Planet Name Generator
Planet names built from Latin descriptors and the real terms used on planetary maps, each element glossed, plus how exoplanets are actually named.
3,200 combinations in this form
Planet names, each with the meaning of every element shown.
- Cinilla
Cin ash + illa little
- Denspelagos
Dens dense + pelagos open sea
- Ordophora
Ord order + ophora bearer
- Caeliana
Cael sky + iana belonging
- Sonorcatena
Sonor resounding + catena chain
- Externiculum
Extern outer + iculum tool
- Longosphaera
Long far-stretching + osphaera sphere
- Decmacula
Dec tenth + macula spot
- Gravanthos
Grav heavy + anthos flower
- Caercatena
Caer blue + catena chain
- Ventvallis
Vent wind + vallis valley
- Vastura
Vast immense + ura tail
- Novalis
Nov new + alis pertaining
- Rosanum
Ros dew + anum enclosure
- Alboikos
Alb white + oikos house
- Pruinanthos
Pruin frost + anthos flower
- Altaster
Alt high + aster star
- Sonoranthos
Sonor resounding + anthos flower
- Vastida
Vast immense + ida daughter
- Altmare
Alt high + mare sea
- Scintogenes
Scint spark + ogenes origin
- Fractethos
Fract broken + ethos custom
- Luclacus
Luc light + lacus lake
- Ultimides
Ultim last + ides descendant
Need a name that means something in particular? Build one from its meaning.
How planets are named
¶Real exoplanets are named after their star, not themselves. The star keeps its catalogue designation, and each planet found around it takes a lowercase letter appended to that designation, starting at b and running in order of discovery rather than distance from the star. So the second planet found in a system is c even if it orbits closer in than b. Where the star is itself a pair, uppercase A and B mark the stars and the lowercase letters mark the planets.
The solar system runs on the older tradition: Greek and Roman deities, assigned by committee. The International Astronomical Union keeps that going, with a working group that approves every name and a theme for each body, so features on one world are named from one mythology and features on another from a different one. Public naming contests exist too, and the winning names sit alongside the catalogue designation rather than replacing it.
Surface features get a two-part Latin name that is genuinely useful to borrow. A descriptor term states what the feature is, mons a mountain, vallis a valley, planitia a plain, chasma a canyon, dorsum a ridge, and a proper name is placed with it. That is the pattern behind names like Olympus Mons. Built the same way, Aurmons reads as gold mountain and Noctvallis as night valley, which is why the endings here feel plausibly catalogued rather than invented.
More planet names
Names planet names
- Primgaia first earth
- Fluviana river belonging
- Octifera eighth bearing
- Octaxis eighth axle
- Candmons glowing peak
- Vetia old land
- Internnesos inner island
- Cavmare hollow sea
- Albaster white star
- Umblacus shadow lake
- Umbaster shadow star
- Lunarche moon beginning
- Gravdorsum heavy ridge
- Nivium snow place
- Aterethos black custom
- Caelregio sky region
- Cavicola hollow dweller
- Novemida ninth daughter
Questions
How are real planets named?
Planets in our own system carry Roman deity names inherited from antiquity, and everything named since is approved by the International Astronomical Union. Planets around other stars are not given names at all by default. They inherit the star's catalogue designation with a lowercase letter added, so the first one found is b, the second c, and so on down the alphabet. That is why a fake or invented alien world reads as real when it is lettered off its star rather than named alone.
What do the letters after an exoplanet name mean?
They mark discovery order, not size or position. The star counts as a, though the letter is rarely written, so the first planet detected is b, the next is c, and later discoveries keep going even if they turn out to orbit closer in. In systems with more than one star, capital letters identify the stars and lowercase letters identify the planets around them.
How do I make up a good planet name?
Decide who named it. A survey catalogue produces a designation, a colonising crew produces something short and descriptive, and an older civilisation produces something mythological. Most settings need all three at once, with the official designation surviving on documents while everybody says the colonists' name aloud. Pairing a Latin descriptor with a geographic term gives you a name that sounds surveyed rather than made up, and naming a whole solar system is the same job done once: name the star, letter the planets.
What are the Latin words on planetary maps?
They are descriptor terms, a fixed vocabulary the IAU uses for surface features across every world. Mons is a mountain, vallis a valley, planitia a plain, planum a plateau, chasma a canyon, dorsum a ridge, rupes a cliff, catena a chain of craters and macula a dark spot. Learning ten of them makes any invented map read as though a survey team wrote it.
Can I use these planet names in my own work?
Yes. The roots are ordinary Latin and Greek elements and the endings are standard toponymic terminations, none of which belong to anyone, and every combination here has been screened against existing science fiction settings. Roll as many random planet names as you need and use them in novels, campaigns or games without attribution, and use the glosses to keep a whole system's names internally consistent.