diff --git a/libraries/app/api.cpp b/libraries/app/api.cpp
index 8611f4fc..0910cc83 100644
--- a/libraries/app/api.cpp
+++ b/libraries/app/api.cpp
@@ -1155,4 +1155,13 @@ namespace graphene { namespace app {
        return result;
     }
 
+    optional<account_object> database_api::get_account_by_name( string name )const
+    {
+       const auto& idx = _db.get_index_type<account_index>().indices().get<by_name>();
+       auto itr = idx.find(name);
+       if (itr != idx.end())
+          return *itr;
+       return optional<account_object>();
+    }
+
 } } // graphene::app
diff --git a/libraries/app/include/graphene/app/api.hpp b/libraries/app/include/graphene/app/api.hpp
index f22534b8..1da694de 100644
--- a/libraries/app/include/graphene/app/api.hpp
+++ b/libraries/app/include/graphene/app/api.hpp
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ namespace graphene { namespace app {
           * This function has semantics identical to @ref get_objects
           */
          vector<optional<account_object>> lookup_account_names(const vector<string>& account_names)const;
+         optional<account_object> get_account_by_name( string name )const;
+
          /**
           * @brief Get a list of assets by symbol
           * @param asset_symbols Symbols or stringified IDs of the assets to retrieve
@@ -515,6 +517,7 @@ FC_API(graphene::app::database_api,
        (get_accounts)
        (get_assets)
        (lookup_account_names)
+       (get_account_by_name)
        (get_account_count)
        (lookup_accounts)
        (get_full_accounts)