diff --git a/include/nestlog/function.hpp b/include/nestlog/function.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..da6a3f6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/nestlog/function.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,190 @@
+/* @file function.hpp */
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <cstdint>
+
+namespace xo {
+    enum function_style {
+        /* literal: print given name,  no alterations */
+        FS_Literal,
+        /* pretty: print name, surrounded by [] */
+        FS_Pretty,
+        /* streamlined: remove extraneous detail,  try to print something like class::method */
+        FS_Streamlined,
+        /* simple: remove everything except function/method name */
+        FS_Simple
+    };
+
+    /* Tag to drive header-only expression */
+    template <typename Tag>
+    class function_name_impl {
+    public:
+        function_name_impl(function_style style,
+                      std::string_view pretty)
+            : style_{style}, pretty_{pretty} {}
+
+        function_style style() const { return style_; }
+        std::string_view const & pretty() const { return pretty_; }
+
+        /* e.g.
+         *   std::vector<std::pair<int, xo::bar> xo::sometemplateclass<T,U>::fib(int, char**)
+         *                                       ^                           ^
+         *                                       p                           q
+         */
+        static void print_simple(std::ostream & os, std::string_view const & s) {
+            std::size_t p = exclude_return_type(s);
+            std::string_view s2 = s.substr(p);
+            std::size_t q = find_toplevel_sep(s2, true /*last_flag*/);
+
+            print_aux(os, s2.substr(q));
+        } /*print_simple*/
+
+        /* e.g.
+         *   std::vector<std::pair<int, xo::bar> xo::sometemplateclass<T,U>::fib(int, char**)
+         *                                       ^   ^
+         *                                       p   q
+         */
+        static void print_streamlined(std::ostream & os, std::string_view const & s) {
+            std::size_t p = exclude_return_type(s);
+            std::string_view s2 = s.substr(p);
+            std::size_t q = find_toplevel_sep(s2, false /*!last_flag*/);
+
+            print_aux(os, s2.substr(q));
+        } /*print_streamlined*/
+
+    private:
+        static std::size_t exclude_return_type(std::string_view const & s) {
+            /* strategy:
+             * - scan right-to-left
+             * - ignore anything between matching <>, () pairs (i.e. anything nested)
+             * - stop at rightmost toplevel space --> return suffix following that space
+             */
+            std::size_t nesting_level = 0;
+
+            std::size_t z = s.size();
+            for (std::size_t rp = 0; rp < z; ++rp) {
+                std::size_t p = z-1-rp;
+                char ch = s[p];
+
+                if (ch == '<' || ch == '(')
+                    ++nesting_level;
+
+                if (nesting_level == 0)  {
+                    if (ch == ' ')
+                        return p + 1;
+                }
+
+                if (ch == '>' || ch == ')')
+                    --nesting_level;
+            }
+
+            return 0;
+        } /*exclude_return_type*/
+
+        /* e.g.
+         *    xo::ns::someclass<xo::foo, xo::bar>::somemethod(xo::enum1, std::vector<xo::blah>)
+         *            ^
+         *            return this pos
+         *
+         * last_flag:  return pos after last ::
+         * !last_flag: return pos after 2nd-last ::
+         */
+        static std::size_t find_toplevel_sep(std::string_view const & s, bool last_flag) {
+            /* strategy:
+             * - scan left-to-right
+             * - ignore anything between matching <>, () pairs (i.e. anything nested)
+             * - count :: pairs
+             * - remember 2nd-last :: pair;  reports pos just after it
+             *
+             * note:
+             * - if no :: pairs,  or only one such pair,  return 0
+             */
+            std::size_t nesting_level = 0;
+
+            std::size_t pos_after_last_sep = 0;
+            std::size_t pos_after_2ndlast_sep = 0;
+
+            for (std::size_t p = 0; p < s.size(); ++p) {
+                char ch = s[p];
+
+                if (ch == '<' || ch == '(')
+                    ++nesting_level;
+
+                if (nesting_level == 0) {
+                    if ((ch == ':')
+                        && (p+1 < s.size())
+                        && s[p+1] == ':')
+                    {
+                        pos_after_2ndlast_sep = pos_after_last_sep;
+                        pos_after_last_sep = p+2;
+                        ++p; /* skipping 1st : in separator */
+                    }
+                }
+
+                if (ch == '>' || ch == ')')
+                    --nesting_level;
+            }
+
+            return last_flag ? pos_after_last_sep : pos_after_2ndlast_sep;
+        } /*find_toplevel_sep*/
+
+        /* fib(int, char **) --> fib
+         * quux(std::vector<std::size_t, std::allocator<std::size_t>>) -> quux
+         * foo::bar<std::vector<char>>() -> foo::bar
+         */
+        static void print_aux(std::ostream & os, std::string_view const & s) {
+            //std::cerr << "print_aux: s=" << s << std::endl;
+
+            /* strategy:
+             * - print left-to-right,   omit anything between matching <> or () pairs.
+             * - don't keep track of which is which,  so would also match < with ) etc;
+             *   this acceptable since pretty functions won't visit this corner case
+             */
+            std::size_t nesting_level = 0;
+
+            for (char ch : s) {
+                if (ch == '<' || ch == '(')
+                    ++nesting_level;
+
+                if (nesting_level == 0)
+                    os << ch;
+
+                if (ch == '>' || ch == ')')
+                    --nesting_level;
+            }
+        } /*print_aux*/
+
+    private:
+        /* FS_Simple | FS_Pretty (= FS_Literal) | FS_Streamlined */
+        function_style style_;
+        /* e.g. __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ */
+        std::string_view pretty_;
+    }; /*function_name_impl*/
+
+    using function_name = function_name_impl<class function_name_impl_tag>;
+
+    inline std::ostream &
+    operator<<(std::ostream & os,
+               function_name const & fn)
+    {
+        switch(fn.style()) {
+        case FS_Literal:
+            os << fn.pretty();
+            break;
+        case FS_Pretty:
+            os << "[" << fn.pretty() << "]";
+            break;
+        case FS_Simple:
+            function_name::print_simple(os, fn.pretty());
+            break;
+        case FS_Streamlined:
+            /* omit namespace qualifiers and template arguments */
+            function_name::print_streamlined(os, fn.pretty());
+            break;
+        }
+
+        return os;
+    } /*operator<<*/
+} /*namespace xo*/
+
+/* end function.hpp */