So you’ve scoured the Earth and still haven’t come up with the perfect name for your baby. Maybe it’s time to look skyward to broaden your horizons. There’s a whole galaxy of interesting and evocative celestial names to choose from, including those of planets and their satellites, constellations and single stars. These range from simple human names like Faye and Helene to those carrying the romantic resonance of Greek and Roman myth.
Check out our list of celestial names and, for even more ideas, have a look at our Angel Names and Space Names.
First, some names of planets and their satellites:
AMALTHEA
ARAGO
CALLISTO—the second largest satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Galileo
DESPINA
JUPITER –the largest planet in the solar system
THEBE
VENUS –the most brilliant planet in the solar system
Next, some of the constellations:
ANTILA
AURIGA
CAELUM
CORVUS
DORADO
LACERTA
PAVO
TUCAN
And some of the most namesake-worthy individual stars:
ALPHA –Alpha Lyra is a white star in the constellation Lyra
NOVA—a star that suddenly increases in brilliance then gradually fades
RIGEL – the brightest star in Orion
SIRIUS – the brightest star in the heavens
VEGA – a blue-white star of the first magnitude
And finally, though they might not appear in the sky anywhere from six to a million years, here are some recurring comets:
MONTANI
And also:
AURORA—the name of the shimmering displays of light that occur in the far northern and southern skies.
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22 Responses to “Celestial Names: Some heavenly baby name choices”
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Abby@AppellationMountain Says:
kat Says:
Ourania from ouranos ( sky in greek).The -ia ending makes it all time classic.
Nephele (two first “e” pronounced like “e” in “set” and the last one, like “ee” in “see”) , means cloud in greek.
Other spellings: Nefeli or Nephelie (this one is better for english speakers).
spamwich Says:
Very nice list!
Just a random observation- a lot of the planets/satelines are also Shakespeare female names: Cordelia, Bianca, Desdemona, Juliet, Miranda, Ophelia, Portia, Rosalind, Titania. I guess we know where he was inspired from!
Bella Says:
I just posted a threat like this in the discussions board! You know what they say about great minds!
I love-
Elara
Miranda
Lyra
Aurora
Faye
Orion
Pheonix
Mira
Nova
Vega
All great names!
Emz Says:
I love Faye, and Lyra.
Does anyone here have an opinion on Hesper? I’ve always loved it – it reminds me of ‘whisper’ and I like the evening star connection. I’ve seen it in the Times/Telegraph a few times – do you think it’s usable? I hope so – and might use it anyway…
Hesper Faye?
Dearest Says:
I love all too many of these so I’m just going to highlight some special favourites:
CRESSIDA!!! Is my current name crush above all else! Magnificently beautiful name!
Andromeda and Cassiopeia are both awesome as well, I love that they’re so lengthy and unusual while familiar to most!
Columba has enormous appeal to me for not being a typically sounding girls’ name 🙂
Capella is probably the least used -ella name, so lively and sweet!
Castor is awesome for a boy, it’s just wonderful! I’m used to a lot of names ending in -tor or just -or from Norway, and this one reminds me of those! (Endor (b), Astor (b), Nor (b), Eivor (g), Anvor (g), Aldor (b) etc. etc.)
Lucy Says:
I have loved Cressida since I was ten and created a book character named Cressidia, not knowing that Cressida was an actual name. Thanks for including it! My daughter is Calista, by the way, and I love Calypso and Callisto as well but I was afraid to use an o-ender for a girl at the time.
CELESTIAL NAMES: Some heavenly baby name choices | Ondelet Says:
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Rosy Says:
I love them all! These are my very favorites:
Amalthea
Cordelia
Cressida
Despina
Galatea
Juliet
Miranda
Oberon
Ophelia
Phoebe
Rosalind
Titania
Andromeda
Lyra
Sirius
Bellatrix
Eva Says:
I LOVE this list! Some of these names absolutely thrill me.
My favorites are…
Ariel
Bianca
Callisto
Calypso
Cordelia
Desdemona
Elara
Juliet
Ophelia
Pandora
Phoebe
Rosalind
Leda
Mira
Lyra
Sirius
Bellatrix
Melina Says:
I love this blog, there are always such great posts for us name lovers! Today’s list was especially great, I like all of the names, my favorites are:
Ariel
Bianca
Callisto
Calypso
Cordelia
Elara
Helene
Larissa
Leda
Miranda
Ophelia
Pandora
Phoebe
Rosalind
Titania
Carina
Leo
Lyra
Norma
Orion
Bellatrix
Mira
Nova
Sirius
Aurora
I also like Celeste, Celestia and Ciela.
Andre Says:
I like Ariel and Nova for boys. I think both are in the top1000 too
moxielove Says:
Spamwich – it’s the other way around. The satellites were discovered & named long after Shakespeare.
Which brings up a good point: Most of these are names from classical greek mythology, or ancient arabic, as these were 2 cultures that named most of our modern constellations.
HCBB Says:
I love the list and I have decided to name my daughter Pandora Bellatrix, but my friends and family keep bugging me about the names and I don’t know what to do I really love the way it sounds… what do you think…
Pamela Redmond Satran Says:
I love Pandora! And Pan, Dora, or Dory all make great nicknames.
LC Says:
Bellatrix is an awesome name. Pandora is so famous for making a mistake though…….
Sarah Says:
The Capricorn constellation has a star named Nashira, which is Arabic and means “bearer of good news.” My good friend had hippie parents that named her this. She also goes by Nash for short. I think it is a lovely celestial name and thought you could add it to your list!
Emily Says:
One name that is a star that I absolutely love is Polaris, northern star. It not on the list and I’ve never heard it used before.
*person* Says:
This reminded me of Juno, Hera, Minerva and Seraphine, some of my favourite ‘out of this world names’
I also like more subtle cosmic names like Michael, Gabriel, Claire (haha that’s me) Madonna (I love her music, but actually I like the name because ‘Mary’ is too boring and I like religious names) and Hazeus (Which sounds to much like “Hey Zeus” to me, but it’s nice)
Literal names like Sky, Star, and Cosmo are nice.
Briana Says:
what about just the name Celestial or Celeste? Those sound nice
Also Nova and Vega
Miladyrigel Says:
My middle name is Rigel, and I’m a girl. I love my name. First name is on the list as well.
Cosmic names | Cateringforme Says:
[…] Celestial Names: Some heavenly baby name choices – Baby Name …Feb 8, 2010 … I also like more subtle cosmic names like Michael, Gabriel, Claire (haha that’s me ) Madonna (I love her music, but actually I like the name … […]
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What a fabulous list! I had no idea Norma had a celestial connection. Plus one more reason to love Cordelia!