diff --git a/hy/core/language.hy b/hy/core/language.hy
index 749fa9e..bb29b10 100644
--- a/hy/core/language.hy
+++ b/hy/core/language.hy
@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@
 (import collections)
 (import sys)
 (import [hy._compat [long-type]]) ; long for python2, int for python3
-(import [hy.models.cons [HyCons]])
+(import [hy.models.cons [HyCons]]
+        [hy.models.keyword [HyKeyword *keyword-prefix*]])
 (import [hy.lex [LexException PrematureEndOfInput tokenize]])
 
-
 (defn _numeric-check [x]
   (if (not (numeric? x))
     (raise (TypeError (.format "{0!r} is not a number" x)))))
@@ -370,13 +370,45 @@
 
 (defun Botsbuildbots () (Botsbuildbots))
 
+(defn zipwith [func &rest lists]
+  "Zip the contents of several lists and map a function to the result"
+  (do
+    (import functools)
+    (map (functools.partial (fn [f args] (apply f args)) func) (apply zip lists))))
+
+(defn hyify [text]
+  "Convert text to match hy identifier"
+  (.replace (string text) "_" "-"))
+
+(defn keyword [value]
+  "Create a keyword from the given value. Strings numbers and even objects
+  with the __name__ magic will work"
+  (if (and (string? value) (value.startswith *keyword-prefix*))
+    (hyify value)
+    (if (string? value)
+      (HyKeyword (+ ":" (hyify value)))
+      (try
+        (hyify (.__name__ value))
+        (catch [] (HyKeyword (+ ":" (string value))))))))
+
+(defn name [value]
+  "Convert the given value to a string. Keyword special character will be stripped.
+  String will be used as is. Even objects with the __name__ magic will work"
+  (if (and (string? value) (value.startswith *keyword-prefix*))
+    (hyify (slice value 2))
+    (if (string? value)
+      (hyify value)
+      (try
+        (hyify (. value __name__))
+        (catch [] (string value))))))
+
 (def *exports* '[Botsbuildbots
                  butlast calling-module-name coll? cons cons? cycle
                  dec distinct disassemble drop drop-while empty? even?
                  every? first filter filterfalse flatten float? gensym identity
                  inc input instance? integer integer? integer-char? interleave
-                 interpose iterable? iterate iterator? keyword? list*
-                 macroexpand macroexpand-1 map merge-with neg? nil? none? nth
-                 numeric? odd? pos? range read remove repeat repeatedly
+                 interpose iterable? iterate iterator? keyword keyword? list*
+                 macroexpand macroexpand-1 map merge-with name neg? nil? none?
+                 nth numeric? odd? pos? range read remove repeat repeatedly
                  rest reduce second some string string? take take-nth
                  take-while zero? zip zip_longest zipwith])
diff --git a/hy/models/keyword.py b/hy/models/keyword.py
index 6d25633..32b2306 100644
--- a/hy/models/keyword.py
+++ b/hy/models/keyword.py
@@ -23,14 +23,17 @@ from hy.models import HyObject
 from hy._compat import str_type
 
 
+KEYWORD_PREFIX = "\uFDD0"
+
+
 class HyKeyword(HyObject, str_type):
     """Generic Hy Keyword object. It's either a ``str`` or a ``unicode``,
     depending on the Python version.
     """
 
     def __new__(cls, value):
-        if not value.startswith("\uFDD0"):
-            value = "\uFDD0" + value
+        if not value.startswith(KEYWORD_PREFIX):
+            value = KEYWORD_PREFIX + value
 
         obj = str_type.__new__(cls, value)
         return obj
diff --git a/tests/native_tests/language.hy b/tests/native_tests/language.hy
index 895249f..4c73455 100644
--- a/tests/native_tests/language.hy
+++ b/tests/native_tests/language.hy
@@ -1056,11 +1056,11 @@
     (import [StringIO [StringIO]])
     (import [io [StringIO]]))
   (import [hy.models.expression [HyExpression]])
- 
+
   (def stdin-buffer (StringIO "(+ 2 2)\n(- 2 2)"))
   (assert (= (eval (read stdin-buffer)) 4))
   (assert (isinstance (read stdin-buffer) HyExpression))
-  
+
   "Multiline test"
   (def stdin-buffer (StringIO "(\n+\n41\n1\n)\n(-\n2\n1\n)"))
   (assert (= (eval (read stdin-buffer)) 42))
@@ -1069,9 +1069,33 @@
   "EOF test"
   (def stdin-buffer (StringIO "(+ 2 2)"))
   (read stdin-buffer)
-  (try 
+  (try
     (read stdin-buffer)
     (catch [e Exception]
       (assert (isinstance e EOFError)))))
 
+(defn test-keyword-creation []
+  "NATIVE: Test keyword creation"
+  (assert (= (keyword "foo") :foo))
+  (assert (= (keyword "foo_bar") :foo-bar))
+  (assert (= (keyword `foo) :foo))
+  (assert (= (keyword `foo-bar) :foo-bar))
+  (assert (= (keyword 'foo) :foo))
+  (assert (= (keyword 'foo-bar) :foo-bar))
+  (assert (= (keyword 1) :1))
+  (assert (= (keyword 1.0) :1.0))
+  (assert (= (keyword :foo_bar) :foo-bar)))
 
+(defn test-name-conversion []
+  "NATIVE: Test name conversion"
+  (assert (= (name "foo") "foo"))
+  (assert (= (name "foo_bar") "foo-bar"))
+  (assert (= (name `foo) "foo"))
+  (assert (= (name `foo_bar) "foo-bar"))
+  (assert (= (name 'foo) "foo"))
+  (assert (= (name 'foo_bar) "foo-bar"))
+  (assert (= (name 1) "1"))
+  (assert (= (name 1.0) "1.0"))
+  (assert (= (name :foo) "foo"))
+  (assert (= (name :foo_bar) "foo-bar"))
+  (assert (= (name test-name-conversion) "test-name-conversion")))