diff --git a/kubespawner/slugs.py b/kubespawner/slugs.py
index 6044e75c..ff08cb51 100644
--- a/kubespawner/slugs.py
+++ b/kubespawner/slugs.py
@@ -94,6 +94,31 @@ def is_valid_default(s):
     )
 
 
+def _extract_safe_name(name, max_length):
+    """Generate safe substring of a name
+
+    Guarantees:
+
+    - always starts and ends with a lowercase letter or number
+    - never more than one hyphen in a row (no '--')
+    - only contains lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens
+    - length at least 1 ('x' if other rules strips down to empty string)
+    - max length not exceeded
+    """
+    # compute safe slug from name (don't worry about collisions, hash handles that)
+    # cast to lowercase, exclude all but lower & hyphen
+    # we could keep numbers, but it must not _start_ with a number
+    safe_name = ''.join([c for c in name.lower() if c in _lower_plus_hyphen])
+    # strip leading '-', squash repeated '--' to '-'
+    safe_name = _hyphen_plus_pattern.sub("-", safe_name.lstrip("-"))
+    # truncate to max_length chars, strip trailing '-'
+    safe_name = safe_name[:max_length].rstrip("-")
+    if not safe_name:
+        # make sure it's non-empty
+        safe_name = 'x'
+    return safe_name
+
+
 def strip_and_hash(name, max_length=32):
     """Generate an always-safe, unique string for any input
 
@@ -105,18 +130,8 @@ def strip_and_hash(name, max_length=32):
         raise ValueError(f"Cannot make safe names shorter than {_hash_length + 4}")
     # quick, short hash to avoid name collisions
     name_hash = hashlib.sha256(name.encode("utf8")).hexdigest()[:_hash_length]
-    # compute safe slug from name (don't worry about collisions, hash handles that)
-    # cast to lowercase, exclude all but lower & hyphen
-    safe_name = ''.join([c for c in name.lower() if c in _lower_plus_hyphen])
-    # strip leading '-'
-    # squash repeated '--' to one
-    safe_name = _hyphen_plus_pattern.sub("-", safe_name.lstrip("-"))
-    # truncate to 24 chars, strip trailing '-'
-    safe_name = safe_name[:name_length].rstrip("-")
-    if not safe_name:
-        # make sure it's non-empty
-        safe_name = 'x'
-    # due to stripping of '-' above,
+    safe_name = _extract_safe_name(name, name_length)
+    # due to stripping of '-' in _extract_safe_name,
     # the result will always have _exactly_ '---', never '--' nor '----'
     # use '---' to avoid colliding with `{username}--{servername}` template join
     return f"{safe_name}---{name_hash}"
@@ -142,3 +157,38 @@ def safe_slug(name, is_valid=is_valid_default, max_length=None):
         return name
     else:
         return strip_and_hash(name, max_length=max_length or 32)
+
+
+def multi_slug(names, max_length=48):
+    """multi-component slug with single hash on the end
+
+    same as strip_and_hash, but name components are joined with '--',
+    so it looks like:
+
+    {name1}--{name2}---{hash}
+
+    In order to avoid hash collisions on boundaries, use `\\xFF` as delimiter
+    """
+    hasher = hashlib.sha256()
+    hasher.update(names[0].encode("utf8"))
+    for name in names[1:]:
+        # \xFF can't occur as a start byte in UTF8
+        # so use it as a word delimiter to make sure overlapping words don't collide
+        hasher.update(b"\xFF")
+        hasher.update(name.encode("utf8"))
+    hash = hasher.hexdigest()[:_hash_length]
+
+    name_slugs = []
+    available_chars = max_length - (_hash_length + 1)
+    # allocate equal space per name
+    # per_name accounts for '{name}--', so really two less
+    per_name = available_chars // len(names)
+    name_max_length = per_name - 2
+    if name_max_length < 2:
+        raise ValueError(f"Not enough characters for {len(names)} names: {max_length}")
+    for name in names:
+        name_slugs.append(_extract_safe_name(name, name_max_length))
+
+    # by joining names with '--', this cannot collide with single-hashed names,
+    # which can only contain '-' and the '---' hash delimiter once
+    return f"{'--'.join(name_slugs)}---{hash}"
diff --git a/kubespawner/spawner.py b/kubespawner/spawner.py
index 0feb1099..c2dfa599 100644
--- a/kubespawner/spawner.py
+++ b/kubespawner/spawner.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
     make_service,
 )
 from .reflector import ResourceReflector
-from .slugs import is_valid_label, safe_slug
+from .slugs import is_valid_label, multi_slug, safe_slug
 from .utils import recursive_format, recursive_update
 
 
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         # these same assignments should match clear_state
         if self.enable_user_namespaces:
             self.namespace = self._expand_user_properties(
-                self.user_namespace_template, scheme="slug"
+                self.user_namespace_template, slug_scheme="safe"
             )
             self.log.info(f"Using user namespace: {self.namespace}")
 
@@ -1907,24 +1907,21 @@ def _expand_user_properties(self, template, slug_scheme=None):
 
         # compute safe_user_server = {username}--{servername}
         if (
-            # escaping after joining means
-            # possible collision with `--` delimiter
-            '--' in username
-            or '--' in raw_servername
-            or username.endswith("-")
-            or raw_servername.startswith("-")
-            # length exceeded
-            or len(safe_username) + len(safe_username) + 2 > _slug_max_length
+            # double-escape if safe names are too long after join
+            len(safe_username) + len(safe_servername) + 2
+            > _slug_max_length
         ):
             # need double-escape if there's a chance of collision
-            safe_user_server = safe_slug(
-                f"{safe_username}--{safe_servername}", max_length=_slug_max_length
+            safe_user_server = multi_slug(
+                [username, raw_servername], max_length=_slug_max_length
             )
         else:
             if raw_servername:
-                safe_user_server = safe_slug(
-                    f"{username}--{raw_servername}", max_length=_slug_max_length
-                )
+                # choices:
+                # - {safe_username}--{safe_servername}  # could get 2 hashes
+                # - always {multi_slug}  # always a hash for named servers
+                # - safe_slug({username}--{servername})  # lots of possible collisions to handle specially
+                safe_user_server = f"{safe_username}--{safe_servername}"
             else:
                 safe_user_server = safe_username
 
diff --git a/tests/test_spawner.py b/tests/test_spawner.py
index e3859179..b57c116d 100644
--- a/tests/test_spawner.py
+++ b/tests/test_spawner.py
@@ -1418,7 +1418,7 @@ async def test_pod_name_escaping():
 
     spawner = KubeSpawner(config=c, user=user, orm_spawner=orm_spawner, _mock=True)
 
-    assert spawner.pod_name == "jupyter-some-5fuser--test-2dserver-21"
+    assert spawner.pod_name == "jupyter-someuser---7d3a4d4e--test-server---cb54a9af"
 
 
 async def test_pod_name_custom_template():
@@ -1442,15 +1442,15 @@ async def test_pod_name_collision():
     user2 = MockUser()
     user2.name = "user-has"
     orm_spawner2 = Spawner()
-    orm_spawner2.name = "2ddash"
+    orm_spawner2.name = "dash"
 
     spawner = KubeSpawner(user=user1, orm_spawner=orm_spawner1, _mock=True)
-    assert spawner.pod_name == "jupyter-user-2dhas-2ddash"
-    assert spawner.pvc_name == "claim-user-2dhas-2ddash"
+    assert spawner.pod_name == "jupyter-user-has-dash"
+    assert spawner.pvc_name == "claim-user-has-dash"
     named_spawner = KubeSpawner(user=user2, orm_spawner=orm_spawner2, _mock=True)
-    assert named_spawner.pod_name == "jupyter-user-2dhas--2ddash"
+    assert named_spawner.pod_name == "jupyter-user-has--dash"
     assert spawner.pod_name != named_spawner.pod_name
-    assert named_spawner.pvc_name == "claim-user-2dhas--2ddash"
+    assert named_spawner.pvc_name == "claim-user-has--dash"
     assert spawner.pvc_name != named_spawner.pvc_name