diff --git a/appview/pages/templates/repo/fork.html b/appview/pages/templates/repo/fork.html
index 2fec27e0..3a5c5910 100644
--- a/appview/pages/templates/repo/fork.html
+++ b/appview/pages/templates/repo/fork.html
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@
 </div>
 <div class="p-6 bg-white dark:bg-gray-800 drop-shadow-sm rounded">
   <form hx-post="/{{ .RepoInfo.FullName }}/fork" class="space-y-12" hx-swap="none" hx-indicator="#spinner">
+
+    <fieldset class="space-y-3">
+      <legend for="repo_name" class="dark:text-white">Repository name</legend>
+      <input type="text" id="repo_name" name="repo_name" value="{{ .RepoInfo.Name }}"
+        class="w-full p-2 border rounded bg-gray-100 dark:bg-gray-700 dark:text-white dark:border-gray-600" />
+    </fieldset>
+
     <fieldset class="space-y-3">
       <legend class="dark:text-white">Select a knot to fork into</legend>
       <div class="space-y-2">
diff --git a/appview/repo/repo.go b/appview/repo/repo.go
index e82dfc80..a47b2e42 100644
--- a/appview/repo/repo.go
+++ b/appview/repo/repo.go
@@ -2129,25 +2129,29 @@ func (rp *Repo) ForkRepo(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		}
 
 		// choose a name for a fork
-		forkName := f.Name
+		forkName := r.FormValue("repo_name")
+		if forkName == "" {
+			rp.pages.Notice(w, "repo", "Repository name cannot be empty.")
+			return
+		}
+
 		// this check is *only* to see if the forked repo name already exists
 		// in the user's account.
 		existingRepo, err := db.GetRepo(
 			rp.db,
 			db.FilterEq("did", user.Did),
-			db.FilterEq("name", f.Name),
+			db.FilterEq("name", forkName),
 		)
 		if err != nil {
-			if errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {
-				// no existing repo with this name found, we can use the name as is
-			} else {
+			if !errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {
 				log.Println("error fetching existing repo from db", "err", err)
 				rp.pages.Notice(w, "repo", "Failed to fork this repository. Try again later.")
 				return
 			}
 		} else if existingRepo != nil {
-			// repo with this name already exists, append random string
-			forkName = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", forkName, randomString(3))
+			// repo with this name already exists
+			rp.pages.Notice(w, "repo", "A repository with this name already exists.")
+			return
 		}
 		l = l.With("forkName", forkName)