import re


def is_valid_project_id(project_id):
    """
    Validates project IDs, also known as the project "name".
    A valid project name should look like: proj-00000001 - It should always
    start with "proj-" and end with 8 hexadecimal characters in lower case.

    :type project_id: str
    :param project_id: The project name to be validated.

    :rtype: bool
    :return: True or False depending on whether project_id passes validation.
    """
    if project_id is None:
        return False

    match = re.match(r'^project-[0-9a-f]{8}$', project_id)

    if not match:
        return False

    return True