diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index ee2922d3f..f37c4c1f8 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -116,9 +116,10 @@ type Archive struct {
 
 // Release config used for the GitHub release
 type Release struct {
-	GitHub     Repo `yaml:",omitempty"`
-	Draft      bool `yaml:",omitempty"`
-	Prerelease bool `yaml:",omitempty"`
+	GitHub       Repo   `yaml:",omitempty"`
+	Draft        bool   `yaml:",omitempty"`
+	Prerelease   bool   `yaml:",omitempty"`
+	NameTemplate string `yaml:",omitempty`
 
 	// Capture all undefined fields and should be empty after loading
 	XXX map[string]interface{} `yaml:",inline"`
diff --git a/internal/name/name.go b/internal/name/name.go
index ca5dbec12..e53a0a2be 100644
--- a/internal/name/name.go
+++ b/internal/name/name.go
@@ -67,6 +67,18 @@ func ForChecksums(ctx *context.Context) (string, error) {
 	)
 }
 
+// ForTitle returns the release title based upon its template
+func ForTitle(ctx *context.Context) (string, error) {
+	return apply{
+		nameData{
+			ProjectName: ctx.Config.ProjectName,
+			Tag: ctx.Git.CurrentTag,
+			Version: ctx.Version,
+		}
+		ctx.Config.Release.NameTemplate,
+	}
+}
+
 func apply(data nameData, templateStr string) (string, error) {
 	var out bytes.Buffer
 	t, err := template.New(data.ProjectName).Parse(templateStr)
diff --git a/pipeline/defaults/defaults.go b/pipeline/defaults/defaults.go
index e94ee24bb..9dbfce830 100644
--- a/pipeline/defaults/defaults.go
+++ b/pipeline/defaults/defaults.go
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ import (
 // NameTemplate default name_template for the archive.
 const NameTemplate = "{{ .Binary }}_{{ .Version }}_{{ .Os }}_{{ .Arch }}{{ if .Arm }}v{{ .Arm }}{{ end }}"
 
+// ReleaseNameTemplate is the default name for the release.
+const ReleaseNameTemplate = "{{ .Version }}"
+
 // SnapshotNameTemplate represents the default format for snapshot release names.
 const SnapshotNameTemplate = "SNAPSHOT-{{ .Commit }}"
 
@@ -31,6 +34,9 @@ func (Pipe) Description() string {
 // Run the pipe
 func (Pipe) Run(ctx *context.Context) error {
 	ctx.Config.Dist = "dist"
+	if ctx.Config.Release.NameTemplate == "" {
+		ctx.Config.Release.NameTemplate = ReleaseNameTemplate
+	}
 	if ctx.Config.Snapshot.NameTemplate == "" {
 		ctx.Config.Snapshot.NameTemplate = SnapshotNameTemplate
 	}