diff --git a/packages/angular/src/tracing.ts b/packages/angular/src/tracing.ts
index d2bf67900f3f..7b9cc43818d0 100644
--- a/packages/angular/src/tracing.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/src/tracing.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 /* eslint-disable max-lines */
-import { AfterViewInit, Directive, Injectable, Input, NgModule, OnDestroy, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
+import {
+  AfterViewInit,
+  Directive,
+  Inject,
+  Injectable,
+  Input,
+  NgModule,
+  OnDestroy,
+  OnInit,
+  Optional,
+  ViewContainerRef,
+} from '@angular/core';
 import { ActivatedRouteSnapshot, Event, NavigationEnd, NavigationStart, ResolveEnd, Router } from '@angular/router';
 import { getCurrentHub, WINDOW } from '@sentry/browser';
 import { Span, Transaction, TransactionContext } from '@sentry/types';
@@ -163,13 +174,15 @@ export class TraceDirective implements OnInit, AfterViewInit {
 
   private _tracingSpan?: Span;
 
+  public constructor(@Optional() @Inject(ViewContainerRef) private readonly _vcRef: ViewContainerRef) {}
+
   /**
    * Implementation of OnInit lifecycle method
    * @inheritdoc
    */
   public ngOnInit(): void {
     if (!this.componentName) {
-      this.componentName = UNKNOWN_COMPONENT;
+      this.componentName = detectComponentName(this._vcRef as EnhancedViewContainerRef);
     }
 
     const activeTransaction = getActiveTransaction();
@@ -192,6 +205,28 @@ export class TraceDirective implements OnInit, AfterViewInit {
   }
 }
 
+type EnhancedViewContainerRef = ViewContainerRef & {
+  _lContainer?: {
+    localName?: string;
+  }[][];
+};
+
+/**
+ * Detects the angular component name from the passed ViewContainerReference.
+ * Specifically, it looks up the selector of the component (e.g. `app-my-component`) or
+ * falls back to the default component name if the selector is not available.
+ */
+function detectComponentName(vcRef: EnhancedViewContainerRef | undefined): string {
+  if (vcRef && vcRef._lContainer && vcRef._lContainer[0] && vcRef._lContainer[0][0]) {
+    // Alternatively, we could get the class name like so:
+    // const className = Object.getPrototypeOf(vcRef._lContainer[0][8]).constructor.name;
+
+    const selectorName = vcRef._lContainer[0][0].localName;
+    return selectorName || UNKNOWN_COMPONENT;
+  }
+  return UNKNOWN_COMPONENT;
+}
+
 /**
  * A module serves as a single compilation unit for the `TraceDirective` and can be re-used by any other module.
  */
diff --git a/packages/angular/test/tracing.test.ts b/packages/angular/test/tracing.test.ts
index d5a88c9bb082..96e580323bab 100644
--- a/packages/angular/test/tracing.test.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/test/tracing.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ const defaultStartTransaction = (ctx: any) => {
   transaction = {
     ...ctx,
     setName: jest.fn(name => (transaction.name = name)),
+    startChild: jest.fn(),
   };
 
   return transaction;
@@ -256,12 +257,15 @@ describe('Angular Tracing', () => {
 
   describe('TraceDirective', () => {
     it('should create an instance', () => {
-      const directive = new TraceDirective();
+      const directive = new TraceDirective({} as unknown as any);
       expect(directive).toBeTruthy();
     });
 
-    it('should create a child tracingSpan on init', async () => {
-      const directive = new TraceDirective();
+    it("should auto detect the component's selector.", async () => {
+      const directive = new TraceDirective({
+        _lContainer: [[{ localName: 'app-test' }]],
+      } as unknown as any);
+
       const customStartTransaction = jest.fn(defaultStartTransaction);
 
       const env = await TestEnv.setup({
@@ -276,14 +280,58 @@ describe('Angular Tracing', () => {
 
       expect(transaction.startChild).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
         op: 'ui.angular.init',
-        description: '<unknown>',
+        description: '<app-test>',
       });
 
       env.destroy();
     });
 
-    it('should use component name as span description', async () => {
-      const directive = new TraceDirective();
+    it.each([
+      {},
+      {
+        _lContainer: [],
+      },
+      {
+        _lContainer: [[]],
+      },
+      {
+        _lContainer: [[{}]],
+      },
+      {
+        _lContainer: [[{ localName: undefined }]],
+      },
+    ])(
+      "should fall back to the default component name if auto-detection doesn't work and no custom name is given",
+      async (containerViewRef: any) => {
+        const directive = new TraceDirective(containerViewRef);
+        const customStartTransaction = jest.fn(defaultStartTransaction);
+
+        const env = await TestEnv.setup({
+          components: [TraceDirective],
+          customStartTransaction,
+          useTraceService: false,
+        });
+
+        const finishSpan = jest.fn();
+        transaction.startChild = jest.fn().mockReturnValue({ finish: finishSpan });
+        transaction.finish = jest.fn();
+
+        directive.ngOnInit();
+
+        expect(transaction.startChild).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+          op: 'ui.angular.init',
+          description: '<unknown>',
+        });
+
+        directive.ngAfterViewInit();
+        expect(finishSpan).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+        env.destroy();
+      },
+    );
+
+    it('should use the custom component name as span description if one is passed', async () => {
+      const directive = new TraceDirective({} as unknown as any);
       const finishMock = jest.fn();
       const customStartTransaction = jest.fn(defaultStartTransaction);
 
@@ -309,7 +357,7 @@ describe('Angular Tracing', () => {
     });
 
     it('should finish tracingSpan after view init', async () => {
-      const directive = new TraceDirective();
+      const directive = new TraceDirective({} as unknown as any);
       const finishMock = jest.fn();
       const customStartTransaction = jest.fn(defaultStartTransaction);