diff --git a/boto3/session.py b/boto3/session.py
index efd9fb7faf..26fcadfe1f 100644
--- a/boto3/session.py
+++ b/boto3/session.py
@@ -37,10 +37,13 @@ class Session(object):
     :type botocore_session: botocore.session.Session
     :param botocore_session: Use this Botocore session instead of creating
                              a new default one.
+    :type profile_name: string
+    :param profile_name: The name of a profile to use. If not given, then
+                         the default profile is used.
     """
     def __init__(self, aws_access_key_id=None, aws_secret_access_key=None,
                  aws_session_token=None, region_name=None,
-                 botocore_session=None):
+                 botocore_session=None, profile_name=None):
         if botocore_session is not None:
             self._session = botocore_session
         else:
@@ -58,6 +61,9 @@ def __init__(self, aws_access_key_id=None, aws_secret_access_key=None,
             self._session.user_agent_name = 'Boto3'
             self._session.user_agent_version = boto3.__version__
 
+        if profile_name is not None:
+            self._session.profile = profile_name
+
         if aws_access_key_id or aws_secret_access_key or aws_session_token:
             self._session.set_credentials(aws_access_key_id,
                 aws_secret_access_key, aws_session_token)
@@ -72,6 +78,13 @@ def __repr__(self):
         return 'Session(region={0})'.format(
             repr(self._session.get_config_variable('region')))
 
+    @property
+    def profile_name(self):
+        """
+        The **read-only** profile name.
+        """
+        return self._session.profile or 'default'
+
     def _setup_loader(self):
         """
         Setup loader paths so that we can load resources.
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_session.py b/tests/unit/test_session.py
index 3555b132be..d014518be2 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_session.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_session.py
@@ -66,6 +66,23 @@ def test_credentials_can_be_set(self):
         bc_session.set_credentials.assert_called_with(
             'key', 'secret', 'token')
 
+    def test_profile_can_be_set(self):
+        bc_session = self.bc_session_cls.return_value
+
+        session = Session(profile_name='foo')
+
+        self.assertEqual(bc_session.profile, 'foo')
+
+        # We should also be able to read the value
+        self.assertEqual(session.profile_name, 'foo')
+
+    def test_profile_default(self):
+        self.bc_session_cls.return_value.profile = None
+
+        session = Session()
+
+        self.assertEqual(session.profile_name, 'default')
+
     def test_custom_session(self):
         bc_session = self.bc_session_cls()
         self.bc_session_cls.reset_mock()