diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php
index 3e0b1c53e90..a8233137eed 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Utility/HashTest.php
@@ -976,7 +976,7 @@ public function testSort() {
 			0 => array('Shirt' => array('color' => 'black')),
 			1 => array('Person' => array('name' => 'Jeff')),
 		);
-		$a = Hash::sort($a, '{n}.Person.name', 'ASC');
+		$a = Hash::sort($a, '{n}.Person.name', 'ASC', 'STRING');
 		$this->assertEquals($a, $b);
 
 		$names = array(
@@ -989,7 +989,7 @@ public function testSort() {
 			array('employees' => array(array('name' => array()))),
 			array('employees' => array(array('name' => array())))
 		);
-		$result = Hash::sort($names, '{n}.employees.0.name', 'asc', 1);
+		$result = Hash::sort($names, '{n}.employees.0.name', 'asc');
 		$expected = array(
 			array('employees' => array(
 				array('name' => array('first' => 'John', 'last' => 'Doe')))
@@ -1003,6 +1003,74 @@ public function testSort() {
 		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Test sort() with numeric option.
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testSortNumeric() {
+		$items = array(
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '155,000')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '139,000')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '275,622')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '230,888')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '66,000')),
+		);
+		$result = Hash::sort($items, '{n}.Item.price', 'asc', 'numeric');
+		$expected = array(
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '66,000')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '139,000')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '155,000')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '230,888')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '275,622')),
+		);
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
+
+		$result = Hash::sort($items, '{n}.Item.price', 'desc', 'numeric');
+		$expected = array(
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '275,622')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '230,888')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '155,000')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '139,000')),
+			array('Item' => array('price' => '66,000')),
+		);
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
+	}
+
+/**
+ * Test natural sorting.
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testSortNatural() {
+		$items = array(
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img1.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img99.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img12.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img10.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img2.jpg')),
+		);
+		$result = Hash::sort($items, '{n}.Item.image', 'desc', 'natural');
+		$expected = array(
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img99.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img12.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img10.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img2.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img1.jpg')),
+		);
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
+
+		$result = Hash::sort($items, '{n}.Item.image', 'asc', 'natural');
+		$expected = array(
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img1.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img2.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img10.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img12.jpg')),
+			array('Item' => array('image' => 'img99.jpg')),
+		);
+		$this->assertEquals($expected, $result);
+	}
+
 /**
  * test sorting with out of order keys.
  *
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php b/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php
index dc96c769ebf..b29eb8641e2 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Utility/Hash.php
@@ -717,13 +717,25 @@ public static function apply(array $data, $path, $function) {
 /**
  * Sorts an array by any value, determined by a Set-compatible path
  *
+ * ### Sort directions
+ *
+ * - `asc` Sort ascending.
+ * - `desc` Sort descending.
+ *
+ * ## Sort types
+ *
+ * - `numeric` Sort by numeric value.
+ * - `regular` Sort by numeric value.
+ * - `string` Sort by numeric value.
+ *
  * @param array $data An array of data to sort
  * @param string $path A Set-compatible path to the array value
- * @param string $dir Direction of sorting - either ascending (ASC), or descending (DESC)
+ * @param string $dir See directions above.
+ * @param string $type See direction types above. Defaults to 'regular'.
  * @return array Sorted array of data
  * @link http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/core-utility-libraries/hash.html#Hash::sort
  */
-	public static function sort(array $data, $path, $dir) {
+	public static function sort(array $data, $path, $dir, $type = 'regular') {
 		$originalKeys = array_keys($data);
 		$numeric = is_numeric(implode('', $originalKeys));
 		if ($numeric) {
@@ -743,12 +755,22 @@ public static function sort(array $data, $path, $dir) {
 		$values = self::extract($result, '{n}.value');
 
 		$dir = strtolower($dir);
+		$type = strtolower($type);
 		if ($dir === 'asc') {
 			$dir = SORT_ASC;
-		} elseif ($dir === 'desc') {
+		} else {
 			$dir = SORT_DESC;
 		}
-		array_multisort($values, $dir, $keys, $dir);
+		if ($type === 'numeric') {
+			$type = SORT_NUMERIC;
+		} elseif ($type === 'string') {
+			$type = SORT_STRING;
+		} elseif ($type === 'natural') {
+			$type = SORT_NATURAL;
+		} else {
+			$type = SORT_REGULAR;
+		}
+		array_multisort($values, $dir, $type, $keys, $dir, $type);
 		$sorted = array();
 		$keys = array_unique($keys);