diff --git a/include/cantera/thermo/Phase.h b/include/cantera/thermo/Phase.h
index be997960a..ec4540c39 100644
--- a/include/cantera/thermo/Phase.h
+++ b/include/cantera/thermo/Phase.h
@@ -429,8 +429,17 @@ public:
 
     //! Get the mole fractions by name.
     //!     @param[out] x composition map containing the species mole fractions.
+    //!     @deprecated To be removed after Cantera 2.2. use
+    //!         `compositionMap getMoleFractionsByName(double threshold)`
+    //!         instead.
     void getMoleFractionsByName(compositionMap& x) const;
 
+    //! Get the mole fractions by name.
+    //!     @param threshold   Exclude species with mole fractions less than or
+    //!                        equal to this threshold.
+    //!     @return Map of species names to mole fractions
+    compositionMap getMoleFractionsByName(double threshold=0.0) const;
+
     //! Return the mole fraction of a single species
     //!     @param  k  species index
     //!     @return Mole fraction of the species
@@ -441,6 +450,12 @@ public:
     //!     @return Mole fraction of the species
     doublereal moleFraction(const std::string& name) const;
 
+    //! Get the mass fractions by name.
+    //!     @param threshold   Exclude species with mass fractions less than or
+    //!                        equal to this threshold.
+    //!     @return Map of species names to mass fractions
+    compositionMap getMassFractionsByName(double threshold=0.0) const;
+
     //! Return the mass fraction of a single species
     //!     @param  k species index
     //!     @return Mass fraction of the species
diff --git a/src/thermo/Phase.cpp b/src/thermo/Phase.cpp
index 992f738d8..b46e3f5e0 100644
--- a/src/thermo/Phase.cpp
+++ b/src/thermo/Phase.cpp
@@ -536,6 +536,10 @@ const vector_fp& Phase::molecularWeights() const
 
 void Phase::getMoleFractionsByName(compositionMap& x) const
 {
+    warn_deprecated("void Phase::getMoleFractionsByName(compositionMap&)",
+                    "To be removed after Cantera 2.2. Use"
+                    " 'compositionMap getMoleFractionsByName(double threshold)'"
+                    " instead");
     x.clear();
     size_t kk = nSpecies();
     for (size_t k = 0; k < kk; k++) {
@@ -543,6 +547,30 @@ void Phase::getMoleFractionsByName(compositionMap& x) const
     }
 }
 
+compositionMap Phase::getMoleFractionsByName(double threshold) const
+{
+    compositionMap comp;
+    for (size_t k = 0; k < m_kk; k++) {
+        double x = moleFraction(k);
+        if (x > threshold) {
+            comp[speciesName(k)] = x;
+        }
+    }
+    return comp;
+}
+
+compositionMap Phase::getMassFractionsByName(double threshold) const
+{
+    compositionMap comp;
+    for (size_t k = 0; k < m_kk; k++) {
+        double x = massFraction(k);
+        if (x > threshold) {
+            comp[speciesName(k)] = x;
+        }
+    }
+    return comp;
+}
+
 void Phase::getMoleFractions(doublereal* const x) const
 {
     scale(m_ym.begin(), m_ym.end(), x, m_mmw);
diff --git a/test/thermo/ThermoPhase_Test.cpp b/test/thermo/ThermoPhase_Test.cpp
index 2367addbf..08056861a 100644
--- a/test/thermo/ThermoPhase_Test.cpp
+++ b/test/thermo/ThermoPhase_Test.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include "gtest/gtest.h"
 #include "cantera/thermo/ThermoPhase.h"
+#include "cantera/thermo/ThermoFactory.h"
 #include <vector>
 
 namespace Cantera
@@ -45,5 +46,49 @@ TEST_F(ThermoPhase_Fixture, SetAndGetElementPotentials)
   EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(setLambda[2], getLambda[2]);
 }
 
+class TestThermoMethods : public testing::Test
+{
+public:
+    ThermoPhase* thermo;
+    TestThermoMethods() {
+        thermo = newPhase("h2o2.xml", "");
+    }
+
+    ~TestThermoMethods() {
+        delete thermo;
+    }
+};
+
+TEST_F(TestThermoMethods, getMoleFractionsByName)
+{
+    thermo->setMoleFractionsByName("O2:0.2, H2:0.3, AR:0.5");
+    compositionMap X = thermo->getMoleFractionsByName();
+    EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(X["O2"], 0.2);
+    EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(X["H2"], 0.3);
+    EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(X["AR"], 0.5);
+
+    thermo->setMoleFractionsByName("OH:1e-9, O2:0.2, H2:0.3, AR:0.5");
+    X = thermo->getMoleFractionsByName();
+    EXPECT_EQ(X.size(), (size_t) 4);
+
+    X = thermo->getMoleFractionsByName(1e-5);
+    EXPECT_EQ(X.size(), (size_t) 3);
 }
 
+TEST_F(TestThermoMethods, getMassFractionsByName)
+{
+    thermo->setMassFractionsByName("O2:0.2, H2:0.3, AR:0.5");
+    compositionMap Y = thermo->getMassFractionsByName();
+    EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(Y["O2"], 0.2);
+    EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(Y["H2"], 0.3);
+    EXPECT_DOUBLE_EQ(Y["AR"], 0.5);
+
+    thermo->setMassFractionsByName("OH:1e-9, O2:0.2, H2:0.3, AR:0.5");
+    Y = thermo->getMassFractionsByName();
+    EXPECT_EQ(Y.size(), (size_t) 4);
+
+    Y = thermo->getMassFractionsByName(1e-5);
+    EXPECT_EQ(Y.size(), (size_t) 3);
+}
+
+}