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
- Cinilla
Cin ash + illa little
ash little
- Denspelagos
Dens dense + pelagos open sea
dense open sea
- Ordophora
Ord order + ophora bearer
order bearer
- Caeliana
Cael sky + iana belonging
sky belonging
- Sonorcatena
Sonor resounding + catena chain
resounding chain
- Externiculum
Extern outer + iculum tool
outer tool
- Longosphaera
Long far-stretching + osphaera sphere
far-stretching sphere
- Decmacula
Dec tenth + macula spot
tenth spot
- Gravanthos
Grav heavy + anthos flower
heavy flower
- Caercatena
Caer blue + catena chain
blue chain
- Ventvallis
Vent wind + vallis valley
wind valley
- Vastura
Vast immense + ura tail
immense tail
- Novalis
Nov new + alis pertaining
new pertaining
- Rosanum
Ros dew + anum enclosure
dew enclosure
- Alboikos
Alb white + oikos house
white house
- Pruinanthos
Pruin frost + anthos flower
frost flower
- Altaster
Alt high + aster star
high star
- Sonoranthos
Sonor resounding + anthos flower
resounding flower
- Vastida
Vast immense + ida daughter
immense daughter
- Altmare
Alt high + mare sea
high sea
- Scintogenes
Scint spark + ogenes origin
spark origin
- Fractethos
Fract broken + ethos custom
broken custom
- Luclacus
Luc light + lacus lake
light lake
- Ultimides
Ultim last + ides descendant
last descendant
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.
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.
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 dreamed up.
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. Use them in novels, campaigns or games without attribution, and use the glosses to keep a whole system's names internally consistent.