diff --git a/docs/layouts/chrome/menu.html b/docs/layouts/chrome/menu.html
index 445ae67aa..6ff80a589 100644
--- a/docs/layouts/chrome/menu.html
+++ b/docs/layouts/chrome/menu.html
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
           <a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">{{.Name}} <b class="caret"></b></a>
             <ul class="dropdown-menu">
             {{ range .Children }}
-                <li{{if $currentNode.IsMenuCurrent "main" .Name}} class="active"{{end}}><a href="{{.Url}}"> {{ .Name }} </a> </li>
+                <li{{if $currentNode.IsMenuCurrent "main" . }} class="active"{{end}}><a href="{{.Url}}"> {{ .Name }} </a> </li>
             {{ end }}
             </ul>
           {{else}}
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
           <a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">{{.Name}} <b class="caret"></b></a>
             <ul class="dropdown-menu">
             {{ range .Children }}
-                <li{{if $currentNode.IsMenuCurrent $menu .Name}} class="active"{{end}}><a href="{{.Url}}"> {{ .Name }} </a> </li>
+                <li{{if $currentNode.IsMenuCurrent $menu . }} class="active"{{end}}><a href="{{.Url}}"> {{ .Name }} </a> </li>
             {{ end }}
             </ul>
           {{else}}
diff --git a/hugolib/menu.go b/hugolib/menu.go
index abbdf2811..060f3855c 100644
--- a/hugolib/menu.go
+++ b/hugolib/menu.go
@@ -21,14 +21,15 @@ import (
 )
 
 type MenuEntry struct {
-	Url      string
-	Name     string
-	Menu     string
-	PreName  string
-	PostName string
-	Weight   int
-	Parent   string
-	Children Menu
+	Url        string
+	Name       string
+	Menu       string
+	Identifier string
+	PreName    string
+	PostName   string
+	Weight     int
+	Parent     string
+	Children   Menu
 }
 
 type Menu []*MenuEntry
@@ -44,6 +45,27 @@ func (me *MenuEntry) HasChildren() bool {
 	return me.Children != nil
 }
 
+func (me *MenuEntry) KeyName() string {
+	if me.Identifier != "" {
+		return me.Identifier
+	}
+	return me.Name
+}
+
+func (me *MenuEntry) hopefullyUniqueId() string {
+	if me.Identifier != "" {
+		return me.Identifier
+	} else if me.Url != "" {
+		return me.Url
+	} else {
+		return me.Name
+	}
+}
+
+func (me *MenuEntry) IsEqual(inme *MenuEntry) bool {
+	return me.hopefullyUniqueId() == inme.hopefullyUniqueId() && me.Parent == inme.Parent
+}
+
 func (me *MenuEntry) MarshallMap(ime map[string]interface{}) {
 	for k, v := range ime {
 		loki := strings.ToLower(k)
@@ -54,25 +76,14 @@ func (me *MenuEntry) MarshallMap(ime map[string]interface{}) {
 			me.Weight = cast.ToInt(v)
 		case "name":
 			me.Name = cast.ToString(v)
+		case "identifier":
+			me.Identifier = cast.ToString(v)
 		case "parent":
 			me.Parent = cast.ToString(v)
 		}
 	}
 }
 
-//func (me *MenuEntry) RelUrl() string {
-//link, err := p.permalink()
-//if err != nil {
-//return "", err
-//}
-
-//link.Scheme = ""
-//link.Host = ""
-//link.User = nil
-//link.Opaque = ""
-//return link.String(), nil
-//}
-
 func (m Menu) Add(me *MenuEntry) Menu {
 	app := func(slice Menu, x ...*MenuEntry) Menu {
 		n := len(slice) + len(x)
diff --git a/hugolib/node.go b/hugolib/node.go
index 1accd03ad..e7e524da2 100644
--- a/hugolib/node.go
+++ b/hugolib/node.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func (n *Node) Now() time.Time {
 func (n *Node) HasMenuCurrent(menu string, me *MenuEntry) bool {
 	return false
 }
-func (n *Node) IsMenuCurrent(menu string, name string) bool {
+func (n *Node) IsMenuCurrent(menu string, me *MenuEntry) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
diff --git a/hugolib/page.go b/hugolib/page.go
index 370a7a2e7..ca0ba630a 100644
--- a/hugolib/page.go
+++ b/hugolib/page.go
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ func (page *Page) HasMenuCurrent(menu string, me *MenuEntry) bool {
 	if m, ok := menus[menu]; ok {
 		if me.HasChildren() {
 			for _, child := range me.Children {
-				if child.Name == m.Name {
+				if child.IsEqual(m) {
 					return true
 				}
 			}
@@ -416,11 +416,11 @@ func (page *Page) HasMenuCurrent(menu string, me *MenuEntry) bool {
 
 }
 
-func (page *Page) IsMenuCurrent(menu string, name string) bool {
+func (page *Page) IsMenuCurrent(menu string, inme *MenuEntry) bool {
 	menus := page.Menus()
 
 	if me, ok := menus[menu]; ok {
-		return me.Name == name
+		return me.IsEqual(inme)
 	}
 
 	return false
diff --git a/hugolib/site.go b/hugolib/site.go
index bec1635f8..e77d48563 100644
--- a/hugolib/site.go
+++ b/hugolib/site.go
@@ -419,14 +419,17 @@ func (s *Site) assembleMenus() {
 	menuConfig := s.getMenusFromConfig()
 	for name, menu := range menuConfig {
 		for _, me := range *menu {
-			flat[twoD{name, me.Name}] = me
+			flat[twoD{name, me.KeyName()}] = me
 		}
 	}
 
 	//creating flat hash
 	for _, p := range s.Pages {
 		for name, me := range p.Menus() {
-			flat[twoD{name, me.Name}] = me
+			if _, ok := flat[twoD{name, me.KeyName()}]; ok {
+				jww.ERROR.Printf("Two or more menu items have the same name/identifier in %q Menu. Identified as %q.\n Rename or set a unique identifier. \n", name, me.KeyName())
+			}
+			flat[twoD{name, me.KeyName()}] = me
 		}
 	}