diff --git a/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/find-trace-name.test.js b/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/find-trace-name.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b9963555dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/find-trace-name.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,244 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2020 The Jaeger Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+import { getTraceName } from './trace-viewer';
+
+describe('getTraceName', () => {
+  const firstSpanId = 'firstSpanId';
+  const secondSpanId = 'secondSpanId';
+  const thirdSpanId = 'thirdSpanId';
+  const missingSpanId = 'missingSpanId';
+
+  const currentTraceId = 'currentTraceId';
+
+  const serviceName = 'serviceName';
+  const operationName = 'operationName';
+
+  const t = 1583758670000;
+
+  // Note: this trace has a loop S1 <- S2 <- S3 <- S1, which is the only way
+  // to make the algorithm return an empty string as trace name.
+  const spansWithNoRoots = [
+    {
+      spanID: firstSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 200,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: secondSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: secondSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 100,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: thirdSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: thirdSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: firstSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ];
+  const spansWithMultipleRootsDifferentByStartTime = [
+    {
+      spanID: firstSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 200,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: thirdSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: secondSpanId, // may be a root span
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 100,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: missingSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: thirdSpanId, // root span (as the earliest)
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t,
+      operationName,
+      process: {
+        serviceName,
+      },
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: missingSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ];
+  const spansWithMultipleRootsWithOneWithoutRefs = [
+    {
+      spanID: firstSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 200,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: thirdSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: secondSpanId, // root span (as a span without any refs)
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 100,
+      operationName,
+      process: {
+        serviceName,
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: thirdSpanId, // may be a root span
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: missingSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ];
+  const spansWithOneRootWithRemoteRef = [
+    {
+      spanID: firstSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 200,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: secondSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: secondSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 100,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: thirdSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: thirdSpanId, // effective root span, since its parent is missing
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t,
+      operationName,
+      process: {
+        serviceName,
+      },
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: missingSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ];
+  const spansWithOneRootWithNoRefs = [
+    {
+      spanID: firstSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 200,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: thirdSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: secondSpanId, // root span
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t + 100,
+      operationName,
+      process: {
+        serviceName,
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      spanID: thirdSpanId,
+      traceID: currentTraceId,
+      startTime: t,
+      process: {},
+      references: [
+        {
+          spanID: secondSpanId,
+          traceID: currentTraceId,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ];
+
+  const fullTraceName = `${serviceName}: ${operationName}`;
+
+  it('returns an empty string if given spans with no root among them', () => {
+    expect(getTraceName(spansWithNoRoots)).toEqual('');
+  });
+
+  it('returns an id of root span with the earliest startTime', () => {
+    expect(getTraceName(spansWithMultipleRootsDifferentByStartTime)).toEqual(fullTraceName);
+  });
+
+  it('returns an id of root span without any refs', () => {
+    expect(getTraceName(spansWithMultipleRootsWithOneWithoutRefs)).toEqual(fullTraceName);
+  });
+
+  it('returns an id of root span with remote ref', () => {
+    expect(getTraceName(spansWithOneRootWithRemoteRef)).toEqual(fullTraceName);
+  });
+
+  it('returns an id of root span with no refs', () => {
+    expect(getTraceName(spansWithOneRootWithNoRefs)).toEqual(fullTraceName);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/trace-viewer.js b/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/trace-viewer.js
deleted file mode 100644
index cbc756014a..0000000000
--- a/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/trace-viewer.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (c) 2017 Uber Technologies, Inc.
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-// eslint-disable-next-line import/prefer-default-export
-export function getTraceName(spans) {
-  const span = spans.filter(sp => !sp.references || !sp.references.length)[0];
-  return span ? `${span.process.serviceName}: ${span.operationName}` : '';
-}
diff --git a/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/trace-viewer.tsx b/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/trace-viewer.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..049d6dcf6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/jaeger-ui/src/model/trace-viewer.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2020 The Jaeger Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+import { Span } from '../types/trace';
+
+type spansDict = { [index: string]: Span };
+
+// eslint-disable-next-line import/prefer-default-export
+export function getTraceName(spans: Span[]) {
+  const allTraceSpans: spansDict = spans.reduce((dict, span) => ({ ...dict, [span.spanID]: span }), {});
+  const rootSpan = spans
+    .filter(sp => {
+      if (!sp.references || !sp.references.length) {
+        return true;
+      }
+      const parentIDs = sp.references.filter(r => r.traceID === sp.traceID).map(r => r.spanID);
+
+      // returns true if no parent from this trace found
+      return !parentIDs.some(pID => Boolean(allTraceSpans[pID]));
+    })
+    .sort((sp1, sp2) => {
+      const sp1ParentsNum = sp1.references ? sp1.references.length : 0;
+      const sp2ParentsNum = sp2.references ? sp2.references.length : 0;
+
+      return sp1ParentsNum - sp2ParentsNum || sp1.startTime - sp2.startTime;
+    })[0];
+
+  return rootSpan ? `${rootSpan.process.serviceName}: ${rootSpan.operationName}` : '';
+}
diff --git a/packages/jaeger-ui/tsconfig.lint.json b/packages/jaeger-ui/tsconfig.lint.json
index 738684b0ab..562e1172d2 100644
--- a/packages/jaeger-ui/tsconfig.lint.json
+++ b/packages/jaeger-ui/tsconfig.lint.json
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@
     "src/api/jaeger.js",
     "src/components/SearchTracePage/SearchResults/ResultItem.markers.js",
     "src/model/order-by.js",
-    "src/model/trace-viewer.js",
     "src/selectors/process.js",
     "src/selectors/span.js",
     "src/selectors/trace.js",