diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/RenameWorkspaceModal.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/RenameWorkspaceModal.tsx
index 2e48e37aee16b0..f5b183f412eb79 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/RenameWorkspaceModal.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/workspaces/RenameWorkspaceModal.tsx
@@ -10,21 +10,14 @@ import { Button } from "@podkit/buttons/Button";
 import { Workspace } from "@gitpod/public-api/lib/gitpod/v1/workspace_pb";
 import { useUpdateWorkspaceMutation } from "../data/workspaces/update-workspace-mutation";
 import { LoadingButton } from "@podkit/buttons/LoadingButton";
+import { Workspace as WorkspaceProtocol } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 
-export const NAME_PREFIX = "named:";
 export function toWorkspaceName(name: string): string {
-    // unsetting the name
-    if (name.trim().length === 0) {
-        return "no-name";
-    }
-    return `${NAME_PREFIX}${name}`;
+    return WorkspaceProtocol.toWorkspaceName(name);
 }
 
 export function fromWorkspaceName(workspace?: Workspace): string | undefined {
-    if (workspace?.metadata?.name?.startsWith(NAME_PREFIX)) {
-        return workspace.metadata.name.slice(NAME_PREFIX.length);
-    }
-    return undefined;
+    return WorkspaceProtocol.fromWorkspaceName(workspace?.metadata?.name);
 }
 
 type Props = {
diff --git a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/protocol.ts b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/protocol.ts
index 8877eeb7fe3a6d..63ae2d5c9a37b3 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/protocol.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/protocol.ts
@@ -766,6 +766,20 @@ export namespace Workspace {
         }
         return undefined;
     }
+
+    const NAME_PREFIX = "named:";
+    export function fromWorkspaceName(name?: Workspace["description"]): string | undefined {
+        if (name?.startsWith(NAME_PREFIX)) {
+            return name.slice(NAME_PREFIX.length);
+        }
+        return undefined;
+    }
+    export function toWorkspaceName(name?: Workspace["description"]): string {
+        if (!name || name?.trim().length === 0) {
+            return "no-name";
+        }
+        return `${NAME_PREFIX}${name}`;
+    }
 }
 
 export interface GuessGitTokenScopesParams {
diff --git a/components/ide/jetbrains/backend-plugin/src/main/kotlin/io/gitpod/jetbrains/remote/GitpodGatewayClientCustomizationProvider.kt b/components/ide/jetbrains/backend-plugin/src/main/kotlin/io/gitpod/jetbrains/remote/GitpodGatewayClientCustomizationProvider.kt
index c23543ae90280a..e09d2ab03d5a05 100644
--- a/components/ide/jetbrains/backend-plugin/src/main/kotlin/io/gitpod/jetbrains/remote/GitpodGatewayClientCustomizationProvider.kt
+++ b/components/ide/jetbrains/backend-plugin/src/main/kotlin/io/gitpod/jetbrains/remote/GitpodGatewayClientCustomizationProvider.kt
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class GitpodGatewayClientCustomizationProvider : GatewayClientCustomizationProvi
 
     override val controlCenter: GatewayControlCenterProvider = object : GatewayControlCenterProvider {
         override fun getHostnameDisplayKind() = GatewayHostnameDisplayKind.ShowHostnameOnNavbar
-        override fun getHostnameShort() = title
+        override fun getHostnameShort() = System.getenv("GITPOD_WORKSPACE_NAME") ?: title
         override fun getHostnameLong() = title
     }
 }
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
index d9e32754d6f680..6b3d4582dfea01 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
@@ -1587,6 +1587,14 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
         sysEnvvars.push(isSetJavaXmx);
         sysEnvvars.push(isSetJavaProcessorCount);
         sysEnvvars.push(disableJetBrainsLocalPortForwarding);
+
+        const workspaceName = Workspace.fromWorkspaceName(workspace.description);
+        if (workspaceName && workspaceName.length > 0) {
+            const workspaceNameEnv = new EnvironmentVariable();
+            workspaceNameEnv.setName("GITPOD_WORKSPACE_NAME");
+            workspaceNameEnv.setValue(workspaceName);
+            sysEnvvars.push(workspaceNameEnv);
+        }
         const spec = new StartWorkspaceSpec();
         await createGitpodTokenPromise;
         spec.setEnvvarsList(envvars);