diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cca2602e30cd..5495a62f3f76 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ### Features
 
 - `[jest-config]` Support config files exporting (`async`) `function`s ([#10001](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/10001))
+- `[jest-cli, jest-core]` Add `--selectProjects` CLI argument to filter test suites by project name ([#8612](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/8612))
 
 ### Fixes
 
diff --git a/docs/CLI.md b/docs/CLI.md
index a6ed467c95d0..b0c989dfba67 100644
--- a/docs/CLI.md
+++ b/docs/CLI.md
@@ -254,6 +254,10 @@ Run tests with specified reporters. [Reporter options](configuration#reporters-a
 
 Alias: `-i`. Run all tests serially in the current process, rather than creating a worker pool of child processes that run tests. This can be useful for debugging.
 
+### `--selectProjects <project1> ... <projectN>`
+
+Run only the tests of the specified projects. Jest uses the attribute `displayName` in the configuration to identify each project. If you use this option, you should provide a `displayName` to all your projects.
+
 ### `--runTestsByPath`
 
 Run only the tests that were specified with their exact paths.
diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/selectProjects.test.ts b/e2e/__tests__/selectProjects.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..472221575cc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/selectProjects.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+import {resolve} from 'path';
+
+import run, {
+  RunJestJsonResult,
+  RunJestResult,
+  json as runWithJson,
+} from '../runJest';
+
+describe('Given a config with two named projects, first-project and second-project', () => {
+  const dir = resolve(__dirname, '..', 'select-projects');
+
+  describe('when Jest is started with `--selectProjects first-project`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestJsonResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = runWithJson('select-projects', [
+        '--selectProjects',
+        'first-project',
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('runs the tests in the first project only', () => {
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('success', true);
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('numTotalTests', 1);
+      expect(result.json.testResults.map(({name}) => name)).toEqual([
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/first-project.test.js'),
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('prints that only first-project will run', () => {
+      expect(result.stderr).toMatch(/^Running one project: first-project/);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when Jest is started with `--selectProjects second-project`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestJsonResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = runWithJson('select-projects', [
+        '--selectProjects',
+        'second-project',
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('runs the tests in the second project only', () => {
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('success', true);
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('numTotalTests', 1);
+      expect(result.json.testResults.map(({name}) => name)).toEqual([
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/second-project.test.js'),
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('prints that only second-project will run', () => {
+      expect(result.stderr).toMatch(/^Running one project: second-project/);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when Jest is started with `--selectProjects first-project second-project`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestJsonResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = runWithJson('select-projects', [
+        '--selectProjects',
+        'first-project',
+        'second-project',
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('runs the tests in the first and second projects', () => {
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('success', true);
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('numTotalTests', 2);
+      expect(result.json.testResults.map(({name}) => name).sort()).toEqual([
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/first-project.test.js'),
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/second-project.test.js'),
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('prints that both first-project and second-project will run', () => {
+      expect(result.stderr).toMatch(
+        /^Running 2 projects:\n- first-project\n- second-project/,
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when Jest is started without providing `--selectProjects`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestJsonResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = runWithJson('select-projects', []);
+    });
+    it('runs the tests in the first and second projects', () => {
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('success', true);
+      expect(result.json).toHaveProperty('numTotalTests', 2);
+      expect(result.json.testResults.map(({name}) => name).sort()).toEqual([
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/first-project.test.js'),
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/second-project.test.js'),
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('does not print which projects are run', () => {
+      expect(result.stderr).not.toMatch(/^Running/);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when Jest is started with `--selectProjects third-project`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = run('select-projects', ['--selectProjects', 'third-project']);
+    });
+    it('fails', () => {
+      expect(result).toHaveProperty('failed', true);
+    });
+    it('prints that no project was found', () => {
+      expect(result.stdout).toMatch(
+        /^You provided values for --selectProjects but no projects were found matching the selection/,
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('Given a config with two projects, first-project and an unnamed project', () => {
+  const dir = resolve(__dirname, '..', 'select-projects-missing-name');
+
+  describe('when Jest is started with `--selectProjects first-project`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestJsonResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = runWithJson('select-projects-missing-name', [
+        '--selectProjects',
+        'first-project',
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('runs the tests in the first project only', () => {
+      expect(result.json.success).toBe(true);
+      expect(result.json.numTotalTests).toBe(1);
+      expect(result.json.testResults.map(({name}) => name)).toEqual([
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/first-project.test.js'),
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('prints that a project does not have a name', () => {
+      expect(result.stderr).toMatch(
+        /^You provided values for --selectProjects but a project does not have a name/,
+      );
+    });
+    it('prints that only first-project will run', () => {
+      const stderrThirdLine = result.stderr.split('\n')[2];
+      expect(stderrThirdLine).toMatch(/^Running one project: first-project/);
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when Jest is started without providing `--selectProjects`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestJsonResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = runWithJson('select-projects-missing-name', []);
+    });
+    it('runs the tests in the first and second projects', () => {
+      expect(result.json.success).toBe(true);
+      expect(result.json.numTotalTests).toBe(2);
+      expect(result.json.testResults.map(({name}) => name).sort()).toEqual([
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/first-project.test.js'),
+        resolve(dir, '__tests__/second-project.test.js'),
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('does not print that a project has no name', () => {
+      expect(result.stderr).not.toMatch(
+        /^You provided values for --selectProjects but a project does not have a name/,
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when Jest is started with `--selectProjects third-project`', () => {
+    let result: RunJestResult;
+    beforeAll(() => {
+      result = run('select-projects-missing-name', [
+        '--selectProjects',
+        'third-project',
+      ]);
+    });
+    it('fails', () => {
+      expect(result).toHaveProperty('failed', true);
+    });
+    it('prints that a project does not have a name', () => {
+      expect(result.stdout).toMatch(
+        /^You provided values for --selectProjects but a project does not have a name/,
+      );
+    });
+    it('prints that no project was found', () => {
+      const stdoutThirdLine = result.stdout.split('\n')[2];
+      expect(stdoutThirdLine).toMatch(
+        /^You provided values for --selectProjects but no projects were found matching the selection/,
+      );
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/e2e/runJest.ts b/e2e/runJest.ts
index 28eda5785672..44e5e5217894 100644
--- a/e2e/runJest.ts
+++ b/e2e/runJest.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ function spawnJest(
 
 export type RunJestResult = execa.ExecaReturnValue;
 
-interface RunJestJsonResult extends RunJestResult {
+export interface RunJestJsonResult extends RunJestResult {
   json: FormattedTestResults;
 }
 
diff --git a/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/__tests__/first-project.test.js b/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/__tests__/first-project.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f440fcd752c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/__tests__/first-project.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+it('should run when first-project appears in selectProjects', () => {
+  expect(true).toBe(true);
+});
diff --git a/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/__tests__/second-project.test.js b/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/__tests__/second-project.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c3db24a8b9a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/__tests__/second-project.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+it('should run when second-project appears in selectProjects', () => {
+  expect(true).toBe(true);
+});
diff --git a/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/package.json b/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a9743659e309
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/select-projects-missing-name/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{
+  "description": "Testing the behaviour of --selectProjects when a project does not have a name",
+  "jest": {
+    "projects": [
+      {
+        "displayName": "first-project",
+        "testMatch": [
+          "<rootDir>/__tests__/first-project.test.js"
+        ],
+        "testEnvironment": "node"
+      },
+      {
+        "testMatch": [
+          "<rootDir>/__tests__/second-project.test.js"
+        ],
+        "testEnvironment": "node"
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/e2e/select-projects/__tests__/first-project.test.js b/e2e/select-projects/__tests__/first-project.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f440fcd752c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/select-projects/__tests__/first-project.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+it('should run when first-project appears in selectProjects', () => {
+  expect(true).toBe(true);
+});
diff --git a/e2e/select-projects/__tests__/second-project.test.js b/e2e/select-projects/__tests__/second-project.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c3db24a8b9a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/select-projects/__tests__/second-project.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+it('should run when second-project appears in selectProjects', () => {
+  expect(true).toBe(true);
+});
diff --git a/e2e/select-projects/package.json b/e2e/select-projects/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..28e0bcc45e07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/select-projects/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+{
+  "description": "Testing the behaviour of --selectProjects",
+  "jest": {
+    "projects": [
+      {
+        "displayName": "first-project",
+        "testMatch": [
+          "<rootDir>/__tests__/first-project.test.js"
+        ],
+        "testEnvironment": "node"
+      },
+      {
+        "displayName": {
+          "name": "second-project",
+          "color": "blue"
+        },
+        "testMatch": [
+          "<rootDir>/__tests__/second-project.test.js"
+        ],
+        "testEnvironment": "node"
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/jest-cli/src/__tests__/cli/args.test.ts b/packages/jest-cli/src/__tests__/cli/args.test.ts
index 8e732954b771..46ff7a7e4aed 100644
--- a/packages/jest-cli/src/__tests__/cli/args.test.ts
+++ b/packages/jest-cli/src/__tests__/cli/args.test.ts
@@ -72,6 +72,13 @@ describe('check', () => {
     },
   );
 
+  it('raises an exception if selectProjects is not provided any project names', () => {
+    const argv: Config.Argv = {selectProjects: []} as Config.Argv;
+    expect(() => check(argv)).toThrow(
+      'The --selectProjects option requires the name of at least one project to be specified.\n',
+    );
+  });
+
   it('raises an exception if config is not a valid JSON string', () => {
     const argv = {config: 'x:1'} as Config.Argv;
     expect(() => check(argv)).toThrow(
diff --git a/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.ts b/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.ts
index b368e8a5830d..f7018d51ab10 100644
--- a/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.ts
+++ b/packages/jest-cli/src/cli/args.ts
@@ -49,6 +49,13 @@ export function check(argv: Config.Argv): true {
     );
   }
 
+  if (argv.selectProjects && argv.selectProjects.length === 0) {
+    throw new Error(
+      'The --selectProjects option requires the name of at least one project to be specified.\n' +
+        'Example usage: jest --selectProjects my-first-project my-second-project',
+    );
+  }
+
   if (
     argv.config &&
     !isJSONString(argv.config) &&
@@ -528,6 +535,13 @@ export const options = {
       "Allows to use a custom runner instead of Jest's default test runner.",
     type: 'string',
   },
+  selectProjects: {
+    description:
+      'Run only the tests of the specified projects.' +
+      'Jest uses the attribute `displayName` in the configuration to identify each project.',
+    string: true,
+    type: 'array',
+  },
   setupFiles: {
     description:
       'A list of paths to modules that run some code to configure or ' +
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/cli/index.ts b/packages/jest-core/src/cli/index.ts
index a9c2946711b9..a1082d079f1c 100644
--- a/packages/jest-core/src/cli/index.ts
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/cli/index.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ import TestWatcher from '../TestWatcher';
 import watch from '../watch';
 import pluralize from '../pluralize';
 import logDebugMessages from '../lib/log_debug_messages';
+import getConfigsOfProjectsToRun from '../getConfigsOfProjectsToRun';
+import getProjectNamesMissingWarning from '../getProjectNamesMissingWarning';
+import getSelectProjectsMessage from '../getSelectProjectsMessage';
 
 const {print: preRunMessagePrint} = preRunMessage;
 
@@ -68,9 +71,22 @@ export async function runCLI(
     exit(0);
   }
 
+  let configsOfProjectsToRun = configs;
+  if (argv.selectProjects) {
+    const namesMissingWarning = getProjectNamesMissingWarning(configs);
+    if (namesMissingWarning) {
+      outputStream.write(namesMissingWarning);
+    }
+    configsOfProjectsToRun = getConfigsOfProjectsToRun(
+      argv.selectProjects,
+      configs,
+    );
+    outputStream.write(getSelectProjectsMessage(configsOfProjectsToRun));
+  }
+
   await _run10000(
     globalConfig,
-    configs,
+    configsOfProjectsToRun,
     hasDeprecationWarnings,
     outputStream,
     r => (results = r),
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/getConfigsOfProjectsToRun.ts b/packages/jest-core/src/getConfigsOfProjectsToRun.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b8b8288ccc68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/getConfigsOfProjectsToRun.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+import type {Config} from '@jest/types';
+import getProjectDisplayName from './getProjectDisplayName';
+
+export default function getConfigsOfProjectsToRun(
+  namesOfProjectsToRun: Array<string>,
+  projectConfigs: Array<Config.ProjectConfig>,
+): Array<Config.ProjectConfig> {
+  const setOfProjectsToRun = new Set<string>(namesOfProjectsToRun);
+  return projectConfigs.filter(config => {
+    const name = getProjectDisplayName(config);
+    return name && setOfProjectsToRun.has(name);
+  });
+}
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/getProjectDisplayName.ts b/packages/jest-core/src/getProjectDisplayName.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..24f55d6746ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/getProjectDisplayName.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+import type {Config} from '@jest/types';
+
+export default function getProjectDisplayName(
+  projectConfig: Config.ProjectConfig,
+): string | undefined {
+  const {displayName} = projectConfig;
+  if (!displayName) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  if (typeof displayName === 'string') {
+    return displayName;
+  }
+  if (typeof displayName === 'object') {
+    return displayName.name;
+  }
+  return undefined;
+}
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/getProjectNamesMissingWarning.ts b/packages/jest-core/src/getProjectNamesMissingWarning.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..53f0543d1cc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/getProjectNamesMissingWarning.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+import chalk = require('chalk');
+import type {Config} from '@jest/types';
+import getProjectDisplayName from './getProjectDisplayName';
+
+export default function getProjectNamesMissingWarning(
+  projectConfigs: Array<Config.ProjectConfig>,
+): string | undefined {
+  const numberOfProjectsWithoutAName = projectConfigs.filter(
+    config => !getProjectDisplayName(config),
+  ).length;
+  if (numberOfProjectsWithoutAName === 0) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return chalk.yellow(
+    `You provided values for --selectProjects but ${
+      numberOfProjectsWithoutAName === 1
+        ? 'a project does not have a name'
+        : `${numberOfProjectsWithoutAName} projects do not have a name`
+    }.\n` +
+      'Set displayName in the config of all projects in order to disable this warning.\n',
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/getSelectProjectsMessage.ts b/packages/jest-core/src/getSelectProjectsMessage.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5d3fff3577b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/getSelectProjectsMessage.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+import chalk = require('chalk');
+import type {Config} from '@jest/types';
+import getProjectDisplayName from './getProjectDisplayName';
+
+export default function getSelectProjectsMessage(
+  projectConfigs: Array<Config.ProjectConfig>,
+): string {
+  if (projectConfigs.length === 0) {
+    return getNoSelectionWarning();
+  }
+  return getProjectsRunningMessage(projectConfigs);
+}
+
+function getNoSelectionWarning(): string {
+  return chalk.yellow(
+    'You provided values for --selectProjects but no projects were found matching the selection.\n',
+  );
+}
+
+function getProjectsRunningMessage(
+  projectConfigs: Array<Config.ProjectConfig>,
+): string {
+  if (projectConfigs.length === 1) {
+    const name = getProjectDisplayName(projectConfigs[0]);
+    return `Running one project: ${chalk.bold(name)}\n`;
+  }
+  const projectsList = projectConfigs
+    .map(getProjectNameListElement)
+    .sort()
+    .join('\n');
+  return `Running ${projectConfigs.length} projects:\n${projectsList}\n`;
+}
+
+function getProjectNameListElement(
+  projectConfig: Config.ProjectConfig,
+): string {
+  const name = getProjectDisplayName(projectConfig);
+  const elementContent = name ? chalk.bold(name) : '<unnamed project>';
+  return `- ${elementContent}`;
+}
diff --git a/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts b/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts
index cf895c67c1a8..8bfc411710f7 100644
--- a/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts
+++ b/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts
@@ -408,6 +408,7 @@ export type Argv = Arguments<
     rootDir: string;
     roots: Array<string>;
     runInBand: boolean;
+    selectProjects: Array<string>;
     setupFiles: Array<string>;
     setupFilesAfterEnv: Array<string>;
     showConfig: boolean;