diff --git a/moshi/src/main/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapter.java b/moshi/src/main/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapter.java
index f2cf8ce..b9e428f 100644
--- a/moshi/src/main/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapter.java
+++ b/moshi/src/main/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapter.java
@@ -77,11 +77,13 @@ final class ClassJsonAdapter<T> extends JsonAdapter<T> {
         FieldBinding<Object> fieldBinding = new FieldBinding<>(field, adapter);
 
         // Store it using the field's name. If there was already a field with this name, fail!
-        FieldBinding<?> replaced = fieldBindings.put(field.getName(), fieldBinding);
+        Json jsonAnnotation = field.getAnnotation(Json.class);
+        String name = jsonAnnotation != null ? jsonAnnotation.name() : field.getName();
+        FieldBinding<?> replaced = fieldBindings.put(name, fieldBinding);
         if (replaced != null) {
-          throw new IllegalArgumentException("Field name collision: '" + field.getName() + "'"
-              + " declared by both " + replaced.field.getDeclaringClass().getName()
-              + " and superclass " + fieldBinding.field.getDeclaringClass().getName());
+          throw new IllegalArgumentException("Conflicting fields:\n"
+              + "    " + replaced.field + "\n"
+              + "    " + fieldBinding.field);
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/moshi/src/main/java/com/squareup/moshi/Json.java b/moshi/src/main/java/com/squareup/moshi/Json.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9abecc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/moshi/src/main/java/com/squareup/moshi/Json.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2015 Square, 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.
+ */
+package com.squareup.moshi;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.FIELD;
+import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME;
+
+/** Customizes how a field is encoded as JSON. */
+@Target(FIELD)
+@Retention(RUNTIME)
+@Documented
+public @interface Json {
+  String name();
+}
diff --git a/moshi/src/test/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapterTest.java b/moshi/src/test/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapterTest.java
index 5c058ca..66b33f7 100644
--- a/moshi/src/test/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapterTest.java
+++ b/moshi/src/test/java/com/squareup/moshi/ClassJsonAdapterTest.java
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ package com.squareup.moshi;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Comparator;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.SimpleTimeZone;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import javax.crypto.KeyGenerator;
@@ -160,9 +162,25 @@ public final class ClassJsonAdapterTest {
       ClassJsonAdapter.FACTORY.create(ExtendsBaseA.class, NO_ANNOTATIONS, moshi);
       fail();
     } catch (IllegalArgumentException expected) {
-      assertThat(expected).hasMessage("Field name collision: 'a' declared by both "
-          + "com.squareup.moshi.ClassJsonAdapterTest$ExtendsBaseA and "
-          + "superclass com.squareup.moshi.ClassJsonAdapterTest$BaseA");
+      assertThat(expected).hasMessage("Conflicting fields:\n"
+          + "    int com.squareup.moshi.ClassJsonAdapterTest$ExtendsBaseA.a\n"
+          + "    int com.squareup.moshi.ClassJsonAdapterTest$BaseA.a");
+    }
+  }
+
+  static class NameCollision {
+    String foo;
+    @Json(name = "foo") String bar;
+  }
+
+  @Test public void jsonAnnotationNameCollision() throws Exception {
+    try {
+      ClassJsonAdapter.FACTORY.create(NameCollision.class, NO_ANNOTATIONS, moshi);
+      fail();
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException expected) {
+      assertThat(expected).hasMessage("Conflicting fields:\n"
+          + "    java.lang.String com.squareup.moshi.ClassJsonAdapterTest$NameCollision.foo\n"
+          + "    java.lang.String com.squareup.moshi.ClassJsonAdapterTest$NameCollision.bar");
     }
   }
 
@@ -389,6 +407,35 @@ public final class ClassJsonAdapterTest {
     assertThat(fromJson.toByteArray()).contains((byte) 5, (byte) 6);
   }
 
+  static class NamedFields {
+    @Json(name = "#") List<String> phoneNumbers;
+    @Json(name = "@") String emailAddress;
+    @Json(name = "zip code") String zipCode;
+  }
+
+  @Test public void jsonAnnotationHonored() throws Exception {
+    NamedFields value = new NamedFields();
+    value.phoneNumbers = Arrays.asList("8005553333", "8005554444");
+    value.emailAddress = "cash@square.com";
+    value.zipCode = "94043";
+
+    String toJson = toJson(NamedFields.class, value);
+    assertThat(toJson).isEqualTo("{"
+        + "\"#\":[\"8005553333\",\"8005554444\"],"
+        + "\"@\":\"cash@square.com\","
+        + "\"zip code\":\"94043\""
+        + "}");
+
+    NamedFields fromJson = fromJson(NamedFields.class, "{"
+        + "\"#\":[\"8005553333\",\"8005554444\"],"
+        + "\"@\":\"cash@square.com\","
+        + "\"zip code\":\"94043\""
+        + "}");
+    assertThat(fromJson.phoneNumbers).isEqualTo(Arrays.asList("8005553333", "8005554444"));
+    assertThat(fromJson.emailAddress).isEqualTo("cash@square.com");
+    assertThat(fromJson.zipCode).isEqualTo("94043");
+  }
+
   private <T> String toJson(Class<T> type, T value) throws IOException {
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked") // Factory.create returns an adapter that matches its argument.
         JsonAdapter<T> jsonAdapter = (JsonAdapter<T>) ClassJsonAdapter.FACTORY.create(