diff --git a/config/permission.php b/config/permission.php
index f39f6b5bf..d9f152e3e 100644
--- a/config/permission.php
+++ b/config/permission.php
@@ -26,7 +26,14 @@
 
         'role' => Spatie\Permission\Models\Role::class,
 
-    ],
+    ],    
+    
+    /*
+     * This option defines which column on the roles table is used to identify a role
+     * when checking things like $user->hasRole('admin').
+     * By default, it uses 'name', but you can change this to 'slug' or any other unique column.
+     */
+    'role_identifier' => 'name',
 
     'table_names' => [
 
diff --git a/src/Models/Role.php b/src/Models/Role.php
index 5bab4878e..df0cc5c05 100644
--- a/src/Models/Role.php
+++ b/src/Models/Role.php
@@ -126,19 +126,43 @@ public static function findById(int|string $id, ?string $guardName = null): Role
         return $role;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Find a role by its configured identifier (e.g. name or slug) and guard name.
+     *
+     * @return RoleContract|Role
+     *
+     * @throws RoleDoesNotExist
+     */
+    public static function findByIdentifier(string $value, ?string $guardName = null): RoleContract
+    {
+        $guardName = $guardName ?? Guard::getDefaultName(static::class);
+        $identifier = config('permission.role_identifier', 'name');
+
+        $role = static::findByParam([$identifier => $value, 'guard_name' => $guardName]);
+
+        if (! $role) {
+            throw RoleDoesNotExist::named($value, $guardName);
+        }
+
+        return $role;
+    }
+
+
     /**
      * Find or create role by its name (and optionally guardName).
      *
      * @return RoleContract|Role
      */
-    public static function findOrCreate(string $name, ?string $guardName = null): RoleContract
+    public static function findOrCreate(string $value, ?string $guardName = null): RoleContract
     {
         $guardName = $guardName ?? Guard::getDefaultName(static::class);
 
-        $role = static::findByParam(['name' => $name, 'guard_name' => $guardName]);
+        $identifier = config('permission.role_identifier', 'name');
+
+        $role = static::findByParam([$identifier => $value, 'guard_name' => $guardName]);
 
         if (! $role) {
-            return static::query()->create(['name' => $name, 'guard_name' => $guardName] + (app(PermissionRegistrar::class)->teams ? [app(PermissionRegistrar::class)->teamsKey => getPermissionsTeamId()] : []));
+            return static::query()->create([$identifier => $value, 'guard_name' => $guardName] + (app(PermissionRegistrar::class)->teams ? [app(PermissionRegistrar::class)->teamsKey => getPermissionsTeamId()] : []));
         }
 
         return $role;
diff --git a/src/Traits/HasRoles.php b/src/Traits/HasRoles.php
index d10dd77e3..0a8a6248d 100644
--- a/src/Traits/HasRoles.php
+++ b/src/Traits/HasRoles.php
@@ -91,7 +91,17 @@ public function scopeRole(Builder $query, $roles, $guard = null, $without = fals
                 $role = $role->value;
             }
 
-            $method = is_int($role) || PermissionRegistrar::isUid($role) ? 'findById' : 'findByName';
+            $roleIdentifier = $this->getRoleIdentifier();
+
+            $method = '';
+
+            if (is_int($role) || PermissionRegistrar::isUid($role)) {
+                $method = 'findById';
+            } else if ($roleIdentifier !== 'name') {
+                $method = 'findByIdentifier';
+            } else {
+                $method = 'findByName';
+            }
 
             return $this->getRoleClass()::{$method}($role, $guard ?: $this->getDefaultGuardName());
         }, Arr::wrap($roles));
@@ -238,6 +248,8 @@ public function syncRoles(...$roles)
      */
     public function hasRole($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
     {
+        $roleKey = $this->getRoleIdentifier();
+
         $this->loadMissing('roles');
 
         if (is_string($roles) && strpos($roles, '|') !== false) {
@@ -249,7 +261,7 @@ public function hasRole($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
 
             return $this->roles
                 ->when($guard, fn ($q) => $q->where('guard_name', $guard))
-                ->pluck('name')
+                ->pluck($roleKey)
                 ->contains(function ($name) use ($roles) {
                     /** @var string|\BackedEnum $name */
                     if ($name instanceof \BackedEnum) {
@@ -270,8 +282,8 @@ public function hasRole($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
 
         if (is_string($roles)) {
             return $guard
-                ? $this->roles->where('guard_name', $guard)->contains('name', $roles)
-                : $this->roles->contains('name', $roles);
+                ? $this->roles->where('guard_name', $guard)->contains($roleKey, $roles)
+                : $this->roles->contains($roleKey, $roles);
         }
 
         if ($roles instanceof Role) {
@@ -314,6 +326,8 @@ public function hasAnyRole(...$roles): bool
      */
     public function hasAllRoles($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
     {
+        $roleKey = $this->getRoleIdentifier();
+
         $this->loadMissing('roles');
 
         if ($roles instanceof \BackedEnum) {
@@ -332,16 +346,16 @@ public function hasAllRoles($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
             return $this->roles->contains($roles->getKeyName(), $roles->getKey());
         }
 
-        $roles = collect()->make($roles)->map(function ($role) {
+        $roles = collect()->make($roles)->map(function ($role) use ($roleKey) {
             if ($role instanceof \BackedEnum) {
                 return $role->value;
             }
 
-            return $role instanceof Role ? $role->name : $role;
+            return $role instanceof Role ? $role->{$roleKey} : $role;
         });
 
         $roleNames = $guard
-            ? $this->roles->where('guard_name', $guard)->pluck('name')
+            ? $this->roles->where('guard_name', $guard)->pluck($roleKey)
             : $this->getRoleNames();
 
         $roleNames = $roleNames->transform(function ($roleName) {
@@ -362,6 +376,8 @@ public function hasAllRoles($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
      */
     public function hasExactRoles($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
     {
+        $roleKey = $this->getRoleIdentifier();
+
         $this->loadMissing('roles');
 
         if (is_string($roles) && strpos($roles, '|') !== false) {
@@ -373,10 +389,10 @@ public function hasExactRoles($roles, ?string $guard = null): bool
         }
 
         if ($roles instanceof Role) {
-            $roles = [$roles->name];
+            $roles = [$roles->{$roleKey}];
         }
 
-        $roles = collect()->make($roles)->map(fn ($role) => $role instanceof Role ? $role->name : $role
+        $roles = collect()->make($roles)->map(fn ($role) => $role instanceof Role ? $role->{$roleKey} : $role
         );
 
         return $this->roles->count() == $roles->count() && $this->hasAllRoles($roles, $guard);
@@ -390,11 +406,17 @@ public function getDirectPermissions(): Collection
         return $this->permissions;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Return all role identifiers for the model.
+     *
+     * Note: This respects the configured 'role_identifier' column (e.g., 'name' or 'slug'),
+     * even though the method name is 'getRoleNames' for backward compatibility.
+     */
     public function getRoleNames(): Collection
     {
         $this->loadMissing('roles');
 
-        return $this->roles->pluck('name');
+        return $this->roles->pluck($this->getRoleIdentifier());
     }
 
     protected function getStoredRole($role): Role
@@ -408,7 +430,7 @@ protected function getStoredRole($role): Role
         }
 
         if (is_string($role)) {
-            return $this->getRoleClass()::findByName($role, $this->getDefaultGuardName());
+            return $this->getRoleClass()::findByIdentifier($role, $this->getDefaultGuardName());
         }
 
         return $role;
@@ -435,4 +457,10 @@ protected function convertPipeToArray(string $pipeString)
 
         return explode('|', trim($pipeString, $quoteCharacter));
     }
+
+    protected function getRoleIdentifier(): string
+    {
+        return config('permission.role_identifier', 'name');
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/tests/HasRolesWithCustomModelsTest.php b/tests/HasRolesWithCustomModelsTest.php
index 767ab6752..983f0f3e7 100644
--- a/tests/HasRolesWithCustomModelsTest.php
+++ b/tests/HasRolesWithCustomModelsTest.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 use Illuminate\Support\Carbon;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Test;
+use Spatie\Permission\Exceptions\RoleDoesNotExist;
 use Spatie\Permission\Tests\TestModels\Admin;
 use Spatie\Permission\Tests\TestModels\Role;
 
@@ -106,4 +107,47 @@ public function it_should_touch_when_assigning_new_roles()
         $this->assertSame('2021-07-20 19:13:14', $role1->refresh()->updated_at->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'));
         $this->assertSame('2021-07-20 19:13:14', $role2->refresh()->updated_at->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'));
     }
+    
+    /** @test */
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_can_assign_and_remove_a_role_with_custom_identifier()
+    {
+        config(['permission.role_identifier' => 'slug']);
+
+        app(Role::class)->create(['name' => 'Editor', 'slug' => 'editor', 'guard_name' => 'web']);
+        app(Role::class)->create(['name' => 'Writer', 'slug' => 'writer', 'guard_name' => 'web']);
+
+        $this->assertFalse($this->testUser->hasRole('editor'));
+        $this->assertFalse($this->testUser->hasRole('Editor'));
+
+        $this->testUser->assignRole('editor');
+        $this->testUser->assignRole('writer');
+
+        $this->assertTrue($this->testUser->hasRole('editor'));
+        $this->assertFalse($this->testUser->hasRole('Editor'));
+
+        $this->assertTrue($this->testUser->hasAllRoles(['editor']));
+        $this->assertTrue($this->testUser->hasAllRoles(['editor', 'writer']));
+        $this->assertFalse($this->testUser->hasAllRoles(['editor', 'writer', 'not exist']));
+
+        $this->assertTrue($this->testUser->hasExactRoles(['editor', 'writer']));
+        $this->assertFalse($this->testUser->hasExactRoles(['editor']));
+
+        $this->testUser->removeRole('editor');
+
+        $this->assertFalse($this->testUser->hasRole('editor'));
+    }
+    
+    /** @test */
+    #[Test]
+    public function it_throws_an_exception_when_assigning_a_role_by_name_when_identifier_is_not_name()
+    {
+        config(['permission.role_identifier' => 'slug']);
+
+        app(Role::class)->create(['name' => 'Editor', 'slug' => 'editor', 'guard_name' => 'web']);
+
+        $this->expectException(RoleDoesNotExist::class);
+
+        $this->testUser->assignRole('Editor');
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/TestCase.php b/tests/TestCase.php
index 073e7c8fb..5ce007486 100644
--- a/tests/TestCase.php
+++ b/tests/TestCase.php
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ protected function setUpDatabase($app)
 
             $schema->table(config('permission.table_names.roles'), function (Blueprint $table) {
                 $table->softDeletes();
+                $table->string("slug")->unique()->nullable();
             });
             $schema->table(config('permission.table_names.permissions'), function (Blueprint $table) {
                 $table->softDeletes();