diff --git a/interface/src/avatar/AvatarManager.h b/interface/src/avatar/AvatarManager.h
index a31162ec1a..fd15554666 100644
--- a/interface/src/avatar/AvatarManager.h
+++ b/interface/src/avatar/AvatarManager.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 class MyAvatar;
 
-class AvatarManager : public QObject, public AvatarHashMap {
+class AvatarManager : public AvatarHashMap {
     Q_OBJECT
 public:
     AvatarManager(QObject* parent = 0);
diff --git a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp
index f6ff848ffa..17fdaeb5bd 100644
--- a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp
+++ b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,30 @@ bool AvatarHashMap::shouldKillAvatar(const AvatarSharedPointer& sharedAvatar) {
             || sharedAvatar->getLastUpdateTimer().elapsed() > AVATAR_SILENCE_THRESHOLD_MSECS);
 }
 
+bool AvatarHashMap::containsAvatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayName) {
+    
+    AvatarHash::iterator avatarIterator = _avatarHash.begin();
+    while (avatarIterator != _avatarHash.end()) {
+        AvatarSharedPointer sharedAvatar = avatarIterator.value();
+        if (avatarIterator.value()->getDisplayName() == displayName) {
+            // this is a match
+            // check if this avatar should still be around
+            if (!shouldKillAvatar(sharedAvatar)) {
+                // we have a match, return true
+                return true;
+            } else {
+                // we should remove this avatar, do that now
+                erase(avatarIterator);
+            }
+            
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+    
+    // return false, no match
+    return false;
+}
+
 AvatarSharedPointer AvatarHashMap::newSharedAvatar() {
     return AvatarSharedPointer(new AvatarData());
 }
diff --git a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h
index 2db6c79ed2..98e64fb8de 100644
--- a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h
+++ b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@
 typedef QSharedPointer<AvatarData> AvatarSharedPointer;
 typedef QHash<QUuid, AvatarSharedPointer> AvatarHash;
 
-class AvatarHashMap {
+class AvatarHashMap : public QObject {
+    Q_OBJECT
 public:
     AvatarHashMap();
     
@@ -31,6 +32,9 @@ public:
     int size() const { return _avatarHash.size(); }
 
     virtual void insert(const QUuid& id, AvatarSharedPointer avatar);
+    
+public slots:
+    bool containsAvatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayName);
 
 protected:
     virtual AvatarHash::iterator erase(const AvatarHash::iterator& iterator);