diff --git a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/migrations/0006_auto_20220314_1551.py b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/migrations/0006_auto_20220314_1551.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fad006897a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/migrations/0006_auto_20220314_1551.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.12 on 2022-03-14 15:51
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('third_party_auth', '0005_auto_20210723_1527'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name='samlproviderconfig',
+            name='display_name',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, help_text='A configuration nickname.', max_length=30),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='ltiproviderconfig',
+            name='name',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, help_text='Name of this provider (shown to users)', max_length=50),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='oauth2providerconfig',
+            name='name',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, help_text='Name of this provider (shown to users)', max_length=50),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='samlconfiguration',
+            name='slug',
+            field=models.SlugField(blank=True, default='default', help_text='A short string uniquely identifying this configuration. Cannot contain spaces. Examples: "ubc", "mit-staging"', max_length=30),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='samlproviderconfig',
+            name='backend_name',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, default='tpa-saml', help_text="Which python-social-auth provider backend to use. 'tpa-saml' is the standard edX SAML backend.", max_length=50),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='samlproviderconfig',
+            name='entity_id',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, help_text='Example: https://idp.testshib.org/idp/shibboleth', max_length=255, verbose_name='Entity ID'),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='samlproviderconfig',
+            name='identity_provider_type',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, choices=[('standard_saml_provider', 'Standard SAML provider'), ('sap_success_factors', 'SAP SuccessFactors provider')], default='standard_saml_provider', help_text='Some SAML providers require special behavior. For example, SAP SuccessFactors SAML providers require an additional API call to retrieve user metadata not provided in the SAML response. Select the provider type which best matches your use case. If in doubt, choose the Standard SAML Provider type.', max_length=128, verbose_name='Identity Provider Type'),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='samlproviderconfig',
+            name='metadata_source',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, help_text="URL to this provider's XML metadata. Should be an HTTPS URL. Example: https://www.testshib.org/metadata/testshib-providers.xml", max_length=255),
+        ),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name='samlproviderconfig',
+            name='name',
+            field=models.CharField(blank=True, help_text='Name of this provider (shown to users)', max_length=50),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/models.py b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/models.py
index 16e722b30d..250b0c5004 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/models.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/models.py
@@ -111,7 +111,8 @@ class ProviderConfig(ConfigurationModel):
             'SVG images are recommended as they can scale to any size.'
         ),
     )
-    name = models.CharField(max_length=50, blank=False, help_text="Name of this provider (shown to users)")
+    name = models.CharField(
+        max_length=50, blank=True, help_text="Name of this provider (shown to users)")
     slug = models.SlugField(
         max_length=30, db_index=True, default='default',
         help_text=(
@@ -429,6 +430,7 @@ class SAMLConfiguration(ConfigurationModel):
     slug = models.SlugField(
         max_length=30,
         default='default',
+        blank=True,
         help_text=(
             'A short string uniquely identifying this configuration. '
             'Cannot contain spaces. Examples: "ubc", "mit-staging"'
@@ -569,13 +571,17 @@ class SAMLProviderConfig(ProviderConfig):
     .. no_pii:
     """
     prefix = 'saml'
+    display_name = models.CharField(
+        max_length=30, blank=True,
+        help_text=_("A configuration nickname."))
     backend_name = models.CharField(
-        max_length=50, default='tpa-saml', blank=False,
+        max_length=50, default='tpa-saml', blank=True, 
         help_text="Which python-social-auth provider backend to use. 'tpa-saml' is the standard edX SAML backend.")
     entity_id = models.CharField(
-        max_length=255, verbose_name="Entity ID", help_text="Example: https://idp.testshib.org/idp/shibboleth")
+        max_length=255, verbose_name="Entity ID", blank=True,
+        help_text="Example: https://idp.testshib.org/idp/shibboleth")
     metadata_source = models.CharField(
-        max_length=255,
+        max_length=255, blank=True,
         help_text=(
             "URL to this provider's XML metadata. Should be an HTTPS URL. "
             "Example: https://www.testshib.org/metadata/testshib-providers.xml"
@@ -622,7 +628,7 @@ class SAMLProviderConfig(ProviderConfig):
                   "in the automatic refresh job, if configured."
     )
     identity_provider_type = models.CharField(
-        max_length=128, blank=False, verbose_name="Identity Provider Type", default=STANDARD_SAML_PROVIDER_KEY,
+        max_length=128, blank=True, verbose_name="Identity Provider Type", default=STANDARD_SAML_PROVIDER_KEY,
         choices=get_saml_idp_choices(), help_text=(
             "Some SAML providers require special behavior. For example, SAP SuccessFactors SAML providers require an "
             "additional API call to retrieve user metadata not provided in the SAML response. Select the provider type "
diff --git a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/samlproviderconfig/tests/test_samlproviderconfig.py b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/samlproviderconfig/tests/test_samlproviderconfig.py
index e3b3426b45..49e169b62c 100644
--- a/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/samlproviderconfig/tests/test_samlproviderconfig.py
+++ b/common/djangoapps/third_party_auth/samlproviderconfig/tests/test_samlproviderconfig.py
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ class SAMLProviderConfigTests(APITestCase):
         assert results[0]['entity_id'] == SINGLE_PROVIDER_CONFIG['entity_id']
         assert results[0]['metadata_source'] == SINGLE_PROVIDER_CONFIG['metadata_source']
         assert response.data['results'][0]['country'] == SINGLE_PROVIDER_CONFIG['country']
+        assert results[0]['display_name'] == "saml-test-ep-1"
         assert SAMLProviderConfig.objects.count() == 1
 
     def test_get_one_config_by_enterprise_uuid_invalid_uuid(self):
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/program_enrollments/signals.py b/lms/djangoapps/program_enrollments/signals.py
index 7c5f9aaa7f..d58aee55ef 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/program_enrollments/signals.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/program_enrollments/signals.py
@@ -43,6 +43,22 @@ def listen_for_social_auth_creation(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):  # lin
         )
         raise
 
+def generate_default_display_name(self):
+    """
+    Returns a default display namem which can be overriden by a subclass.
+    """
+    return f'{self.prefix}-{self.slug}-{self.id}'
+
+@receiver(post_save, sender=SAMLProviderConfig)
+def save_default_display_name(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):  # lint-amnesty, pylint: disable=unused-argument
+    """
+    Post-save signal that sets default display name if one is not provided
+    """
+    this_display_name = instance.display_name
+    # check if display_name is None, empty, or just spaces
+    if not (this_display_name and this_display_name.strip()):
+        instance.display_name = generate_default_display_name(instance)
+        instance.save()
 
 def matriculate_learner(user, uid):
     """