diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f07e21e895..f6882e3d6d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@
 - Fixed bug where text for altair plots was not legible in dark mode by [@freddyaboulton](https://github.com/freddyaboulton) in [PR 3555](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3555)  
 - Fixes `Chatbot` and `Image` components so that files passed during processing are added to a directory where they can be served from, by [@abidlabs](https://github.com/abidlabs) in [PR 3523](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3523)
 - Use Gradio API server to send telemetry using `huggingface_hub` [@dawoodkhan82](https://github.com/dawoodkhan82) in [PR 3488](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3488)
-- Fixes an issue where if the Blocks scope was not exited, then State could be shared across sessions, by [@abidlabs](https://github.com/abidlabs) in [PR 3600](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3600)
+- Fixes an an issue where if the Blocks scope was not exited, then State could be shared across sessions, by [@abidlabs](https://github.com/abidlabs) in [PR 3600](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3600)
+- Ensures that `gr.load()` loads and applies the upstream theme, by [@abidlabs](https://github.com/abidlabs) in [PR 3641](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3641)
 - Fixed bug where "or" was not being localized in file upload text by [@freddyaboulton](https://github.com/freddyaboulton) in [PR 3599](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3599)  
 - Fixed bug where chatbot does not autoscroll inside of a tab, row or column by [@dawoodkhan82](https://github.com/dawoodkhan82) in [PR 3637](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3637)
 - Fixed bug where textbox shrinks when  `lines` set to larger than 20 by [@dawoodkhan82](https://github.com/dawoodkhan82) in [PR 3637](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3637)
@@ -37,11 +38,12 @@ No changes to highlight.
 
 ## Full Changelog:
 
-* Mobile responsive iframes in themes guide by [@aliabd](https://github.com/aliabd) in [PR 3562](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3562) 
-* Remove extra $demo from theme guide by [@aliabd](https://github.com/aliabd) in [PR 3563](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3563)
-* Set the theme name to be the upstream repo name when loading from the hub by [@freddyaboulton](https://github.com/freddyaboulton) in [PR 3595](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3595) 
-* Copy everything in website Dockerfile, fix build issues by [@aliabd](https://github.com/aliabd) in [PR 3659](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3659) 
-* Raise error when an event is queued but the queue is not configured by [@freddyaboulton](https://github.com/freddyaboulton) in [PR 3640](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3640)    
+- Mobile responsive iframes in themes guide by [@aliabd](https://github.com/aliabd) in [PR 3562](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3562) 
+- Remove extra $demo from theme guide by [@aliabd](https://github.com/aliabd) in [PR 3563](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3563)
+- Set the theme name to be the upstream repo name when loading from the hub by [@freddyaboulton](https://github.com/freddyaboulton) in [PR 3595](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3595) 
+- Copy everything in website Dockerfile, fix build issues by [@aliabd](https://github.com/aliabd) in [PR 3659](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3659) 
+- Raise error when an event is queued but the queue is not configured by [@freddyaboulton](https://github.com/freddyaboulton) in [PR 3640](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3640)    
+- Allows users to apss in a string name for a built-in theme, by [@abidlabs](https://github.com/abidlabs) in [PR 3641](https://github.com/gradio-app/gradio/pull/3641)  
 
 
 ## Contributors Shoutout:
diff --git a/gradio/blocks.py b/gradio/blocks.py
index 9ffdae2573..01dd2b786a 100644
--- a/gradio/blocks.py
+++ b/gradio/blocks.py
@@ -55,6 +55,17 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:  # Only import for type checking (is False at runtime).
 
     from gradio.components import Component
 
+BUILT_IN_THEMES: Dict[str, Theme] = {
+    t.name: t
+    for t in [
+        themes.Base(),
+        themes.Default(),
+        themes.Monochrome(),
+        themes.Soft(),
+        themes.Glass(),
+    ]
+}
+
 
 class Block:
     def __init__(
@@ -495,6 +506,7 @@ class Blocks(BlockContext):
     ):
         """
         Parameters:
+            theme: a Theme object or a string representing a theme. If a string, will look for a built-in theme with that name (e.g. "soft" or "default"), or will attempt to load a theme from the HF Hub (e.g. "gradio/monochrome"). If None, will use the Default theme.
             analytics_enabled: whether to allow basic telemetry. If None, will use GRADIO_ANALYTICS_ENABLED environment variable or default to True.
             mode: a human-friendly name for the kind of Blocks or Interface being created.
             title: The tab title to display when this is opened in a browser window.
@@ -506,11 +518,14 @@ class Blocks(BlockContext):
         if theme is None:
             theme = DefaultTheme()
         elif isinstance(theme, str):
-            try:
-                theme = Theme.from_hub(theme)
-            except Exception as e:
-                warnings.warn(f"Cannot load {theme}. Caught Exception: {str(e)}")
-                theme = DefaultTheme()
+            if theme.lower() in BUILT_IN_THEMES:
+                theme = BUILT_IN_THEMES[theme.lower()]
+            else:
+                try:
+                    theme = Theme.from_hub(theme)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    warnings.warn(f"Cannot load {theme}. Caught Exception: {str(e)}")
+                    theme = DefaultTheme()
         if not isinstance(theme, Theme):
             warnings.warn("Theme should be a class loaded from gradio.themes")
             theme = DefaultTheme()
@@ -570,16 +585,9 @@ class Blocks(BlockContext):
         self.file_directories = []
 
         if self.analytics_enabled:
-            built_in_themes = [
-                themes.Base(),
-                themes.Default(),
-                themes.Monochrome(),
-                themes.Soft(),
-                themes.Glass(),
-            ]
             is_custom_theme = not any(
                 self.theme.to_dict() == built_in_theme.to_dict()
-                for built_in_theme in built_in_themes
+                for built_in_theme in BUILT_IN_THEMES.values()
             )
             data = {
                 "mode": self.mode,
@@ -607,6 +615,7 @@ class Blocks(BlockContext):
         """
         config = copy.deepcopy(config)
         components_config = config["components"]
+        theme = config.get("theme", "default")
         original_mapping: Dict[int, Block] = {}
 
         def get_block_instance(id: int) -> Block:
@@ -644,7 +653,7 @@ class Blocks(BlockContext):
 
         derived_fields = ["types"]
 
-        with Blocks() as blocks:
+        with Blocks(theme=theme) as blocks:
             # ID 0 should be the root Blocks component
             original_mapping[0] = Context.root_block or blocks
 
@@ -1138,6 +1147,7 @@ class Blocks(BlockContext):
             "is_colab": utils.colab_check(),
             "stylesheets": self.stylesheets,
             "root": self.root,
+            "theme": self.theme.name,
         }
 
         def getLayout(block):
diff --git a/gradio/test_data/blocks_configs.py b/gradio/test_data/blocks_configs.py
index d9d2df2e83..4e255bc2dc 100644
--- a/gradio/test_data/blocks_configs.py
+++ b/gradio/test_data/blocks_configs.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ XRAY_CONFIG = {
     "mode": "blocks",
     "dev_mode": True,
     "analytics_enabled": False,
+    "theme": "default",
     "components": [
         {
             "id": 1,
@@ -260,6 +261,7 @@ XRAY_CONFIG_DIFF_IDS = {
     "mode": "blocks",
     "dev_mode": True,
     "analytics_enabled": False,
+    "theme": "default",
     "components": [
         {
             "id": 1,
@@ -516,6 +518,7 @@ XRAY_CONFIG_WITH_MISTAKE = {
     "mode": "blocks",
     "dev_mode": True,
     "analytics_enabled": False,
+    "theme": "default",
     "components": [
         {
             "id": 1,
diff --git a/gradio/version.txt b/gradio/version.txt
index 107f0fd3f5..f7b9dee139 100644
--- a/gradio/version.txt
+++ b/gradio/version.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-3.23.1b1
+3.23.1b3
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/test_external.py b/test/test_external.py
index 6eae11f0ff..ca9d09abfe 100644
--- a/test/test_external.py
+++ b/test/test_external.py
@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ class TestLoadInterface:
         try:
             output = io("male", 77, 10)
             assert json.load(open(output))["label"] == "Perishes"
+            assert io.theme.name == "soft"
         except TooManyRequestsError:
             pass
 
@@ -284,6 +285,7 @@ class TestLoadInterface:
         try:
             output = io("abc")
             assert output == "abc"
+            assert io.theme.name == "gradio/monochrome"
         except TooManyRequestsError:
             pass
 
@@ -312,6 +314,7 @@ class TestLoadInterface:
         io = gr.load(
             "spaces/gradio-tests/test-loading-examples-private", api_key=api_key
         )
+        assert io.theme.name == "default"
         app, _, _ = io.launch(prevent_thread_lock=True)
         test_client = TestClient(app)
         r = test_client.get(