diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/gvkn_sort.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/gvkn_sort.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5e6bb374b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/gvkn_sort.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+type ByGVKN []GroupVersionKindName
+
+func (a ByGVKN) Len() int      { return len(a) }
+func (a ByGVKN) Swap(i, j int) { a[i], a[j] = a[j], a[i] }
+func (a ByGVKN) Less(i, j int) bool {
+	if a[i].gvk.String() != a[j].gvk.String() {
+		return a[i].gvk.String() < a[j].gvk.String()
+	}
+	return a[i].name < a[j].name
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/pathconfig.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/pathconfig.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d5c901c60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/pathconfig.go
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+type PathConfig struct {
+	Path               []string
+	CreateIfNotPresent bool
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/prefixname.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/prefixname.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9ae7e8e2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/prefixname.go
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+)
+
+// PrefixNameOptions contains the prefix and the path config for each field that
+// the name prefix will be applied.
+type PrefixNameOptions struct {
+	prefix      string
+	pathConfigs []PathConfig
+}
+
+var _ Transformer = &PrefixNameOptions{}
+
+var DefaultNamePrefixPathConfigs = []PathConfig{
+	{
+		Path:               []string{"metadata", "name"},
+		CreateIfNotPresent: false,
+	},
+}
+
+func (o *PrefixNameOptions) Complete(prefix string, pathConfigs []PathConfig) {
+	o.prefix = prefix
+	if pathConfigs == nil {
+		pathConfigs = DefaultNamePrefixPathConfigs
+	}
+	o.pathConfigs = pathConfigs
+}
+
+func (o *PrefixNameOptions) Transform(m map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured) error {
+	for gvkn := range m {
+		obj := m[gvkn]
+		objMap := obj.UnstructuredContent()
+		for _, path := range o.pathConfigs {
+			err := mutateField(objMap, path.Path, path.CreateIfNotPresent, o.addPrefix)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (o *PrefixNameOptions) TransformBytes(in []byte) ([]byte, error) {
+	m, err := Decode(in)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	err = o.Transform(m)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return Encode(m)
+}
+
+func (o *PrefixNameOptions) addPrefix(in interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
+	s, ok := in.(string)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%#v is expectd to be %T", in, s)
+	}
+	return o.prefix + s, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/prefixname_test.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/prefixname_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aee95618a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/prefixname_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+)
+
+var prefixNameOps = PrefixNameOptions{
+	prefix:      "someprefix-",
+	pathConfigs: DefaultNamePrefixPathConfigs,
+}
+
+var namePrefixedCm1 = unstructured.Unstructured{
+	Object: map[string]interface{}{
+		"apiVersion": "v1",
+		"kind":       "ConfigMap",
+		"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+			"name": "someprefix-cm1",
+		},
+	},
+}
+
+var namePrefixedCm2 = unstructured.Unstructured{
+	Object: map[string]interface{}{
+		"apiVersion": "v1",
+		"kind":       "ConfigMap",
+		"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+			"name": "someprefix-cm2",
+		},
+	},
+}
+
+var namePrefixedM = map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured{
+	{
+		gvk:  schema.GroupVersionKind{Version: "v1", Kind: "ConfigMap"},
+		name: "cm1",
+	}: &namePrefixedCm1,
+	{
+		gvk:  schema.GroupVersionKind{Version: "v1", Kind: "ConfigMap"},
+		name: "cm2",
+	}: &namePrefixedCm2,
+}
+
+func TestPrefixNameRun(t *testing.T) {
+	m := createMap()
+	err := prefixNameOps.Transform(m)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(m, namePrefixedM) {
+		t.Fatalf("%s doesn't match expected %s", m, namePrefixedM)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/transformer.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/transformer.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b86b0961
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/transformer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+)
+
+type Transformer interface {
+	// Transform modifies objects in a map, e.g. add prefixes or additional labels.
+	Transform(m map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured) error
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/util.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/util.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2f07c130
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/util.go
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"sort"
+
+	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/meta"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+	k8syaml "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/yaml"
+)
+
+type GroupVersionKindName struct {
+	gvk schema.GroupVersionKind
+	// name of the resource.
+	name string
+}
+
+func Decode(in []byte) (map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured, error) {
+	decoder := k8syaml.NewYAMLOrJSONDecoder(bytes.NewReader(in), 1024)
+	objs := []*unstructured.Unstructured{}
+
+	var err error
+	for {
+		var out unstructured.Unstructured
+		err = decoder.Decode(&out)
+		if err != nil {
+			break
+		}
+		objs = append(objs, &out)
+	}
+	if err != io.EOF {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	m := map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured{}
+	for i := range objs {
+		metaAccessor, err := meta.Accessor(objs[i])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		name := metaAccessor.GetName()
+		typeAccessor, err := meta.TypeAccessor(objs[i])
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		apiVersion := typeAccessor.GetAPIVersion()
+		kind := typeAccessor.GetKind()
+		gv, err := schema.ParseGroupVersion(apiVersion)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		gvk := gv.WithKind(kind)
+		gvkn := GroupVersionKindName{
+			gvk:  gvk,
+			name: name,
+		}
+		m[gvkn] = objs[i]
+	}
+	return m, nil
+}
+
+func Encode(in map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured) ([]byte, error) {
+	gvknList := []GroupVersionKindName{}
+	for gvkn := range in {
+		gvknList = append(gvknList, gvkn)
+	}
+	sort.Sort(ByGVKN(gvknList))
+
+	firstObj := true
+	var b []byte
+	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(b)
+	for _, gvkn := range gvknList {
+		obj := in[gvkn]
+		out, err := yaml.Marshal(obj)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		if !firstObj {
+			_, err = buf.WriteString("---\n")
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+		_, err = buf.Write(out)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		firstObj = false
+	}
+	return buf.Bytes(), nil
+}
+
+type mutateFunc func(interface{}) (interface{}, error)
+
+func mutateField(m map[string]interface{}, pathToField []string, createIfNotPresent bool, fns ...mutateFunc) error {
+	if len(pathToField) == 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	_, found := m[pathToField[0]]
+	if !found {
+		if !createIfNotPresent {
+			return nil
+		}
+		m[pathToField[0]] = map[string]interface{}{}
+	}
+
+	if len(pathToField) == 1 {
+		var err error
+		for _, fn := range fns {
+			m[pathToField[0]], err = fn(m[pathToField[0]])
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	v := m[pathToField[0]]
+	newPathToField := pathToField[1:]
+	switch typedV := v.(type) {
+	case map[string]interface{}:
+		return mutateField(typedV, newPathToField, createIfNotPresent, fns...)
+	case []interface{}:
+		for i := range typedV {
+			item := typedV[i]
+			typedItem, ok := item.(map[string]interface{})
+			if !ok {
+				return fmt.Errorf("%#v is expectd to be %T", item, typedItem)
+			}
+			err := mutateField(typedItem, newPathToField, createIfNotPresent, fns...)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+		return nil
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("%#v is not expected to be a primitive type", typedV)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/kinflate/util/util_test.go b/pkg/kinflate/util/util_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed04dec3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/kinflate/util/util_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2018 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package util
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"testing"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+)
+
+var encoded = []byte(`apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: cm1
+---
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: cm2
+`)
+
+func createMap() map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured {
+	cm1 := unstructured.Unstructured{
+		Object: map[string]interface{}{
+			"apiVersion": "v1",
+			"kind":       "ConfigMap",
+			"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+				"name": "cm1",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	cm2 := unstructured.Unstructured{
+		Object: map[string]interface{}{
+			"apiVersion": "v1",
+			"kind":       "ConfigMap",
+			"metadata": map[string]interface{}{
+				"name": "cm2",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	return map[GroupVersionKindName]*unstructured.Unstructured{
+		{
+			gvk:  schema.GroupVersionKind{Version: "v1", Kind: "ConfigMap"},
+			name: "cm1",
+		}: &cm1,
+		{
+			gvk:  schema.GroupVersionKind{Version: "v1", Kind: "ConfigMap"},
+			name: "cm2",
+		}: &cm2,
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDecode(t *testing.T) {
+	expected := createMap()
+	m, err := Decode(encoded)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(m, expected) {
+		t.Fatalf("%#v doesn't match expected %#v", m, expected)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEncode(t *testing.T) {
+	out, err := Encode(createMap())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(out, encoded) {
+		t.Fatalf("%s doesn't match expected %s", out, encoded)
+	}
+}