diff --git a/docs/configure/features-and-behavior.md b/docs/configure/features-and-behavior.md
index 3dc9c0fc33b6..b6b0596f7c5a 100644
--- a/docs/configure/features-and-behavior.md
+++ b/docs/configure/features-and-behavior.md
@@ -35,3 +35,4 @@ The following options are configurable under the `sidebar` namespace:
 | ----------------------|:-------------:|:-------------------------------------------------------------:|:----------------------------------------------:|
 | **showRoots**         | Boolean       |Display the top-level nodes as a "root" in the sidebar         |`false`                                         |
 | **collapsedRoots**    | Array         |Set of root node IDs to visually collapse by default           |`['misc', 'other']`                             |
+| **renderLabel**       | Function      |Create a custom label for tree nodes; must return a ReactNode  |`(item) => <abbr title="...">{item.name}</abbr>`|
diff --git a/examples/official-storybook/manager.js b/examples/official-storybook/manager.js
index cd74ecf5fd6f..b46efbc338c5 100644
--- a/examples/official-storybook/manager.js
+++ b/examples/official-storybook/manager.js
@@ -1,10 +1,21 @@
+import React from 'react';
 import { addons } from '@storybook/addons';
-import { themes } from '@storybook/theming';
+import { themes, styled } from '@storybook/theming';
+import { Icons } from '@storybook/components';
 
 import addHeadWarning from './head-warning';
 
 addHeadWarning('manager-head-not-loaded', 'Manager head not loaded');
 
+const PrefixIcon = styled(Icons)(({ theme }) => ({
+  marginRight: 8,
+  fontSize: 'inherit',
+  height: '1em',
+  width: '1em',
+  display: 'inline',
+  alignSelf: 'center',
+}));
+
 addons.setConfig({
   theme: themes.light, // { base: 'dark', brandTitle: 'Storybook!' },
   previewTabs: {
@@ -17,5 +28,34 @@ addons.setConfig({
   },
   sidebar: {
     collapsedRoots: ['other'],
+    renderLabel: ({ id, name }) => {
+      const map = {
+        addons: (
+          <>
+            <PrefixIcon icon="power" />
+            {name}
+          </>
+        ),
+        'addons-a11y': (
+          <>
+            <PrefixIcon icon="certificate" />
+            {name}
+          </>
+        ),
+        'addons-a11y-basebutton': (
+          <>
+            <PrefixIcon icon="calendar" />
+            {name}
+          </>
+        ),
+        'addons-a11y-basebutton--default': (
+          <>
+            <PrefixIcon icon="star" />
+            {name}
+          </>
+        ),
+      };
+      return map[id];
+    },
   },
 });
diff --git a/lib/api/src/lib/stories.ts b/lib/api/src/lib/stories.ts
index c6e0991da219..3983d06525f8 100644
--- a/lib/api/src/lib/stories.ts
+++ b/lib/api/src/lib/stories.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import React from 'react';
 import deprecate from 'util-deprecate';
 import dedent from 'ts-dedent';
 import { sanitize } from '@storybook/csf';
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ export interface Root {
   isComponent: false;
   isRoot: true;
   isLeaf: false;
+  label?: React.ReactNode;
   startCollapsed?: boolean;
 }
 
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ export interface Group {
   isComponent: boolean;
   isRoot: false;
   isLeaf: false;
+  label?: React.ReactNode;
   // MDX docs-only stories are "Group" type
   parameters?: {
     docsOnly?: boolean;
@@ -50,6 +53,7 @@ export interface Story {
   isComponent: boolean;
   isRoot: false;
   isLeaf: true;
+  label?: React.ReactNode;
   parameters?: {
     fileName: string;
     options: {
@@ -153,7 +157,7 @@ export const transformStoriesRawToStoriesHash = (
   const storiesHashOutOfOrder = values.reduce((acc, item) => {
     const { kind, parameters } = item;
     const { sidebar = {}, showRoots: deprecatedShowRoots } = provider.getConfig();
-    const { showRoots = deprecatedShowRoots, collapsedRoots = [] } = sidebar;
+    const { showRoots = deprecatedShowRoots, collapsedRoots = [], renderLabel } = sidebar;
 
     if (typeof deprecatedShowRoots !== 'undefined') {
       warnLegacyShowRoots();
@@ -182,7 +186,7 @@ export const transformStoriesRawToStoriesHash = (
       }
 
       if (root.length && index === 0) {
-        list.push({
+        const rootElement: Root = {
           id,
           name,
           depth: index,
@@ -191,9 +195,10 @@ export const transformStoriesRawToStoriesHash = (
           isLeaf: false,
           isRoot: true,
           startCollapsed: collapsedRoots.includes(id),
-        });
+        };
+        list.push({ ...rootElement, label: renderLabel?.(rootElement) });
       } else {
-        list.push({
+        const groupElement: Group = {
           id,
           name,
           parent,
@@ -206,6 +211,10 @@ export const transformStoriesRawToStoriesHash = (
             docsOnly: parameters?.docsOnly,
             viewMode: parameters?.viewMode,
           },
+        };
+        list.push({
+          ...groupElement,
+          label: renderLabel?.(groupElement),
         });
       }
 
@@ -232,7 +241,7 @@ export const transformStoriesRawToStoriesHash = (
       isComponent: false,
       isRoot: false,
     };
-    acc[item.id] = story;
+    acc[item.id] = { ...story, label: renderLabel?.(story) };
 
     return acc;
   }, {} as StoriesHash);
diff --git a/lib/api/src/modules/provider.ts b/lib/api/src/modules/provider.ts
index b0766d71e0e0..298546b1dcdd 100644
--- a/lib/api/src/modules/provider.ts
+++ b/lib/api/src/modules/provider.ts
@@ -2,13 +2,14 @@ import { ReactNode } from 'react';
 import { Channel } from '@storybook/channels';
 import { ThemeVars } from '@storybook/theming';
 
-import { API, State, ModuleFn } from '../index';
+import { API, State, ModuleFn, Root, Group, Story } from '../index';
 import { StoryMapper, Refs } from './refs';
 import { UIOptions } from './layout';
 
 interface SidebarOptions {
   showRoots?: boolean;
   collapsedRoots?: string[];
+  renderLabel?: (item: Root | Group | Story) => ReactNode;
 }
 
 type IframeRenderer = (
diff --git a/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.stories.tsx b/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.stories.tsx
index 8cb2c0ef791d..98a38247522e 100644
--- a/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.stories.tsx
+++ b/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.stories.tsx
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ const singleStoryComponent = {
     isComponent: true,
     isLeaf: false,
     isRoot: false,
+    label: <span>🔥 Single</span>,
   },
   'single--single': {
     id: 'single--single',
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ const singleStoryComponent = {
     isLeaf: true,
     isComponent: false,
     isRoot: false,
+    label: <span>🔥 Single</span>,
   },
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.tsx b/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.tsx
index 5156fdef0a09..616724ccbec4 100644
--- a/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.tsx
+++ b/lib/ui/src/components/sidebar/Tree.tsx
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ const Node = React.memo<NodeProps>(
             onSelectStoryId(item.id);
           }}
         >
-          {item.name}
+          {item.label || item.name}
         </LeafNode>
       );
     }
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ const Node = React.memo<NodeProps>(
             }}
           >
             <CollapseIcon isExpanded={isExpanded} />
-            {item.name}
+            {item.label || item.name}
           </CollapseButton>
           {isExpanded && (
             <Action
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ const Node = React.memo<NodeProps>(
           if (item.isComponent && !isExpanded) onSelectStoryId(item.id);
         }}
       >
-        {item.name}
+        {item.label || item.name}
       </BranchNode>
     );
   }