diff --git a/doc/users/next_whats_new/exception_prop_name.rst b/doc/users/next_whats_new/exception_prop_name.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c887b879393c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/users/next_whats_new/exception_prop_name.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+Exception handling control
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The exception raised when an invalid keyword parameter is passed now includes
+that parameter name as the exception's ``name`` property.  This provides more
+control for exception handling:
+
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+    def wobbly_plot(args, **kwargs):
+        w = kwargs.pop('wobble_factor', None)
+
+        try:
+            plt.plot(args, **kwargs)
+        except AttributeError as e:
+            raise AttributeError(f'wobbly_plot does not take parameter {e.name}') from e
+
+
+    wobbly_plot([0, 1], wibble_factor=5)
+
+.. code-block::
+
+    AttributeError: wobbly_plot does not take parameter wibble_factor
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/artist.py b/lib/matplotlib/artist.py
index baf3b01ee6e5..345a61bfc16a 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/artist.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/artist.py
@@ -1190,7 +1190,8 @@ def _update_props(self, props, errfmt):
         Helper for `.Artist.set` and `.Artist.update`.
 
         *errfmt* is used to generate error messages for invalid property
-        names; it gets formatted with ``type(self)`` and the property name.
+        names; it gets formatted with ``type(self)`` for "{cls}" and the
+        property name for "{prop_name}".
         """
         ret = []
         with cbook._setattr_cm(self, eventson=False):
@@ -1203,7 +1204,8 @@ def _update_props(self, props, errfmt):
                     func = getattr(self, f"set_{k}", None)
                     if not callable(func):
                         raise AttributeError(
-                            errfmt.format(cls=type(self), prop_name=k))
+                            errfmt.format(cls=type(self), prop_name=k),
+                            name=k)
                     ret.append(func(v))
         if ret:
             self.pchanged()
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/tests/test_axes3d.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/tests/test_axes3d.py
index be988c31ee75..f519b42098e5 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/tests/test_axes3d.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/tests/test_axes3d.py
@@ -1501,8 +1501,9 @@ def test_calling_conventions(self):
             ax.voxels(x, y)
         # x, y, z are positional only - this passes them on as attributes of
         # Poly3DCollection
-        with pytest.raises(AttributeError):
+        with pytest.raises(AttributeError, match="keyword argument 'x'") as exec_info:
             ax.voxels(filled=filled, x=x, y=y, z=z)
+        assert exec_info.value.name == 'x'
 
 
 def test_line3d_set_get_data_3d():