diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1d25ea61fc..2607be83a4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ experiments/*
 secrets.toml
 *.session.sql
 *.duckdb
+*.wal
 
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 **/__pycache__/
diff --git a/dlt/destinations/duckdb/configuration.py b/dlt/destinations/duckdb/configuration.py
index ee87c4dde8..176d6b380e 100644
--- a/dlt/destinations/duckdb/configuration.py
+++ b/dlt/destinations/duckdb/configuration.py
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 from dlt.common.destination.reference import DestinationClientDwhConfiguration
 from dlt.common.typing import DictStrAny, TSecretValue
 
-DEFAULT_DUCK_DB_NAME = "quack.duckdb"
+DUCK_DB_NAME = "%s.duckdb"
+DEFAULT_DUCK_DB_NAME = DUCK_DB_NAME % "quack"
 LOCAL_STATE_KEY = "duckdb_database"
 
 
@@ -117,7 +118,8 @@ def _path_from_pipeline(self, default_path: str) -> str:
         context = Container()[PipelineContext]
         if context.is_active():
             try:
-                # get
+                # use pipeline name as default
+                default_path = DUCK_DB_NAME % context.pipeline().pipeline_name
                 return context.pipeline().get_local_state_val(LOCAL_STATE_KEY)  # type: ignore
             except KeyError:
                 pass
diff --git a/docs/website/docs/destinations.md b/docs/website/docs/destinations.md
index 6a58ce4198..dfe5efdb3b 100644
--- a/docs/website/docs/destinations.md
+++ b/docs/website/docs/destinations.md
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ python3 chess.py
 
 ### Destination Configuration
 
-By default, a DuckDB database will be created in the current working directory with a name `quack.duckdb`. After loading, it is available in `read/write` mode via `with pipeline.sql_client() as con:` which is a wrapper over `DuckDBPyConnection`. See [duckdb docs](https://duckdb.org/docs/api/python/overview#persistent-storage) for details.
+By default, a DuckDB database will be created in the current working directory with a name `<pipeline_name>.duckdb` (`chess.duckdb` in the example above). After loading, it is available in `read/write` mode via `with pipeline.sql_client() as con:` which is a wrapper over `DuckDBPyConnection`. See [duckdb docs](https://duckdb.org/docs/api/python/overview#persistent-storage) for details.
 
 The `duckdb` credentials do not require any secret values. You are free to pass the configuration explicitly via the `credentials` parameter to `dlt.pipeline` or `pipeline.run` methods. For example:
 ```python
diff --git a/tests/load/duckdb/test_duckdb_client.py b/tests/load/duckdb/test_duckdb_client.py
index 8edca08868..06a32c1a81 100644
--- a/tests/load/duckdb/test_duckdb_client.py
+++ b/tests/load/duckdb/test_duckdb_client.py
@@ -42,12 +42,12 @@ def test_duckdb_open_conn_default() -> None:
 def test_duckdb_database_path() -> None:
     # resolve without any path provided
     c = resolve_configuration(DuckDbClientConfiguration(dataset_name="test_dataset"))
-    assert c.credentials.database.lower() == os.path.abspath(DEFAULT_DUCK_DB_NAME).lower()
+    assert c.credentials.database.lower() == os.path.abspath("quack.duckdb").lower()
     # resolve without any path but with pipeline context
     p = dlt.pipeline(pipeline_name="quack_pipeline")
     c = resolve_configuration(DuckDbClientConfiguration(dataset_name="test_dataset"))
     # still cwd
-    db_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(".", DEFAULT_DUCK_DB_NAME))
+    db_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(".", "quack_pipeline.duckdb"))
     assert c.credentials.database.lower() == db_path.lower()
     # but it is kept in the local state
     assert p.get_local_state_val("duckdb_database").lower() == db_path.lower()