diff --git a/django/test/utils.py b/django/test/utils.py
index ae3798634e..bc53ef4bfb 100644
--- a/django/test/utils.py
+++ b/django/test/utils.py
@@ -90,6 +90,10 @@ def get_postgresql_create_suffix():
     return ''
 
 def create_test_db(verbosity=1, autoclobber=False):
+    """
+    Creates a test database, prompting the user for confirmation if the
+    database already exists. Returns the name of the test database created.
+    """
     # If the database backend wants to create the test DB itself, let it
     creation_module = get_creation_module()
     if hasattr(creation_module, "create_test_db"):
@@ -153,6 +157,8 @@ def create_test_db(verbosity=1, autoclobber=False):
     # the side effect of initializing the test database.
     cursor = connection.cursor()
 
+    return TEST_DATABASE_NAME
+
 def destroy_test_db(old_database_name, verbosity=1):
     # If the database wants to drop the test DB itself, let it
     creation_module = get_creation_module()
diff --git a/docs/testing.txt b/docs/testing.txt
index c0d8ec8877..4e723a1020 100644
--- a/docs/testing.txt
+++ b/docs/testing.txt
@@ -988,6 +988,9 @@ a number of utility methods in the ``django.test.utils`` module.
     ``create_test_db()`` has the side effect of modifying
     ``settings.DATABASE_NAME`` to match the name of the test database.
 
+    New in the Django development version, this function returns the name of
+    the test database that it created.
+
 ``destroy_test_db(old_database_name, verbosity=1)``
     Destroys the database whose name is in the ``DATABASE_NAME`` setting
     and restores the value of ``DATABASE_NAME`` to the provided name.