diff --git a/src/benchmark/Akka.Benchmarks/Actor/ActorPathBenchmarks.cs b/src/benchmark/Akka.Benchmarks/Actor/ActorPathBenchmarks.cs
index 02c72881c98..b9885c1290c 100644
--- a/src/benchmark/Akka.Benchmarks/Actor/ActorPathBenchmarks.cs
+++ b/src/benchmark/Akka.Benchmarks/Actor/ActorPathBenchmarks.cs
@@ -16,12 +16,16 @@ public class ActorPathBenchmarks
     {
         private ActorPath x;
         private ActorPath y;
+        private ActorPath _childPath;
+        private Address _sysAdr = new Address("akka.tcp", "system", "127.0.0.1", 1337);
+        private Address _otherAdr = new Address("akka.tcp", "system", "127.0.0.1", 1338);
 
         [GlobalSetup]
         public void Setup()
         {
-            x = new RootActorPath(new Address("akka.tcp", "system", "127.0.0.1", 1337), "user");
-            y = new RootActorPath(new Address("akka.tcp", "system", "127.0.0.1", 1337), "system");
+            x = new RootActorPath(_sysAdr, "user");
+            y = new RootActorPath(_sysAdr, "system");
+            _childPath = x / "parent" / "child";
         }
 
         [Benchmark]
@@ -45,7 +49,19 @@ public bool ActorPath_Equals()
         [Benchmark]
         public string ActorPath_ToString()
         {
-            return x.ToString();
+            return _childPath.ToString();
+        }
+
+        [Benchmark]
+        public string ActorPath_ToSerializationFormat()
+        {
+            return _childPath.ToSerializationFormat();
+        }
+
+        [Benchmark]
+        public string ActorPath_ToSerializationFormatWithAddress()
+        {
+            return _childPath.ToSerializationFormatWithAddress(_otherAdr);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/benchmark/Akka.Benchmarks/Actor/NameAndUidBenchmarks.cs b/src/benchmark/Akka.Benchmarks/Actor/NameAndUidBenchmarks.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c616f5527b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/benchmark/Akka.Benchmarks/Actor/NameAndUidBenchmarks.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+// <copyright file="NameAndUidBenchmarks.cs" company="Akka.NET Project">
+//     Copyright (C) 2009-2021 Lightbend Inc. <http://www.lightbend.com>
+//     Copyright (C) 2013-2021 .NET Foundation <https://github.com/akkadotnet/akka.net>
+// </copyright>
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Text;
+using Akka.Actor;
+using Akka.Benchmarks.Configurations;
+using BenchmarkDotNet.Attributes;
+
+namespace Akka.Benchmarks.Actor
+{
+    [Config(typeof(MicroBenchmarkConfig))]
+    public class NameAndUidBenchmarks
+    {
+        public const string ActorPath = "foo#11241311";
+
+        [Benchmark]
+        public NameAndUid ActorCell_SplitNameAndUid()
+        {
+            return ActorCell.SplitNameAndUid(ActorPath);
+        }
+
+        [Benchmark]
+        public (string name, int uid) ActorCell_GetNameAndUid()
+        {
+            return ActorCell.GetNameAndUid(ActorPath);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/core/Akka.API.Tests/CoreAPISpec.ApproveCore.approved.txt b/src/core/Akka.API.Tests/CoreAPISpec.ApproveCore.approved.txt
index 8aee29b1c71..cde266ae92e 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka.API.Tests/CoreAPISpec.ApproveCore.approved.txt
+++ b/src/core/Akka.API.Tests/CoreAPISpec.ApproveCore.approved.txt
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ namespace Akka.Actor
         protected bool SetChildrenTerminationReason(Akka.Actor.Internal.SuspendReason reason) { }
         public void SetReceiveTimeout(System.Nullable<System.TimeSpan> timeout = null) { }
         protected void SetTerminated() { }
+        [System.ObsoleteAttribute("Not used. Will be removed in Akka.NET v1.5.")]
         public static Akka.Actor.NameAndUid SplitNameAndUid(string name) { }
         public virtual void Start() { }
         protected void Stash(Akka.Dispatch.SysMsg.SystemMessage msg) { }
@@ -1325,6 +1326,7 @@ namespace Akka.Actor
         public override void Suspend() { }
         protected override void TellInternal(object message, Akka.Actor.IActorRef sender) { }
     }
+    [System.ObsoleteAttribute("Not used. Will be removed in Akka.NET v1.5.")]
     public class NameAndUid
     {
         public NameAndUid(string name, int uid) { }
diff --git a/src/core/Akka.Remote/RemoteSystemDaemon.cs b/src/core/Akka.Remote/RemoteSystemDaemon.cs
index 7393d0aa5b6..1a820b62fb3 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka.Remote/RemoteSystemDaemon.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka.Remote/RemoteSystemDaemon.cs
@@ -308,10 +308,10 @@ public override IActorRef GetChild(IEnumerable<string> name)
             var n = 0;
             while (true)
             {
-                var nameAndUid = ActorCell.SplitNameAndUid(path);
-                if (TryGetChild(nameAndUid.Name, out var child))
+                var (s, uid) = ActorCell.GetNameAndUid(path);
+                if (TryGetChild(s, out var child))
                 {
-                    if (nameAndUid.Uid != ActorCell.UndefinedUid && nameAndUid.Uid != child.Path.Uid)
+                    if (uid != ActorCell.UndefinedUid && uid != child.Path.Uid)
                         return Nobody.Instance;
                     return n == 0 ? child : child.GetChild(name.TakeRight(n));
                 }
diff --git a/src/core/Akka.Remote/Serialization/LruBoundedCache.cs b/src/core/Akka.Remote/Serialization/LruBoundedCache.cs
index f5b0e9b5111..e2a99fde2f3 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka.Remote/Serialization/LruBoundedCache.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka.Remote/Serialization/LruBoundedCache.cs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ internal static class FastHash
         /// <returns>A 32-bit pseudo-random hash value.</returns>
         public static int OfString(string s)
         {
-            var chars = s.ToCharArray();
+            var chars = s.AsSpan();
             var s0 = 391408L; // seed value 1, DON'T CHANGE
             var s1 = 601258L; // seed value 2, DON'T CHANGE
             unchecked
diff --git a/src/core/Akka.Tests/Actor/ActorSelectionSpec.cs b/src/core/Akka.Tests/Actor/ActorSelectionSpec.cs
index 89a863597a3..49f6152c646 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka.Tests/Actor/ActorSelectionSpec.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka.Tests/Actor/ActorSelectionSpec.cs
@@ -76,12 +76,10 @@ private IActorRef AskNode(IActorRef node, IQuery query)
         {
             var result = node.Ask(query).Result;
 
-            var actorRef = result as IActorRef;
-            if (actorRef != null)
+            if (result is IActorRef actorRef)
                 return actorRef;
 
-            var selection = result as ActorSelection;
-            return selection != null ? Identify(selection) : null;
+            return result is ActorSelection selection ? Identify(selection) : null;
         }
 
         [Fact]
diff --git a/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.Children.cs b/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.Children.cs
index cc38364269d..9c69a74df31 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.Children.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.Children.cs
@@ -387,17 +387,16 @@ public bool TryGetSingleChild(string name, out IInternalActorRef child)
             }
             else
             {
-                var nameAndUid = SplitNameAndUid(name);
-                if (TryGetChildRestartStatsByName(nameAndUid.Name, out var stats))
+                var (s, uid) = GetNameAndUid(name);
+                if (TryGetChildRestartStatsByName(s, out var stats))
                 {
-                    var uid = nameAndUid.Uid;
                     if (uid == ActorCell.UndefinedUid || uid == stats.Uid)
                     {
                         child = stats.Child;
                         return true;
                     }
                 }
-                else if (TryGetFunctionRef(nameAndUid.Name, nameAndUid.Uid, out var functionRef))
+                else if (TryGetFunctionRef(s, uid, out var functionRef))
                 {
                     child = functionRef;
                     return true;
diff --git a/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.cs b/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.cs
index 13b5a00e6b7..0894b4707e5 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorCell.cs
@@ -479,10 +479,11 @@ protected void SetActorFields(ActorBase actor)
             actor?.Unclear();
         }
         /// <summary>
-        /// TBD
+        /// INTERNAL API
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="name">TBD</param>
         /// <returns>TBD</returns>
+        [Obsolete("Not used. Will be removed in Akka.NET v1.5.")]
         public static NameAndUid SplitNameAndUid(string name)
         {
             var i = name.IndexOf('#');
@@ -491,6 +492,19 @@ public static NameAndUid SplitNameAndUid(string name)
                 : new NameAndUid(name.Substring(0, i), Int32.Parse(name.Substring(i + 1)));
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// INTERNAL API
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="name">The full name of the actor, including the UID if known</param>
+        /// <returns>A new (string name, int uid) instance.</returns>
+        internal static (string name, int uid) GetNameAndUid(string name)
+        {
+            var i = name.IndexOf('#');
+            return i < 0
+                ? (name, UndefinedUid)
+                : (name.Substring(0, i), SpanHacks.Parse(name.AsSpan(i + 1)));
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// TBD
         /// </summary>
diff --git a/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorPath.cs b/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorPath.cs
index db2a0488988..fa1a730ff36 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorPath.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka/Actor/ActorPath.cs
@@ -276,8 +276,8 @@ public bool Equals(ActorPath other)
         /// <returns>A newly created <see cref="ChildActorPath"/></returns>
         public static ActorPath operator /(ActorPath path, string name)
         {
-            var nameAndUid = ActorCell.SplitNameAndUid(name);
-            return new ChildActorPath(path, nameAndUid.Name, nameAndUid.Uid);
+            var (s, uid) = ActorCell.GetNameAndUid(name);
+            return new ChildActorPath(path, s, uid);
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -327,15 +327,31 @@ public static bool TryParse(string path, out ActorPath actorPath)
         {
             actorPath = null;
 
+            if (!TryParseAddress(path, out var address, out var uri)) return false;
+            var spanified = uri.AbsolutePath.AsSpan();
+            var nextSlash = 0;
+
+            actorPath = new RootActorPath(address);
+
+            do
+            {
+                nextSlash = spanified.IndexOf('/');
+                if (nextSlash > 0)
+                {
+                    actorPath /= spanified.Slice(0, nextSlash).ToString();
+                }
+                else if (nextSlash < 0 && spanified.Length > 0)
+                {
+                    actorPath /= spanified.ToString();
+                }
+
+                spanified = spanified.Slice(nextSlash + 1);
+            } while (nextSlash >= 0);
+
 
-            Address address;
-            Uri uri;
-            if (!TryParseAddress(path, out address, out uri)) return false;
-            var pathElements = uri.AbsolutePath.Split('/');
-            actorPath = new RootActorPath(address) / pathElements.Skip(1);
             if (uri.Fragment.StartsWith("#"))
             {
-                var uid = int.Parse(uri.Fragment.Substring(1));
+                var uid = SpanHacks.Parse(uri.Fragment.AsSpan(1));
                 actorPath = actorPath.WithUid(uid);
             }
             return true;
@@ -378,13 +394,14 @@ private static bool TryParseAddress(string path, out Address address, out Uri ur
                     //port may not be specified for these types of paths
                     return false;
                 }
+
                 //System name is in the "host" position. According to rfc3986 host is case
                 //insensitive, but should be produced as lowercase, so if we use uri.Host
                 //we'll get it in lower case.
                 //So we'll extract it ourselves using the original path.
                 //We skip the protocol and "://"
                 var systemNameLength = uri.Host.Length;
-                systemName = path.Substring(protocol.Length + 3, systemNameLength);
+                systemName = path.AsSpan().Slice(protocol.Length + 3, systemNameLength).ToString();
             }
             else
             {
diff --git a/src/core/Akka/Actor/NameAndUid.cs b/src/core/Akka/Actor/NameAndUid.cs
index 104a45d4a77..fdef5823b4f 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka/Actor/NameAndUid.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka/Actor/NameAndUid.cs
@@ -5,11 +5,14 @@
 // </copyright>
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+using System;
+
 namespace Akka.Actor
 {
     /// <summary>
-    /// TBD
+    /// INTERNAL API
     /// </summary>
+    [Obsolete("Not used. Will be removed in Akka.NET v1.5.")]
     public class NameAndUid
     {
         private readonly string _name;
diff --git a/src/core/Akka/Actor/RepointableActorRef.cs b/src/core/Akka/Actor/RepointableActorRef.cs
index c0e3773a8d9..6933f23da21 100644
--- a/src/core/Akka/Actor/RepointableActorRef.cs
+++ b/src/core/Akka/Actor/RepointableActorRef.cs
@@ -292,12 +292,10 @@ public override IActorRef GetChild(IEnumerable<string> name)
                 case "":
                     return ActorRefs.Nobody;
                 default:
-                    var nameAndUid = ActorCell.SplitNameAndUid(next);
-                    if (Lookup.TryGetChildStatsByName(nameAndUid.Name, out var stats))
+                    var (s, uid) = ActorCell.GetNameAndUid(next);
+                    if (Lookup.TryGetChildStatsByName(s, out var stats))
                     {
-                        var crs = stats as ChildRestartStats;
-                        var uid = nameAndUid.Uid;
-                        if (crs != null && (uid == ActorCell.UndefinedUid || uid == crs.Uid))
+                        if (stats is ChildRestartStats crs && (uid == ActorCell.UndefinedUid || uid == crs.Uid))
                         {
                             if (name.Skip(1).Any())
                                 return crs.Child.GetChild(name.Skip(1));
@@ -305,7 +303,7 @@ public override IActorRef GetChild(IEnumerable<string> name)
                                 return crs.Child;
                         }
                     }
-                    else if (Lookup is ActorCell cell && cell.TryGetFunctionRef(nameAndUid.Name, nameAndUid.Uid, out var functionRef))
+                    else if (Lookup is ActorCell cell && cell.TryGetFunctionRef(s, uid, out var functionRef))
                     {
                         return functionRef;
                     }
diff --git a/src/core/Akka/Util/SpanHacks.cs b/src/core/Akka/Util/SpanHacks.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..147ac8a240c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/Akka/Util/SpanHacks.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace Akka.Util
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// INTERNAL API.
+    ///
+    /// <see cref="Span{T}"/> polyfills that should be deleted once we drop .NET Standard 2.0 support.
+    /// </summary>
+    internal static class SpanHacks
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Parses an integer from a string.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// PERFORMS NO INPUT VALIDATION.
+        /// </remarks>
+        /// <param name="str">The span of input characters.</param>
+        /// <returns>An <see cref="int"/>.</returns>
+        public static int Parse(ReadOnlySpan<char> str)
+        {
+            var pos = 0;
+            var returnValue = 0;
+            var sign = 1;
+            if (str[0] == '-')
+            {
+                sign = -1;
+                pos++;
+            }
+
+            bool IsNumeric(char x)
+            {
+                return (x >= '0' && x <= '9');
+            }
+
+            for (; pos < str.Length; pos++)
+            {
+                if (!IsNumeric(str[pos]))
+                    throw new FormatException($"[{str.ToString()}] is now a valid numeric format");
+                returnValue = returnValue * 10 + str[pos] - '0';
+            }
+
+            return sign * returnValue;
+        }
+    }
+}