diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_elb.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_elb.go
index 07e7423a5..8819a14d0 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_elb.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_elb.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws/awserr"
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/service/elb"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/hashcode"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/resource"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/helper/schema"
 )
 
@@ -24,7 +25,8 @@ func resourceAwsElb() *schema.Resource {
 		Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
 			"name": &schema.Schema{
 				Type:     schema.TypeString,
-				Required: true,
+				Optional: true,
+				Computed: true,
 				ForceNew: true,
 				ValidateFunc: func(v interface{}, k string) (ws []string, errors []error) {
 					value := v.(string)
@@ -211,10 +213,18 @@ func resourceAwsElbCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	var elbName string
+	if v, ok := d.GetOk("name"); ok {
+		elbName = v.(string)
+	} else {
+		elbName = resource.PrefixedUniqueId("tf-lb-")
+		d.Set("name", elbName)
+	}
+
 	tags := tagsFromMapELB(d.Get("tags").(map[string]interface{}))
 	// Provision the elb
 	elbOpts := &elb.CreateLoadBalancerInput{
-		LoadBalancerName: aws.String(d.Get("name").(string)),
+		LoadBalancerName: aws.String(elbName),
 		Listeners:        listeners,
 		Tags:             tags,
 	}
@@ -241,7 +251,7 @@ func resourceAwsElbCreate(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 	}
 
 	// Assign the elb's unique identifier for use later
-	d.SetId(d.Get("name").(string))
+	d.SetId(elbName)
 	log.Printf("[INFO] ELB ID: %s", d.Id())
 
 	// Enable partial mode and record what we set
diff --git a/helper/resource/id.go b/helper/resource/id.go
index b3af422fc..ea0ae1916 100644
--- a/helper/resource/id.go
+++ b/helper/resource/id.go
@@ -9,13 +9,18 @@ import (
 
 const UniqueIdPrefix = `terraform-`
 
-// Helper for a resource to generate a unique identifier
+// Helper for a resource to generate a unique identifier w/ default prefix
+func UniqueId() string {
+	return PrefixedUniqueId(UniqueIdPrefix)
+}
+
+// Helper for a resource to generate a unique identifier w/ given prefix
 //
 // This uses a simple RFC 4122 v4 UUID with some basic cosmetic filters
 // applied (base32, remove padding, downcase) to make visually distinguishing
 // identifiers easier.
-func UniqueId() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", UniqueIdPrefix,
+func PrefixedUniqueId(prefix string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s%s", prefix,
 		strings.ToLower(
 			strings.Replace(
 				base32.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(uuidV4()),
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/elb.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/elb.html.markdown
index 9c63788d3..824a5507f 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/elb.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/elb.html.markdown
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ resource "aws_elb" "bar" {
 
 The following arguments are supported:
 
-* `name` - (Required) The name of the ELB
+* `name` - (Optional) The name of the ELB. By default generated by terraform.
 * `availability_zones` - (Required for an EC2-classic ELB) The AZ's to serve traffic in.
 * `security_groups` - (Optional) A list of security group IDs to assign to the ELB.
 * `subnets` - (Required for a VPC ELB) A list of subnet IDs to attach to the ELB.