diff --git a/cmd/admin.go b/cmd/admin.go
index 5c7d7613a9..b46eb2871e 100644
--- a/cmd/admin.go
+++ b/cmd/admin.go
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ var (
 		Flags: []cli.Flag{
 			cli.StringFlag{
 				Name:  "name",
+				Usage: "Username. DEPRECATED: use username instead",
+			},
+			cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:  "username",
 				Usage: "Username",
 			},
 			cli.StringFlag{
@@ -288,14 +292,29 @@ func runChangePassword(c *cli.Context) error {
 }
 
 func runCreateUser(c *cli.Context) error {
-	if err := argsSet(c, "name", "email"); err != nil {
+	if err := argsSet(c, "email"); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if c.IsSet("name") && c.IsSet("username") {
+		return errors.New("Cannot set both --name and --username flags")
+	}
+	if !c.IsSet("name") && !c.IsSet("username") {
+		return errors.New("One of --name or --username flags must be set")
+	}
+
 	if c.IsSet("password") && c.IsSet("random-password") {
 		return errors.New("cannot set both -random-password and -password flags")
 	}
 
+	var username string
+	if c.IsSet("username") {
+		username = c.String("username")
+	} else {
+		username = c.String("name")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "--name flag is deprecated. Use --username instead.\n")
+	}
+
 	var password string
 
 	if c.IsSet("password") {
@@ -334,7 +353,7 @@ func runCreateUser(c *cli.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	if err := models.CreateUser(&models.User{
-		Name:               c.String("name"),
+		Name:               username,
 		Email:              c.String("email"),
 		Passwd:             password,
 		IsActive:           true,
@@ -345,7 +364,7 @@ func runCreateUser(c *cli.Context) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("CreateUser: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	fmt.Printf("New user '%s' has been successfully created!\n", c.String("name"))
+	fmt.Printf("New user '%s' has been successfully created!\n", username)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md b/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md
index 510e90f954..df749ebe04 100644
--- a/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md
+++ b/docs/content/doc/usage/command-line.en-us.md
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ Admin operations:
 - Commands:
     - `create-user`
         - Options:
-            - `--name value`: Username. Required.
+            - `--name value`: Username. Required. As of gitea 1.9.0, use the `--username` flag instead.
+            - `--username value`: Username. Required. New in gitea 1.9.0.
             - `--password value`: Password. Required.
             - `--email value`: Email. Required.
             - `--admin`: If provided, this makes the user an admin. Optional.
@@ -63,7 +64,7 @@ Admin operations:
             - `--random-password-length`: If provided, it will be used to configure the length of the randomly
 	    generated password. Optional. (default: 12)
         - Examples:
-            - `gitea admin create-user --name myname --password asecurepassword --email me@example.com`
+            - `gitea admin create-user --username myname --password asecurepassword --email me@example.com`
     - `change-password`
         - Options:
             - `--username value`, `-u value`: Username. Required.