diff --git a/dev-jupyterhub_config.py b/dev-jupyterhub_config.py
index 593974e..ba55670 100644
--- a/dev-jupyterhub_config.py
+++ b/dev-jupyterhub_config.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 c.NativeAuthenticator.enable_signup = True
 c.NativeAuthenticator.open_signup = False
 c.NativeAuthenticator.ask_email_on_signup = True
+c.NativeAuthenticator.use_email_as_username = True
+c.NativeAuthenticator.open_signup = True
 
 c.NativeAuthenticator.allow_2fa = True
 
diff --git a/docs/source/options.md b/docs/source/options.md
index 1d3402d..f07383e 100644
--- a/docs/source/options.md
+++ b/docs/source/options.md
@@ -65,6 +65,17 @@ For now, the only extra information you can ask is email. To do so, you can add
 c.NativeAuthenticator.ask_email_on_signup = True
 ```
 
+### Use email as username
+
+This option basically uses the email as username which prevents users from having to provide an username on the signup form
+
+```python
+c.NativeAuthenticator.use_email_as_username = True
+```
+
+If you are using DockerSpawner please notice that this have a direct impact on the container names since it uses the username to name the container.
+Also, if you are using dockerspawner < 12.0.0 you may face some issues due to a miss alginment with some changes done by the Docker team
+
 ## Use reCaptcha to prevent scripted SignUp attacks
 
 Since by default, anybody can sign up to the system, you may want to use the lightweight
diff --git a/nativeauthenticator/handlers.py b/nativeauthenticator/handlers.py
index 757ccee..1584f08 100644
--- a/nativeauthenticator/handlers.py
+++ b/nativeauthenticator/handlers.py
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ async def get(self):
         html = await self.render_template(
             "signup.html",
             ask_email=self.authenticator.ask_email_on_signup,
+            use_email_as_username=self.authenticator.use_email_as_username,
             two_factor_auth=self.authenticator.allow_2fa,
             recaptcha_key=self.authenticator.recaptcha_key,
             tos=self.authenticator.tos,
@@ -169,11 +170,14 @@ async def post(self):
 
         if assume_user_is_human:
             user_info = {
-                "username": self.get_body_argument("username", strip=False),
+                "username": self.get_body_argument("username", "", strip=False),
                 "password": self.get_body_argument("signup_password", strip=False),
                 "email": self.get_body_argument("email", "", strip=False),
                 "has_2fa": bool(self.get_body_argument("2fa", "", strip=False)),
             }
+            if self.authenticator.use_email_as_username:
+                user_info["username"] = user_info["email"]
+
             username_already_taken = self.authenticator.user_exists(
                 user_info["username"]
             )
@@ -207,6 +211,7 @@ async def post(self):
         html = await self.render_template(
             "signup.html",
             ask_email=self.authenticator.ask_email_on_signup,
+            use_email_as_username=self.authenticator.use_email_as_username,
             result_message=message,
             alert=alert,
             two_factor_auth=self.authenticator.allow_2fa,
@@ -466,6 +471,7 @@ def _render(self, login_error=None, username=None):
             "native-login.html",
             next=url_escape(self.get_argument("next", default="")),
             username=username,
+            use_email_as_username=self.authenticator.use_email_as_username,
             login_error=login_error,
             custom_html=self.authenticator.custom_html,
             login_url=self.settings["login_url"],
diff --git a/nativeauthenticator/nativeauthenticator.py b/nativeauthenticator/nativeauthenticator.py
index 5af864a..a4d441a 100644
--- a/nativeauthenticator/nativeauthenticator.py
+++ b/nativeauthenticator/nativeauthenticator.py
@@ -149,6 +149,11 @@ class NativeAuthenticator(Authenticator):
     )
 
     ask_email_on_signup = Bool(False, config=True, help="Asks for email on signup")
+    use_email_as_username = Bool(
+        False,
+        config=True,
+        help="Use email as username. Note that this requires ask_email_on_signup to be True",
+    )
 
     import_from_firstuse = Bool(
         False, config=True, help="Import users from FirstUse Authenticator database"
@@ -181,6 +186,7 @@ def __init__(self, add_new_table=True, *args, **kwargs):
             self.add_data_from_firstuse()
 
         self.setup_self_approval()
+        self.setup_use_email_as_username()
 
     def setup_self_approval(self):
         if self.allow_self_approval_for:
@@ -193,6 +199,10 @@ def setup_self_approval(self):
                     "len > 8 when using self_approval"
                 )
 
+    def setup_use_email_as_username(self):
+        if self.use_email_as_username:
+            self.ask_email_on_signup = True
+
     def add_new_table(self):
         inspector = inspect(self.db.bind)
         if "users_info" not in inspector.get_table_names():
diff --git a/nativeauthenticator/templates/native-login.html b/nativeauthenticator/templates/native-login.html
index 1435b67..0e4bf73 100644
--- a/nativeauthenticator/templates/native-login.html
+++ b/nativeauthenticator/templates/native-login.html
@@ -49,7 +49,12 @@
             </p>
             {% endif %}
 
+            {%  if use_email_as_username %}
+            <label for="username_input">Email:</label>
+            {% else %}
             <label for="username_input">Username:</label>
+            {% endif %}
+
             <input id="username_input" type="text" name="username" val="{{username}}" autocapitalize="off" autocorrect="off" class="form-control" autofocus="autofocus" required />
             <p></p>
 
diff --git a/nativeauthenticator/templates/signup.html b/nativeauthenticator/templates/signup.html
index 2db3b7a..0ca9946 100644
--- a/nativeauthenticator/templates/signup.html
+++ b/nativeauthenticator/templates/signup.html
@@ -72,9 +72,11 @@
             </div>
             {% endif %}
 
+            {% if not use_email_as_username %}
             <label for="username_input">Username:</label>
             <input id="username_input" type="text" name="username" val="{{username}}" autocapitalize="off" autocorrect="off" class="form-control" autofocus="autofocus" required />
             <p></p>
+            {% endif %}
 
             {% if ask_email %}
             <label for="email_input">Email:</label>