diff --git a/lib/ntee.rb b/lib/ntee.rb
index 19a5f89..1e8e005 100644
--- a/lib/ntee.rb
+++ b/lib/ntee.rb
@@ -2,12 +2,18 @@
 
 module NTEE
   class Category
-    attr_accessor :name, :code, :subcategories, :parent
+    attr_accessor :code, :subcategories, :parent
+    attr_writer :name
 
     def initialize
       self.subcategories ||= {}
     end
 
+    def name
+      # strip non-ascii characters
+      @name.gsub(/[\u0080-\u00ff]/, "")
+    end
+
     def to_s
       "#{name} (#{code})"
     end