diff --git a/.changelog/5283.changed b/.changelog/5283.changed
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f7b3a94391
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/5283.changed
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+metrics: clarify instrument name validation error message to reflect spec constraints (start with a letter, allowed chars, max length 255)
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/instrument.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/instrument.py
index 946cdf1df1..8b558e6beb 100644
--- a/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/instrument.py
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/src/opentelemetry/sdk/metrics/_internal/instrument.py
@@ -45,7 +45,12 @@
 _logger = getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-_ERROR_MESSAGE = (
+_NAME_ERROR_MESSAGE = (
+    "Instrument name must be an ASCII string, start with a letter, "
+    "contain only letters, digits, '_', '.', '-', '/' and be at most 255 characters; got {}"
+)
+
+_UNIT_ERROR_MESSAGE = (
     "Expected ASCII string of maximum length 63 characters but got {}"
 )
 
@@ -74,11 +79,11 @@ def __init__(
 
         if result["name"] is None:
             # pylint: disable=broad-exception-raised
-            raise Exception(_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(name))
+            raise Exception(_NAME_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(name))
 
         if result["unit"] is None:
             # pylint: disable=broad-exception-raised
-            raise Exception(_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(unit))
+            raise Exception(_UNIT_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(unit))
 
         name = result["name"]
         unit = result["unit"]
@@ -113,11 +118,11 @@ def __init__(
 
         if result["name"] is None:
             # pylint: disable=broad-exception-raised
-            raise Exception(_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(name))
+            raise Exception(_NAME_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(name))
 
         if result["unit"] is None:
             # pylint: disable=broad-exception-raised
-            raise Exception(_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(unit))
+            raise Exception(_UNIT_ERROR_MESSAGE.format(unit))
 
         name = result["name"]
         unit = result["unit"]
diff --git a/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/metrics/test_instrument_error_message.py b/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/metrics/test_instrument_error_message.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9e3cc778c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opentelemetry-sdk/tests/metrics/test_instrument_error_message.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import unittest
+
+from opentelemetry.sdk.metrics._internal.instrument import _Synchronous
+from opentelemetry.sdk.util.instrumentation import InstrumentationScope
+
+class TestInstrumentErrorMessage(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_invalid_name_error_message(self):
+        scope = InstrumentationScope("test")
+        with self.assertRaises(Exception) as cm:
+            _Synchronous("1invalid", scope, object())
+        msg = str(cm.exception)
+        self.assertIn("start with a letter", msg)
+        self.assertIn("255", msg)
+
+    def test_invalid_unit_error_message(self):
+        scope = InstrumentationScope("test")
+        # name valid, unit invalid (non-ASCII)
+        with self.assertRaises(Exception) as cm:
+            _Synchronous("validname", scope, object(), unit="Ñ")
+        msg = str(cm.exception)
+        self.assertIn("maximum length 63", msg)
+        self.assertIn("ASCII", msg)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()