diff --git a/src/blockfilter.h b/src/blockfilter.h
--- a/src/blockfilter.h
+++ b/src/blockfilter.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <util/bytevectorhash.h>
 
 #include <cstdint>
+#include <string>
 #include <unordered_set>
 #include <vector>
 
@@ -88,6 +89,14 @@
     INVALID = 255,
 };
 
+/** Get the human-readable name for a filter type. Returns empty string for
+ * unknown types. */
+const std::string &BlockFilterTypeName(BlockFilterType filter_type);
+
+/** Find a filter type by its human-readable name. */
+bool BlockFilterTypeByName(const std::string &name,
+                           BlockFilterType &filter_type);
+
 /**
  * Complete block filter struct as defined in BIP 157. Serialization matches
  * payload of "cfilter" messages.
diff --git a/src/blockfilter.cpp b/src/blockfilter.cpp
--- a/src/blockfilter.cpp
+++ b/src/blockfilter.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,10 @@
 /// Protocol version used to serialize parameters in GCS filter encoding.
 static constexpr int GCS_SER_VERSION = 0;
 
+static const std::map<BlockFilterType, std::string> g_filter_types = {
+    {BlockFilterType::BASIC, "basic"},
+};
+
 template <typename OStream>
 static void GolombRiceEncode(BitStreamWriter<OStream> &bitwriter, uint8_t P,
                              uint64_t x) {
@@ -194,6 +198,23 @@
     return MatchInternal(queries.data(), queries.size());
 }
 
+const std::string &BlockFilterTypeName(BlockFilterType filter_type) {
+    static std::string unknown_retval = "";
+    auto it = g_filter_types.find(filter_type);
+    return it != g_filter_types.end() ? it->second : unknown_retval;
+}
+
+bool BlockFilterTypeByName(const std::string &name,
+                           BlockFilterType &filter_type) {
+    for (const auto &entry : g_filter_types) {
+        if (entry.second == name) {
+            filter_type = entry.first;
+            return true;
+        }
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
 static GCSFilter::ElementSet BasicFilterElements(const CBlock &block,
                                                  const CBlockUndo &block_undo) {
     GCSFilter::ElementSet elements;
diff --git a/src/test/blockfilter_tests.cpp b/src/test/blockfilter_tests.cpp
--- a/src/test/blockfilter_tests.cpp
+++ b/src/test/blockfilter_tests.cpp
@@ -191,4 +191,16 @@
     }
 }
 
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(blockfilter_type_names) {
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(BlockFilterTypeName(BlockFilterType::BASIC), "basic");
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(BlockFilterTypeName(static_cast<BlockFilterType>(255)),
+                      "");
+
+    BlockFilterType filter_type;
+    BOOST_CHECK(BlockFilterTypeByName("basic", filter_type));
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(filter_type, BlockFilterType::BASIC);
+
+    BOOST_CHECK(!BlockFilterTypeByName("unknown", filter_type));
+}
+
 BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()