diff --git a/swift/common/utils.py b/swift/common/utils.py
index 5bd25a1b20..741aee07b2 100644
--- a/swift/common/utils.py
+++ b/swift/common/utils.py
@@ -5151,10 +5151,10 @@ class ShardName(object):
 
         <account>/<root_container>-<parent_container_hash>-<timestamp>-<index>
 
-    Note: not all instances of :class:`~swift.common.utils.ShardRange` have
-    names that will parse as a :class:`~swift.common.utils.ShardName`; root
-    container own shard ranges, for example, have a simpler name format of
-    <account>/<root_container>.
+    Note: some instances of :class:`~swift.common.utils.ShardRange` have names
+    that will NOT parse as a :class:`~swift.common.utils.ShardName`; e.g. a
+    root container's own shard range will have a name format of
+    <account>/<root_container> which will raise ValueError if passed to parse.
     """
     def __init__(self, account, root_container,
                  parent_container_hash,
@@ -5204,7 +5204,9 @@ class ShardName(object):
             container belongs.
         :param root_container: the name of the root container for the shard.
         :param parent_container: the name of the parent container for the
-            shard.
+            shard; for initial first generation shards this should be the same
+            as ``root_container``; for shards of shards this should be the name
+            of the sharding shard container.
         :param timestamp: an instance of :class:`~swift.common.utils.Timestamp`
         :param index: a unique index that will distinguish the path from any
             other path generated using the same combination of
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
index 7d10aa35e5..f351f94aed 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_utils.py
@@ -7955,6 +7955,7 @@ class TestShardName(unittest.TestCase):
         actual = str(created)
         self.assertEqual(expected, actual)
         parsed = utils.ShardName.parse(actual)
+        # normally a ShardName will be in the .shards prefix
         self.assertEqual('a', parsed.account)
         self.assertEqual('root', parsed.root_container)
         self.assertEqual(parent_hash, parsed.parent_container_hash)
@@ -7971,6 +7972,30 @@ class TestShardName(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(utils.Timestamp(1234), parsed.timestamp)
         self.assertEqual(99, parsed.index)
 
+    def test_realistic_shard_range_names(self):
+        parsed = utils.ShardName.parse(
+            '.shards_a1/r1-'
+            '7c92cf1eee8d99cc85f8355a3d6e4b86-'
+            '1662475499.00000-1')
+        self.assertEqual('.shards_a1', parsed.account)
+        self.assertEqual('r1', parsed.root_container)
+        self.assertEqual('7c92cf1eee8d99cc85f8355a3d6e4b86',
+                         parsed.parent_container_hash)
+        self.assertEqual(utils.Timestamp(1662475499), parsed.timestamp)
+        self.assertEqual(1, parsed.index)
+
+        parsed = utils.ShardName('.shards_a', 'c', 'hash',
+                                 utils.Timestamp(1234), 42)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            '.shards_a/c-hash-0000001234.00000-42',
+            str(parsed))
+
+        parsed = utils.ShardName.create('.shards_a', 'c', 'c',
+                                        utils.Timestamp(1234), 42)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            '.shards_a/c-4a8a08f09d37b73795649038408b5f33-0000001234.00000-42',
+            str(parsed))
+
     def test_bad_parse(self):
         with self.assertRaises(ValueError) as cm:
             utils.ShardName.parse('a')