Naming threads and thread-pools of ExecutorService

Guava almost always has what you need.

ThreadFactory namedThreadFactory = 
  new ThreadFactoryBuilder().setNameFormat("my-sad-thread-%d").build()

and pass it off to your ExecutorService.

You could supply a ThreadFactory to newSingleThreadScheduledExecutor(ThreadFactory threadFactory). The factory will be responsibe for creating threads, and will be able to name them.

To quote the Javadoc:

Creating new threads

New threads are created using a ThreadFactory. If not otherwise specified, a Executors.defaultThreadFactory() is used, that creates threads to all be in the same ThreadGroup and with the same NORM_PRIORITY priority and non-daemon status. By supplying a different ThreadFactory, you can alter the thread's name, thread group, priority, daemon status, etc. If a ThreadFactory fails to create a thread when asked by returning null from newThread, the executor will continue, but might not be able to execute any tasks