diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index bb982c30..d08e9ae8 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -39,3 +39,5 @@ pin-project = "1.0.7"
 snafu = "0.7.4"
 url = "2"
 num-traits = "0.2"
+regex = "1.10"
+lazy_static = "1"
diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/db.py b/python/python/lancedb/db.py
index 486cd30b..0bd98016 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/db.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/db.py
@@ -31,7 +31,13 @@ from lancedb.utils.events import register_event
 from ._lancedb import connect as lancedb_connect
 from .pydantic import LanceModel
 from .table import AsyncTable, LanceTable, Table, _sanitize_data
-from .util import fs_from_uri, get_uri_location, get_uri_scheme, join_uri
+from .util import (
+    fs_from_uri,
+    get_uri_location,
+    get_uri_scheme,
+    join_uri,
+    validate_table_name,
+)
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from datetime import timedelta
@@ -387,6 +393,7 @@ class LanceDBConnection(DBConnection):
         """
         if mode.lower() not in ["create", "overwrite"]:
             raise ValueError("mode must be either 'create' or 'overwrite'")
+        validate_table_name(name)
 
         tbl = LanceTable.create(
             self,
diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py b/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py
index f2ded712..9dff65c5 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/remote/db.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ from ..db import DBConnection
 from ..embeddings import EmbeddingFunctionConfig
 from ..pydantic import LanceModel
 from ..table import Table, _sanitize_data
+from ..util import validate_table_name
 from .arrow import to_ipc_binary
 from .client import ARROW_STREAM_CONTENT_TYPE, RestfulLanceDBClient
 from .errors import LanceDBClientError
@@ -223,6 +224,7 @@ class RemoteDBConnection(DBConnection):
         LanceTable(table4)
 
         """
+        validate_table_name(name)
         if data is None and schema is None:
             raise ValueError("Either data or schema must be provided.")
         if embedding_functions is not None:
diff --git a/python/python/lancedb/util.py b/python/python/lancedb/util.py
index f5987c06..4470754d 100644
--- a/python/python/lancedb/util.py
+++ b/python/python/lancedb/util.py
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import numpy as np
 import pyarrow as pa
 import pyarrow.fs as pa_fs
 
+from ._lancedb import validate_table_name as native_validate_table_name
+
 
 def safe_import_adlfs():
     try:
@@ -286,3 +288,8 @@ def deprecated(func):
         return func(*args, **kwargs)
 
     return new_func
+
+
+def validate_table_name(name: str):
+    """Verify the table name is valid."""
+    native_validate_table_name(name)
diff --git a/python/python/tests/test_db.py b/python/python/tests/test_db.py
index c84c0800..fc4420ba 100644
--- a/python/python/tests/test_db.py
+++ b/python/python/tests/test_db.py
@@ -521,3 +521,15 @@ def test_prefilter_with_index(tmp_path):
         .to_arrow()
     )
     assert table.num_rows == 1
+
+
+def test_create_table_with_invalid_names(tmp_path):
+    db = lancedb.connect(uri=tmp_path)
+    data = [{"vector": np.random.rand(128), "item": "foo"} for i in range(10)]
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        db.create_table("foo/bar", data)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        db.create_table("foo bar", data)
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        db.create_table("foo$$bar", data)
+    db.create_table("foo.bar", data)
diff --git a/python/src/lib.rs b/python/src/lib.rs
index 558668cb..9d1f0a80 100644
--- a/python/src/lib.rs
+++ b/python/src/lib.rs
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ pub fn _lancedb(_py: Python, m: &PyModule) -> PyResult<()> {
     m.add_class::<VectorQuery>()?;
     m.add_class::<RecordBatchStream>()?;
     m.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(connect, m)?)?;
+    m.add_function(wrap_pyfunction!(util::validate_table_name, m)?)?;
     m.add("__version__", env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"))?;
     Ok(())
 }
diff --git a/python/src/util.rs b/python/src/util.rs
index 893e8089..19662fac 100644
--- a/python/src/util.rs
+++ b/python/src/util.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::sync::Mutex;
 use lancedb::DistanceType;
 use pyo3::{
     exceptions::{PyRuntimeError, PyValueError},
-    PyResult,
+    pyfunction, PyResult,
 };
 
 /// A wrapper around a rust builder
@@ -49,3 +49,9 @@ pub fn parse_distance_type(distance_type: impl AsRef<str>) -> PyResult<DistanceT
         ))),
     }
 }
+
+#[pyfunction]
+pub(crate) fn validate_table_name(table_name: &str) -> PyResult<()> {
+    lancedb::utils::validate_table_name(table_name)
+        .map_err(|e| PyValueError::new_err(e.to_string()))
+}
diff --git a/rust/lancedb/Cargo.toml b/rust/lancedb/Cargo.toml
index 93f38691..f7317a79 100644
--- a/rust/lancedb/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/lancedb/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ chrono = { workspace = true }
 object_store = { workspace = true }
 snafu = { workspace = true }
 half = { workspace = true }
+lazy_static.workspace = true
 lance = { workspace = true }
 lance-index = { workspace = true }
 lance-linalg = { workspace = true }
@@ -34,11 +35,10 @@ bytes = "1"
 futures.workspace = true
 num-traits.workspace = true
 url.workspace = true
+regex.workspace = true
 serde = { version = "^1" }
 serde_json = { version = "1" }
-
 # For remote feature
-
 reqwest = { version = "0.11.24", features = ["gzip", "json"], optional = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
diff --git a/rust/lancedb/src/connection.rs b/rust/lancedb/src/connection.rs
index 54ae8d27..06bf9c41 100644
--- a/rust/lancedb/src/connection.rs
+++ b/rust/lancedb/src/connection.rs
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ use crate::arrow::IntoArrow;
 use crate::error::{CreateDirSnafu, Error, InvalidTableNameSnafu, Result};
 use crate::io::object_store::MirroringObjectStoreWrapper;
 use crate::table::{NativeTable, WriteOptions};
+use crate::utils::validate_table_name;
 use crate::Table;
 
 pub const LANCE_FILE_EXTENSION: &str = "lance";
@@ -675,13 +676,18 @@ impl Database {
 
     /// Get the URI of a table in the database.
     fn table_uri(&self, name: &str) -> Result<String> {
+        validate_table_name(name)?;
+
         let path = Path::new(&self.uri);
         let table_uri = path.join(format!("{}.{}", name, LANCE_FILE_EXTENSION));
 
         let mut uri = table_uri
             .as_path()
             .to_str()
-            .context(InvalidTableNameSnafu { name })?
+            .context(InvalidTableNameSnafu {
+                name,
+                reason: "Name is not valid URL",
+            })?
             .to_string();
 
         // If there are query string set on the connection, propagate to lance
diff --git a/rust/lancedb/src/error.rs b/rust/lancedb/src/error.rs
index 8baed35d..a528a177 100644
--- a/rust/lancedb/src/error.rs
+++ b/rust/lancedb/src/error.rs
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ use snafu::Snafu;
 #[derive(Debug, Snafu)]
 #[snafu(visibility(pub(crate)))]
 pub enum Error {
-    #[snafu(display("Invalid table name: {name}"))]
-    InvalidTableName { name: String },
+    #[snafu(display("Invalid table name (\"{name}\"): {reason}"))]
+    InvalidTableName { name: String, reason: String },
     #[snafu(display("Invalid input, {message}"))]
     InvalidInput { message: String },
     #[snafu(display("Table '{name}' was not found"))]
diff --git a/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs b/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs
index 2848cf41..e3e3ab2d 100644
--- a/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs
+++ b/rust/lancedb/src/table.rs
@@ -854,6 +854,7 @@ impl NativeTable {
             .to_str()
             .ok_or(Error::InvalidTableName {
                 name: uri.to_string(),
+                reason: "Table name is not valid URL".to_string(),
             })?;
         Ok(name.to_string())
     }
@@ -1197,7 +1198,7 @@ impl NativeTable {
                 if dim != query_vector.len() as i32 {
                     return Err(Error::InvalidInput {
                         message: format!(
-                            "The dimension of the query vector does not match with the dimension of the vector column '{}': 
+                            "The dimension of the query vector does not match with the dimension of the vector column '{}':
                                 query dim={}, expected vector dim={}",
                             column,
                             query_vector.len(),
diff --git a/rust/lancedb/src/utils.rs b/rust/lancedb/src/utils.rs
index 05499017..d6578f81 100644
--- a/rust/lancedb/src/utils.rs
+++ b/rust/lancedb/src/utils.rs
@@ -1,12 +1,30 @@
+// Copyright 2024 LanceDB Developers.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use arrow_schema::Schema;
-
 use lance::dataset::{ReadParams, WriteParams};
 use lance::io::{ObjectStoreParams, WrappingObjectStore};
+use lazy_static::lazy_static;
 
 use crate::error::{Error, Result};
 
+lazy_static! {
+    static ref TABLE_NAME_REGEX: regex::Regex = regex::Regex::new(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_\-\.]+$").unwrap();
+}
+
 pub trait PatchStoreParam {
     fn patch_with_store_wrapper(
         self,
@@ -64,6 +82,25 @@ impl PatchReadParam for ReadParams {
     }
 }
 
+/// Validate table name.
+pub fn validate_table_name(name: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    if name.is_empty() {
+        return Err(Error::InvalidTableName {
+            name: name.to_string(),
+            reason: "Table names cannot be empty strings".to_string(),
+        });
+    }
+    if !TABLE_NAME_REGEX.is_match(name) {
+        return Err(Error::InvalidTableName {
+            name: name.to_string(),
+            reason:
+                "Table names can only contain alphanumeric characters, underscores, hyphens, and periods"
+                    .to_string(),
+        });
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 /// Find one default column to create index.
 pub(crate) fn default_vector_column(schema: &Schema, dim: Option<i32>) -> Result<String> {
     // Try to find one fixed size list array column.
@@ -145,4 +182,20 @@ mod tests {
             .to_string()
             .contains("More than one"));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_validate_table_name() {
+        assert!(validate_table_name("my_table").is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("my_table_1").is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("123mytable").is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("_12345table").is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("table.12345").is_ok());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("table.._dot_..12345").is_ok());
+
+        assert!(validate_table_name("").is_err());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("my_table!").is_err());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("my/table").is_err());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("my@table").is_err());
+        assert!(validate_table_name("name with space").is_err());
+    }
 }