diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 1c1134ea..1f0e2bbb 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ xmltree = "0.8"
 anyhow = "1.0.19"
 thiserror = "1.0.5"
 rayon = "1.3.0"
+once_cell = "1.3.1"
+regex = "1"
 
 [dependencies.serde]
 version = "1.0"
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 2c119faa..0ac94300 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 //! This module defines error types and messages for SVD parsing and encoding
 
 pub use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
+use regex::Regex;
 use xmltree::Element;
 
 #[allow(clippy::large_enum_variant)]
@@ -72,25 +74,20 @@ pub enum NameError {
     Invalid(String, String),
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn is_valid_name(name: &str) -> bool {
-    let mut chars = name.chars();
-    if let Some(first) = chars.next() {
-        if !(first.is_ascii_alphabetic() || first == '_') {
-            return false;
-        }
-        for c in chars {
-            if !(c.is_ascii_alphanumeric() || c == '_' || c == '%') {
-                return false;
-            }
-        }
-        true
+pub(crate) fn check_name(name: &str, tag: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    static PATTERN: Lazy<Regex> = Lazy::new(|| Regex::new("^[_A-Za-z0-9]*$").unwrap());
+    if PATTERN.is_match(name) {
+        Ok(())
     } else {
-        false
+        Err(NameError::Invalid(name.to_string(), tag.to_string()).into())
     }
 }
 
-pub(crate) fn check_name(name: &str, tag: &str) -> Result<()> {
-    if is_valid_name(name) {
+pub(crate) fn check_dimable_name(name: &str, tag: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    static PATTERN: Lazy<Regex> = Lazy::new(|| {
+        Regex::new("^((%s)|(%s)[_A-Za-z]{1}[_A-Za-z0-9]*)|([_A-Za-z]{1}[_A-Za-z0-9]*(\\[%s\\])?)|([_A-Za-z]{1}[_A-Za-z0-9]*(%s)?[_A-Za-z0-9]*)$").unwrap()
+    });
+    if PATTERN.is_match(name) {
         Ok(())
     } else {
         Err(NameError::Invalid(name.to_string(), tag.to_string()).into())
diff --git a/src/svd/clusterinfo.rs b/src/svd/clusterinfo.rs
index ec230048..a0923ac2 100644
--- a/src/svd/clusterinfo.rs
+++ b/src/svd/clusterinfo.rs
@@ -109,9 +109,9 @@ impl ClusterInfoBuilder {
 
 impl ClusterInfo {
     fn validate(self) -> Result<Self> {
-        check_name(&self.name, "name")?;
+        check_dimable_name(&self.name, "name")?;
         if let Some(name) = self.derived_from.as_ref() {
-            check_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
+            check_dimable_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
         } else {
             if self.children.is_empty() {
                 return Err(SVDError::EmptyCluster)?;
diff --git a/src/svd/fieldinfo.rs b/src/svd/fieldinfo.rs
index fba522aa..76a480e3 100644
--- a/src/svd/fieldinfo.rs
+++ b/src/svd/fieldinfo.rs
@@ -127,9 +127,9 @@ impl FieldInfoBuilder {
 
 impl FieldInfo {
     fn validate(self) -> Result<Self> {
-        check_name(&self.name, "name")?;
+        check_dimable_name(&self.name, "name")?;
         if let Some(name) = self.derived_from.as_ref() {
-            check_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
+            check_dimable_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
         }
         for ev in &self.enumerated_values {
             ev.check_range(0..2_u32.pow(self.bit_range.width))?;
diff --git a/src/svd/peripheral.rs b/src/svd/peripheral.rs
index f415cff9..d8cfb326 100644
--- a/src/svd/peripheral.rs
+++ b/src/svd/peripheral.rs
@@ -159,9 +159,9 @@ impl PeripheralBuilder {
 impl Peripheral {
     fn validate(self) -> Result<Self> {
         // TODO
-        check_name(&self.name, "name")?;
+        check_dimable_name(&self.name, "name")?;
         if let Some(name) = self.derived_from.as_ref() {
-            check_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
+            check_dimable_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
         } else if let Some(registers) = self.registers.as_ref() {
             if registers.is_empty() {
                 return Err(SVDError::EmptyRegisters)?;
diff --git a/src/svd/registerinfo.rs b/src/svd/registerinfo.rs
index 4d5aa1fc..8f777977 100644
--- a/src/svd/registerinfo.rs
+++ b/src/svd/registerinfo.rs
@@ -182,15 +182,15 @@ impl RegisterInfoBuilder {
 
 impl RegisterInfo {
     fn validate(self) -> Result<Self> {
-        check_name(&self.name, "name")?;
+        check_dimable_name(&self.name, "name")?;
         if let Some(name) = self.alternate_group.as_ref() {
             check_name(name, "alternateGroup")?;
         }
         if let Some(name) = self.alternate_register.as_ref() {
-            check_name(name, "alternateRegister")?;
+            check_dimable_name(name, "alternateRegister")?;
         }
         if let Some(name) = self.derived_from.as_ref() {
-            check_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
+            check_dimable_name(name, "derivedFrom")?;
         } else if let Some(fields) = self.fields.as_ref() {
             if fields.is_empty() {
                 return Err(SVDError::EmptyFields)?;