent.getClass().getSimpleName()+"_"+agent.hashCode(), agent);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/remote/Gateway.java b/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/remote/Gateway.java
index e8449769..c6c03065 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/remote/Gateway.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/arl/fjage/remote/Gateway.java
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public boolean authenticate(String creds) {
    * @return agent ID
    */
   public AgentID getAgentID() {
-    return new AgentID("JavaGateway-"+hashCode());
+    return new AgentID("gateway-"+hashCode());
   }
 
   /**