diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index ce13004ef..af601d6ff 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ export(ts_ibd)
 export(ts_load)
 export(ts_metadata)
 export(ts_mutate)
+export(ts_names)
 export(ts_nodes)
 export(ts_phylo)
 export(ts_recapitate)
diff --git a/R/tree-sequences.R b/R/tree-sequences.R
index d2c78bb3c..208e2802c 100644
--- a/R/tree-sequences.R
+++ b/R/tree-sequences.R
@@ -1155,6 +1155,33 @@ ts_samples <- function(ts) {
   samples
 }
 
+#' Extract names of individuals in a tree sequence
+#'
+#' @param ts Tree sequence object of the class \code{slendr_ts}
+#' @param split Should sample names in the tree sequence be split by a column
+#'   (a population or time column)? Default is \code{NULL} and all names of
+#'   samples will be returned as a single character vector. If set to "pop" or
+#'   "time", a list of character vectors will be returned, one vector for each
+#'   unique "pop" or "time" grouping.
+#'
+#' @return A vector of character sample names. If \code{split} is specified,
+#'   a list of such vectors is returned, one element of the list per population
+#'   or sampling time.
+#'
+#' @export
+ts_names <- function(ts, split = NULL) {
+  df <- ts_samples(ts)
+
+  if (is.null(split)) { # return all names if splitting not requested
+    result <- df$name
+  } else if (split %in% colnames(df)) { # otherwise split by a given column
+    result <- df %>% split(., .[[split]]) %>% lapply(`[[`, "name")
+  } else
+    stop("Column '", split, "' not present in the samples table", call. = FALSE)
+
+  result
+}
+
 #' Extract (spatio-)temporal ancestral history for given nodes/individuals
 #'
 #' @param ts Tree sequence object of the class \code{slendr_ts}
diff --git a/man/ts_names.Rd b/man/ts_names.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c3f407bdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/ts_names.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/tree-sequences.R
+\name{ts_names}
+\alias{ts_names}
+\title{Extract names of individuals in a tree sequence}
+\usage{
+ts_names(ts, split = NULL)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{ts}{Tree sequence object of the class \code{slendr_ts}}
+
+\item{split}{Should sample names in the tree sequence be split by a column
+(a population or time column)? Default is \code{NULL} and all names of
+samples will be returned as a single character vector. If set to "pop" or
+"time", a list of character vectors will be returned, one vector for each
+unique "pop" or "time" grouping.}
+}
+\value{
+A vector of character sample names. If \code{split} is specified,
+a list of such vectors is returned, one element of the list per population
+or sampling time.
+}
+\description{
+Extract names of individuals in a tree sequence
+}