diff --git a/samplers/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSampler.java b/samplers/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSampler.java
index 19f748353..e29ffd3ba 100644
--- a/samplers/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSampler.java
+++ b/samplers/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSampler.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 package io.opentelemetry.contrib.sampler;
 
+import static io.opentelemetry.semconv.SemanticAttributes.THREAD_NAME;
 import static java.util.Objects.requireNonNull;
 
 import io.opentelemetry.api.common.Attributes;
@@ -60,7 +61,12 @@ public SamplingResult shouldSample(
       return fallback.shouldSample(parentContext, traceId, name, spanKind, attributes, parentLinks);
     }
     for (SamplingRule samplingRule : rules) {
-      String attributeValue = attributes.get(samplingRule.attributeKey);
+      String attributeValue;
+      if (samplingRule.attributeKey.getKey().equals(THREAD_NAME.getKey())) {
+        attributeValue = Thread.currentThread().getName();
+      } else {
+        attributeValue = attributes.get(samplingRule.attributeKey);
+      }
       if (attributeValue == null) {
         continue;
       }
diff --git a/samplers/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSamplerTest.java b/samplers/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSamplerTest.java
index 6027c6415..30cf25871 100644
--- a/samplers/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSamplerTest.java
+++ b/samplers/src/test/java/io/opentelemetry/contrib/sampler/RuleBasedRoutingSamplerTest.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 package io.opentelemetry.contrib.sampler;
 
+import static io.opentelemetry.semconv.SemanticAttributes.THREAD_NAME;
 import static io.opentelemetry.semconv.SemanticAttributes.URL_FULL;
 import static io.opentelemetry.semconv.SemanticAttributes.URL_PATH;
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyList;
@@ -187,6 +188,16 @@ void customSampler() {
         .isEqualTo(SamplingDecision.RECORD_AND_SAMPLE);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  void testThreadNameSampler() {
+    patterns.add(new SamplingRule(THREAD_NAME, "Test.*", Sampler.alwaysOff()));
+    Attributes attributes = Attributes.of(THREAD_NAME, "Test worker");
+    RuleBasedRoutingSampler sampler = new RuleBasedRoutingSampler(patterns, SPAN_KIND, delegate);
+    SamplingResult samplingResult =
+        sampler.shouldSample(parentContext, traceId, SPAN_NAME, SPAN_KIND, attributes, emptyList());
+    assertThat(samplingResult.getDecision()).isEqualTo(SamplingDecision.DROP);
+  }
+
   private SamplingResult shouldSample(Sampler sampler, String url) {
     Attributes attributes = Attributes.of(URL_FULL, url);
     return sampler.shouldSample(