diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index fa7f9607a..18a68ebf7 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 - [#512](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/pull/512): Python 3 build script, add lsof dep to package. Thanks @Ormod!
 - [#475](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/pull/475): Add response time to httpjson plugin. Thanks @titilambert!
 - [#519](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/pull/519): Added a sensors input based on lm-sensors. Thanks @md14454!
+- [#467](https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/issues/467): Add option to disable statsd measurement name conversion.
 
 ### Bugfixes
 - [#506](https://github.com/influxdb/telegraf/pull/506): Ping input doesn't return response time metric when timeout. Thanks @titilambert!
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go b/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go
index d210b55fa..a4b70ffe3 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ type Statsd struct {
 	DeleteCounters bool
 	DeleteSets     bool
 	DeleteTimings  bool
+	ConvertNames   bool
 
 	sync.Mutex
 
@@ -63,6 +64,8 @@ func NewStatsd() *Statsd {
 	s.sets = make(map[string]cachedset)
 	s.timings = make(map[string]cachedtimings)
 
+	s.ConvertNames = true
+
 	return &s
 }
 
@@ -121,6 +124,9 @@ const sampleConfig = `
   # Percentiles to calculate for timing & histogram stats
   percentiles = [90]
 
+  # convert measurement names, "." to "_" and "-" to "__"
+  convert_names = true
+
   # templates = [
   #     "cpu.* measurement*"
   # ]
@@ -389,8 +395,10 @@ func (s *Statsd) parseName(bucket string) (string, map[string]string) {
 	if err == nil {
 		name, tags, _, _ = p.ApplyTemplate(name)
 	}
-	name = strings.Replace(name, ".", "_", -1)
-	name = strings.Replace(name, "-", "__", -1)
+	if s.ConvertNames {
+		name = strings.Replace(name, ".", "_", -1)
+		name = strings.Replace(name, "-", "__", -1)
+	}
 
 	return name, tags
 }
@@ -491,6 +499,6 @@ func (s *Statsd) Stop() {
 
 func init() {
 	inputs.Add("statsd", func() inputs.Input {
-		return &Statsd{}
+		return &Statsd{ConvertNames: true}
 	})
 }
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd_test.go b/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd_test.go
index 4a97728f2..a8aae2e9e 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd_test.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/statsd/statsd_test.go
@@ -303,6 +303,64 @@ func TestParse_Tags(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// Test that statsd buckets are parsed to measurement names properly
+func TestParseName(t *testing.T) {
+	s := NewStatsd()
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		in_name  string
+		out_name string
+	}{
+		{
+			"foobar",
+			"foobar",
+		},
+		{
+			"foo.bar",
+			"foo_bar",
+		},
+		{
+			"foo.bar-baz",
+			"foo_bar__baz",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		name, _ := s.parseName(test.in_name)
+		if name != test.out_name {
+			t.Errorf("Expected: %s, got %s", test.out_name, name)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Test with ConvertNames = false
+	s.ConvertNames = false
+
+	tests = []struct {
+		in_name  string
+		out_name string
+	}{
+		{
+			"foobar",
+			"foobar",
+		},
+		{
+			"foo.bar",
+			"foo.bar",
+		},
+		{
+			"foo.bar-baz",
+			"foo.bar-baz",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		name, _ := s.parseName(test.in_name)
+		if name != test.out_name {
+			t.Errorf("Expected: %s, got %s", test.out_name, name)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // Test that measurements with the same name, but different tags, are treated
 // as different outputs
 func TestParse_MeasurementsWithSameName(t *testing.T) {