diff --git a/scarf/mapping_utils.py b/scarf/mapping_utils.py
index 7bfd81e..49da9cd 100644
--- a/scarf/mapping_utils.py
+++ b/scarf/mapping_utils.py
@@ -96,16 +96,16 @@ def coral(source_data, target_data, assay, feat_key: str, cell_key: str, nthread
 
 
 def _order_features(
-    s_assay,
-    t_assay,
-    s_feat_ids: np.ndarray,
+    source_ids: pd.Series,
+    target_ids: pd.Series,
+    source_hvgs: np.ndarray,
+    target_assay: Assay,
     filter_null: bool,
     exclude_missing: bool,
     nthreads: int,
+    target_cell_key: str = "I",
 ) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, np.ndarray]:
-    s_ids = pd.Series(s_assay.feats.fetch_all("ids"))
-    t_ids = pd.Series(t_assay.feats.fetch_all("ids"))
-    t_idx = t_ids.isin(s_feat_ids)
+    t_idx = target_ids.isin(source_hvgs)
     if t_idx.sum() == 0:
         raise ValueError(
             "ERROR: None of the features from reference were found in the target data"
@@ -118,8 +118,8 @@ def _order_features(
         else:
             t_idx[t_idx] = (
                 controlled_compute(
-                    t_assay.rawData[:, list(t_idx[t_idx].index)][
-                        t_assay.cells.active_index("I"), :
+                    target_assay.rawData[:, list(t_idx[t_idx].index)][
+                        target_assay.cells.active_index(target_cell_key), :
                     ].sum(axis=0),
                     nthreads,
                 )
@@ -127,13 +127,13 @@ def _order_features(
             )
     t_idx = t_idx[t_idx].index
     if exclude_missing:
-        s_idx = s_ids.isin(t_ids.values[t_idx])
+        s_idx = source_ids.isin(target_ids.values[t_idx])
     else:
-        s_idx = s_ids.isin(s_feat_ids)
+        s_idx = source_ids.isin(source_hvgs)
     s_idx = s_idx[s_idx].index
-    t_idx_map = {v: k for k, v in t_ids.to_dict().items()}
+    t_idx_map = {v: k for k, v in target_ids.to_dict().items()}
     t_re_idx = np.array(
-        [t_idx_map[x] if x in t_idx_map else -1 for x in s_ids.values[s_idx]]
+        [t_idx_map[x] if x in t_idx_map else -1 for x in source_ids.values[s_idx]]
     )
     if len(s_idx) != len(t_re_idx):
         raise AssertionError(
@@ -141,7 +141,10 @@ def _order_features(
             f"This is an unexpected scenario. Source has {len(s_idx)} features while target has "
             f"{len(t_re_idx)} features"
         )
-    return s_idx.values, t_re_idx
+    missing = (t_idx == -1).sum()
+    total = len(t_idx)
+    overlap = (total - missing) / total
+    return s_idx.values, t_re_idx, overlap
 
 
 def align_features(
@@ -171,18 +174,66 @@ def align_features(
     """
     from .writers import create_zarr_dataset
 
-    source_feat_ids = source_assay.feats.fetch(
-        "ids", key=source_cell_key + "__" + source_feat_key
-    )
-    s_idx, t_idx = _order_features(
-        source_assay,
-        target_assay,
-        source_feat_ids,
-        filter_null,
-        exclude_missing,
-        nthreads,
-    )
-    logger.info(f"{(t_idx == -1).sum()} features missing in target data")
+    id_overlap = 0
+    name_overlap = 0
+    s_idx_ids = None
+    t_idx_ids = None
+    s_idx_names = None
+    t_idx_names = None
+
+    try:
+        source_hvg_ids = source_assay.feats.fetch(
+            "ids", key=source_cell_key + "__" + source_feat_key
+        )
+        s_ids = pd.Series(source_assay.feats.fetch_all("ids"))
+        t_ids = pd.Series(target_assay.feats.fetch_all("ids"))
+        s_idx_ids, t_idx_ids, id_overlap = _order_features(
+            s_ids,
+            t_ids,
+            source_hvg_ids,
+            target_assay,
+            filter_null,
+            exclude_missing,
+            nthreads,
+            target_cell_key,
+        )
+
+    except ValueError:
+        logger.warning("Failed to align features by IDs")
+    if id_overlap < 0.25:
+        logger.warning("Attempting feature alignment by names")
+        try:
+            source_hvg_names = source_assay.feats.fetch(
+                "names", key=source_cell_key + "__" + source_feat_key
+            )
+            s_names = pd.Series(source_assay.feats.fetch_all("names"))
+            t_names = pd.Series(target_assay.feats.fetch_all("names"))
+            s_idx_names, t_idx_names, name_overlap = _order_features(
+                s_names,
+                t_names,
+                source_hvg_names,
+                target_assay,
+                filter_null,
+                exclude_missing,
+                nthreads,
+                target_cell_key,
+            )
+        except ValueError:
+            logger.warning("Failed to align features by names")
+
+    if name_overlap < 0.25 and id_overlap < 0.25:
+        raise ValueError(
+            "More than 75% of the features in the target data are missing in the source data. "
+            + "Please check the feature keys and try again. "
+        )
+    if id_overlap > 0.25:
+        s_idx = s_idx_ids
+        t_idx = t_idx_ids
+    else:
+        logger.warning("Falling back to feature alignment by names")
+        s_idx = s_idx_names
+        t_idx = t_idx_names
+
     normed_loc = f"normed__{source_cell_key}__{source_feat_key}"
     norm_params = source_assay.z[normed_loc].attrs["subset_params"]
     sorted_t_idx = np.array(sorted(t_idx[t_idx != -1]))