diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/varnames.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/varnames.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c786903dd8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/lookup/varnames.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+# (c) 2017 Ansible Project
+# GNU General Public License v3.0+ (see COPYING or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt)
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+DOCUMENTATION = """
+    lookup: varnames
+    author: Ansible Core
+    version_added: "2.8"
+    short_description: Lookup matching variable names
+    description:
+      - Retrieves a list of matching Ansible variable names.
+    options:
+      _terms:
+        description: List of Python regex patterns to search for in variable names.
+        required: True
+"""
+
+EXAMPLES = """
+- name: List variables that start with qz_
+  debug: msg="{{ lookup('varnames', '^qz_.+')}}"
+  vars:
+    qz_1: hello
+    qz_2: world
+    qa_1: "I won't show"
+    qz_: "I won't show either"
+
+- name: Show all variables
+  debug: msg="{{ lookup('varnames', '.+')}}"
+
+- name: Show variables with 'hosts' in their names
+  debug: msg="{{ lookup('varnames', 'hosts')}}"
+
+- name: Find several related variables that end specific way
+  debug: msg="{{ lookup('varnames', '.+_zone$', '.+_location$') }}"
+
+"""
+
+RETURN = """
+_value:
+  description:
+    - List of the variable names requested.
+  type: list
+"""
+
+import re
+
+from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_native
+from ansible.module_utils.six import string_types
+from ansible.plugins.lookup import LookupBase
+
+
+class LookupModule(LookupBase):
+
+    def run(self, terms, variables=None, **kwargs):
+
+        if variables is None:
+            raise AnsibleError('No variables available to search')
+
+        # no options, yet
+        # self.set_options(direct=kwargs)
+
+        ret = []
+        variable_names = list(variables.keys())
+        for term in terms:
+
+            if not isinstance(term, string_types):
+                raise AnsibleError('Invalid setting identifier, "%s" is not a string, its a %s' % (term, type(term)))
+
+            try:
+                name = re.compile(term)
+            except Exception as e:
+                raise AnsibleError('Unable to use "%s" as a search parameter: %s' % (term, to_native(e)))
+
+            for varname in variable_names:
+                if name.search(varname):
+                    ret.append(varname)
+
+        return ret