diff --git a/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.jison b/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.jison
index ceae4f18cf..067851e3cc 100644
--- a/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.jison
+++ b/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.jison
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ accDescr\s*"{"\s*                                { this.begin("acc_descr_multili
 [\n]+                           return 'NEWLINE';
 \s+                             /* skip whitespace */
 [\s]+                           return 'SPACE';
+\"[A-Za-z0-9\!\@\#\$\^\&\*\(\)\-_\=\+\[\]\{\};:\.\?]+\"     return 'ENTITY_NAME';
 \"[^"]*\"                       return 'WORD';
 "erDiagram"                     return 'ER_DIAGRAM';
 "{"                             { this.begin("block"); return 'BLOCK_START'; }
@@ -102,8 +103,8 @@ statement
     ;
 
 entityName
-    : 'ALPHANUM' { $$ = $1; /*console.log('Entity: ' + $1);*/ }
-    | 'ALPHANUM' '.' entityName { $$ = $1 + $2 + $3; }
+    : 'ALPHANUM'      { $$ = $1; }
+    | 'ENTITY_NAME'      { $$ = $1.replace(/"/g, ''); }
     ;
 
 attributes
@@ -156,6 +157,7 @@ relType
 
 role
     : 'WORD'      { $$ = $1.replace(/"/g, ''); }
+    | 'ENTITY_NAME' { $$ = $1.replace(/"/g, ''); }
     | 'ALPHANUM'  { $$ = $1; }
     ;
 
diff --git a/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.spec.js b/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.spec.js
index 409176f782..27d9350b73 100644
--- a/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.spec.js
+++ b/src/diagrams/er/parser/erDiagram.spec.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { setConfig } from '../../../config';
 import erDb from '../erDb';
-import erDiagram from './erDiagram';
+import erDiagram from './erDiagram'; // jison file
 
 setConfig({
   securityLevel: 'strict',
@@ -21,14 +21,112 @@ describe('when parsing ER diagram it...', function () {
     expect(erDb.getRelationships().length).toBe(0);
   });
 
-  it('should allow hyphens and underscores in entity names', function () {
-    const line1 = 'DUCK-BILLED-PLATYPUS';
-    const line2 = 'CHARACTER_SET';
-    erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n${line1}\n${line2}`);
-
-    const entities = erDb.getEntities();
-    expect(entities.hasOwnProperty('DUCK-BILLED-PLATYPUS')).toBe(true);
-    expect(entities.hasOwnProperty('CHARACTER_SET')).toBe(true);
+  describe('entity name', () => {
+    it('cannot be empty quotes ""', function () {
+      const name = '""';
+      expect(() => {
+        erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n ${name}\n`);
+        const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+        expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(false);
+      }).toThrow();
+    });
+    describe('has non A-Za-z0-9_- chars', function () {
+      const allowed = [
+        '!',
+        '@',
+        '#',
+        '$',
+        '^',
+        '&',
+        '*',
+        '(',
+        ')',
+        '-',
+        '_',
+        '=',
+        '+',
+        '[',
+        ']',
+        '{',
+        '}',
+        ';',
+        ':',
+        '.',
+        '?',
+      ];
+
+      allowed.forEach((allowedChar) => {
+        const singleOccurrence = `Blo${allowedChar}rf`;
+        const repeatedOccurrence = `Blo${allowedChar}${allowedChar}rf`;
+        const cannontStartWith = `${allowedChar}Blorf`;
+        const endsWith = `Blorf${allowedChar}`;
+
+        it(`${singleOccurrence} fails if not surrounded by quotes`, function () {
+          const name = singleOccurrence;
+          expect(() => {
+            erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n ${name}\n`);
+            const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+            expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(false);
+          }).toThrow();
+        });
+
+        it(`"${singleOccurrence}" single occurrence`, function () {
+          const name = singleOccurrence;
+          erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n "${name}"\n`);
+          const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+          expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(true);
+        });
+
+        it(`"${repeatedOccurrence}" repeated occurrence`, function () {
+          const name = repeatedOccurrence;
+          erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n "${name}"\n`);
+          const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+          expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(true);
+        });
+
+        it(`"${singleOccurrence}" ends with`, function () {
+          const name = endsWith;
+          erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n "${name}"\n`);
+          const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+          expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(true);
+        });
+
+        it(`"${cannontStartWith}" cannot start with the character`, function () {
+          const name = repeatedOccurrence;
+          expect(() => {
+            erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n "${name}"\n`);
+            const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+            expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(false);
+          }).toThrow();
+        });
+      });
+
+      const allCombined = allowed.join('');
+
+      it(`a${allCombined} (all non-alphanumerics) in one, starting with 'a'`, function () {
+        const name = 'a' + allCombined;
+        erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n "${name}"\n`);
+        const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+        expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(true);
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('cannot contain % because it interfers with parsing comments', function () {
+      expect(() => {
+        erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n "Blo%rf"\n`);
+        const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+        expect(entities.hasOwnProperty(name)).toBe(false);
+      }).toThrow();
+    });
+
+    it('can contain - _ ', function () {
+      const hyphens = 'DUCK-BILLED-PLATYPUS';
+      const underscores = 'CHARACTER_SET';
+      erDiagram.parser.parse(`erDiagram\n${hyphens}\n${underscores}\n`);
+      const entities = erDb.getEntities();
+      expect(entities.hasOwnProperty('DUCK-BILLED-PLATYPUS')).toBe(true);
+      expect(entities.hasOwnProperty('CHARACTER_SET')).toBe(true);
+    });
   });
 
   it('should allow an entity with a single attribute to be defined', function () {
@@ -447,27 +545,23 @@ describe('when parsing ER diagram it...', function () {
     }).toThrowError();
   });
 
-  it('should allow an empty quoted label', function () {
-    erDiagram.parser.parse('erDiagram\nCUSTOMER ||--|{ ORDER : ""');
-    const rels = erDb.getRelationships();
-    expect(rels[0].roleA).toBe('');
-  });
-
-  it('should allow an non-empty quoted label', function () {
-    erDiagram.parser.parse('erDiagram\nCUSTOMER ||--|{ ORDER : "places"');
-    const rels = erDb.getRelationships();
-    expect(rels[0].roleA).toBe('places');
-  });
-
-  it('should allow an non-empty unquoted label', function () {
-    erDiagram.parser.parse('erDiagram\nCUSTOMER ||--|{ ORDER : places');
-    const rels = erDb.getRelationships();
-    expect(rels[0].roleA).toBe('places');
-  });
-
-  it('should allow an entity name with a dot', function () {
-    erDiagram.parser.parse('erDiagram\nCUSTOMER.PROP ||--|{ ORDER : places');
-    const rels = erDb.getRelationships();
-    expect(rels[0].entityA).toBe('CUSTOMER.PROP');
+  describe('relationship labels', function () {
+    it('should allow an empty quoted label', function () {
+      erDiagram.parser.parse('erDiagram\nCUSTOMER ||--|{ ORDER : ""');
+      const rels = erDb.getRelationships();
+      expect(rels[0].roleA).toBe('');
+    });
+
+    it('should allow an non-empty quoted label', function () {
+      erDiagram.parser.parse('erDiagram\nCUSTOMER ||--|{ ORDER : "places"');
+      const rels = erDb.getRelationships();
+      expect(rels[0].roleA).toBe('places');
+    });
+
+    it('should allow an non-empty unquoted label', function () {
+      erDiagram.parser.parse('erDiagram\nCUSTOMER ||--|{ ORDER : places');
+      const rels = erDb.getRelationships();
+      expect(rels[0].roleA).toBe('places');
+    });
   });
 });