diff --git a/enumeratum-core/src/main/scala/enumeratum/Enum.scala b/enumeratum-core/src/main/scala/enumeratum/Enum.scala
index a92766d9..b1283f90 100644
--- a/enumeratum-core/src/main/scala/enumeratum/Enum.scala
+++ b/enumeratum-core/src/main/scala/enumeratum/Enum.scala
@@ -59,11 +59,29 @@ trait Enum[A] {
    */
   lazy final val namesToValuesMap: Map[String, A] = values map (v => v.toString -> v) toMap
 
+  /**
+   * Map of [[A]] object names in lower case to [[A]]s for case-insensitive comparison
+   */
+  lazy final val lowerCaseNamesToValuesMap: Map[String, A] = values map (v => v.toString.toLowerCase -> v) toMap
+
+  /**
+   * Optionally returns an [[A]] for a given name.
+   */
+  def withNameOption(name: String): Option[A] = namesToValuesMap get name
+
+  /**
+   * Optionally returns an [[A]] for a given name, disregarding case
+   */
+  def withNameInsensitiveOption(name: String): Option[A] = lowerCaseNamesToValuesMap get name.toLowerCase
+
   /**
    * Tries to get an [[A]] by the supplied name. The name corresponds to the .toString
    * of the case objects implementing [[A]]
+   *
+   * Like [[Enumeration]]'s `withName`, this method will throw if the name does not match any of the values'
+   * .toString names.
    */
   def withName(name: String): A =
-    namesToValuesMap getOrElse (name, throw new IllegalArgumentException(s"$name is not a member of Enum $this"))
+    withNameOption(name) getOrElse (throw new NoSuchElementException(s"$name is not a member of Enum $this"))
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/enumeratum-core/src/test/scala/enumeratum/EnumSpec.scala b/enumeratum-core/src/test/scala/enumeratum/EnumSpec.scala
index 00ae1a73..66508038 100644
--- a/enumeratum-core/src/test/scala/enumeratum/EnumSpec.scala
+++ b/enumeratum-core/src/test/scala/enumeratum/EnumSpec.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package enumeratum
 
 import org.scalatest.{ Matchers, FunSpec }
+import org.scalatest.OptionValues._
 
 class EnumSpec extends FunSpec with Matchers {
 
@@ -25,13 +26,45 @@ class EnumSpec extends FunSpec with Matchers {
       }
 
       it("should throw an error otherwise") {
-        intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
+        intercept[NoSuchElementException] {
           DummyEnum.withName("hello")
         }
       }
 
     }
 
+    describe("#withNameOption") {
+
+      it("should return the proper object when passed the proper string") {
+        DummyEnum.withNameOption("Hello").value should be(Hello)
+        DummyEnum.withNameOption("GoodBye").value should be(GoodBye)
+        DummyEnum.withNameOption("Hi").value should be(Hi)
+      }
+
+      it("should return None otherwise") {
+        DummyEnum.withNameOption("hello") shouldBe None
+      }
+
+    }
+
+    describe("#withNameInsensitiveOption") {
+
+      it("should return the proper object when passed the proper string, disregarding cases") {
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("Hello").value should be(Hello)
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("hello").value should be(Hello)
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("GoodBye").value should be(GoodBye)
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("goodBye").value should be(GoodBye)
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("gOodbye").value should be(GoodBye)
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("Hi").value should be(Hi)
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("hI").value should be(Hi)
+      }
+
+      it("should return None otherwise") {
+        DummyEnum.withNameInsensitiveOption("bbeeeech") shouldBe None
+      }
+
+    }
+
   }
 
   describe("when a sealed trait is wrapped in another object") {
@@ -56,7 +89,7 @@ class EnumSpec extends FunSpec with Matchers {
       }
 
       it("should throw an error otherwise") {
-        intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
+        intercept[NoSuchElementException] {
           SmartEnum.withName("hello")
         }
       }
@@ -86,7 +119,7 @@ class EnumSpec extends FunSpec with Matchers {
       }
 
       it("should throw an error otherwise") {
-        intercept[IllegalArgumentException] {
+        intercept[NoSuchElementException] {
           withName("hello")
         }
       }