diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go
index 5bfdf3612..b0cabec2b 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ func resourceAwsSecurityGroup() *schema.Resource {
 				Optional: true,
 				Computed: true,
 				ForceNew: true,
+				ConflictsWith: []string{"name_prefix"},
 				ValidateFunc: func(v interface{}, k string) (ws []string, errors []error) {
 					value := v.(string)
 					if len(value) > 255 {
@@ -38,6 +39,20 @@ func resourceAwsSecurityGroup() *schema.Resource {
 				},
 			},
 
+			"name_prefix": &schema.Schema{
+				Type:     schema.TypeString,
+				Optional: true,
+				ForceNew: true,
+				ValidateFunc: func(v interface{}, k string) (ws []string, errors []error) {
+					value := v.(string)
+					if len(value) > 100 {
+						errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf(
+							"%q cannot be longer than 100 characters, name is limited to 255", k))
+					}
+					return
+				},
+			},
+
 			"description": &schema.Schema{
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,
 				Optional: true,
@@ -178,6 +193,8 @@ func resourceAwsSecurityGroupCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) er
 	var groupName string
 	if v, ok := d.GetOk("name"); ok {
 		groupName = v.(string)
+	} else if v, ok := d.GetOk("name_prefix"); ok {
+		groupName = resource.PrefixedUniqueId(v.(string))
 	} else {
 		groupName = resource.UniqueId()
 	}
diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group_test.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group_test.go
index e6b520d95..d5142c68e 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group_test.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_security_group_test.go
@@ -46,6 +46,26 @@ func TestAccAWSSecurityGroup_basic(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestAccAWSSecurityGroup_namePrefix( t *testing.T) {
+	var group ec2.SecurityGroup
+
+	resource.Test(t, resource.TestCase{
+		PreCheck:     func() { testAccPreCheck(t) },
+		Providers:    testAccProviders,
+		CheckDestroy: testAccCheckAWSSecurityGroupDestroy,
+		Steps: []resource.TestStep{
+			resource.TestStep{
+				Config: testAccAWSSecurityGroupPrefixNameConfig,
+				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
+					testAccCheckAWSSecurityGroupExists("aws_security_group.baz", &group),
+					testAccCheckAWSSecurityGroupGeneratedNamePrefix(
+						"aws_security_group.baz", "baz-"),
+				),
+			},
+		},
+	})
+}
+
 func TestAccAWSSecurityGroup_self(t *testing.T) {
 	var group ec2.SecurityGroup
 
@@ -324,6 +344,24 @@ func testAccCheckAWSSecurityGroupDestroy(s *terraform.State) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func testAccCheckAWSSecurityGroupGeneratedNamePrefix(
+resource, prefix string) resource.TestCheckFunc {
+	return func(s *terraform.State) error {
+		r, ok := s.RootModule().Resources[resource]
+		if !ok {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Resource not found")
+		}
+		name, ok := r.Primary.Attributes["name"]
+		if !ok {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Name attr not found: %#v", r.Primary.Attributes)
+		}
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(name, prefix) {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Name: %q, does not have prefix: %q", name, prefix)
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
 func testAccCheckAWSSecurityGroupExists(n string, group *ec2.SecurityGroup) resource.TestCheckFunc {
 	return func(s *terraform.State) error {
 		rs, ok := s.RootModule().Resources[n]
@@ -809,3 +847,14 @@ resource "aws_security_group" "web" {
   description = "Used in the terraform acceptance tests"
 }
 `
+
+const testAccAWSSecurityGroupPrefixNameConfig = `
+provider "aws" {
+  region = "us-east-1"
+}
+
+resource "aws_security_group" "baz" {
+   name_prefix = "baz-"
+   description = "Used in the terraform acceptance tests"
+}
+`
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown
index b045b01f8..860d6a4b9 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/security_group.html.markdown
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 
 * `name` - (Optional) The name of the security group. If omitted, Terraform will
 assign a random, unique name
+* `name_prefix` - (Optional) Creates a unique name beginning with the specified
+  prefix. Conflicts with `name`.
 * `description` - (Optional) The security group description. Defaults to "Managed by Terraform". Cannot be "".
 * `ingress` - (Optional) Can be specified multiple times for each
    ingress rule. Each ingress block supports fields documented below.