Behind the Name: Names Categorized "space"

ADHARAfAstronomy
Derived from Arabic عذارى ('adhara) meaning "maidens". This is the name of the second brightest star (after Sirius) in the constellation Canis Major.

ALCYONEfGreek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Greek Αλκυονη (Alkyone), derived from the word αλκυων (alkyon) meaning "kingfisher". In Greek myth this name belonged to a daughter of Aeolus and the wife of Ceyx. After her husband was killed in a shipwreck she threw herself into the water, but the gods saved her and turned them both into kingfishers. This is also the name of the brightest of the Pleiades, the seven stars in the constellation Taurus.

ALICEfEnglish, French, Portuguese, Italian
From the Old French name Aalis, a short form of Adelais, itself a short form of the Germanic name Adalheidis (see ADELAIDE). This name became popular in France and England in the 12th century. It was borne by the heroine of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' (1865) and 'Through the Looking Glass' (1871).

ANDROMEDAfGreek Mythology
Means "to be mindful of a man" from the Greek element ανηρ (aner) "man" (genitive ανδρος) combined with μεδομαι (medomai) "to be mindful of". In Greek mythology Andromeda was an Ethiopian princess rescued from sacrifice by the hero Perseus. A constellation in the northern sky is named for her. This is also the name of a nearby galaxy, given because it resides (from our point of view) within the constellation.

ASTRAfEnglish (Rare)
Means "star", ultimately from Greek αστηρ (aster). This name has only been (rarely) used since the 20th century.

ASTRAEAfGreek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of the Greek Αστραια (Astraia), derived from Greek αστηρ (aster) meaning "star". Astraea was a Greek goddess of justice and innocence. After wickedness took root in the world she left the earth and became the constellation Virgo.

BETELGEUSEmAstronomy
The name of the star that marks the right shoulder of the constellation Orion. It is derived from Arabic يد الجوزا (yad al-Jawza) meaning "the hand of Jawza". جوزا (Jawza) meaning "central one" was the old Arabic name for the constellation Orion (also for Gemini).

BITUINfFilipino, Tagalog
Means "star" in Tagalog.

CAELESTISmLate Roman
Late Latin name which meant "of the sky, heavenly".

CARINA (1)fEnglish, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Late Roman
Late Latin name derived from cara meaning "dear, beloved". This was the name of a 4th-century saint and martyr. It is also the name of a constellation in the southern sky, though in this case it means "keel" in Latin, referring to a part of Jason's ship the Argo.

CASSIOPEIAfGreek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of Greek Κασσιοπεια (Kassiopeia) or Κασσιεπεια (Kassiepeia), possibly meaning "cassia juice". In Greek myth Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus and the mother of Andromeda. She was changed into a constellation and placed in the northern sky after she died.

CELESTEf & mItalian, English
Italian feminine and masculine form of CAELESTIS. It is also the English feminine form.

CEPHEUSmGreek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of the Greek Κηφευς (Kepheus), which is of unknown meaning. In Greek legend he was a king of Ethiopia, the husband of Cassiopeia. After he died he was made into a constellation and placed in the sky.

ĈIELAfEsperanto
Means "heavenly, from the sky" in Esperanto.

DANICAfSerbian, Croatian, Slovene, Slovak, Czech, Macedonian, English
From a Slavic word meaning "morning star, Venus". This name occurs in Slavic folklore as a personification of the morning star. It has sometimes been used in the English-speaking world since the 1970s.

DARA (2)f & mKhmer
Means "star" in Khmer, ultimately from Sanskrit.

DEIMOSmGreek Mythology
Means "terror" in Greek. This was one of the sons of the Greek god Ares. Also, a moon of Mars bears this name.

DENEBmAstronomy
Derived from Arabic ذنب (dhanab) meaning "tail". This is the name of a star in the constellation Cygnus.

DIWATAfFilipino, Tagalog
Means "goddess" in Tagalog.

DRACOmAncient Greek (Latinized)
From the Greek name Δρακων (Drakon) which meant "dragon, serpent". This was the name of a 7th-century BC Athenian legislator. This is also the name of a constellation in the northern sky.

DRAKONmAncient Greek
Greek form of DRACO.

EDMONDmFrench
French form of EDMUND. A notable bearer was the English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742), for whom Halley's comet is named.

ELANORfLiterature
Means "star sun" in Sindarin. In 'The Lord of the Rings' (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien this is Sam's eldest daughter, named after a type of flower.

ESTELLAfEnglish
Latinate form of ESTELLE. This was the name of the heroine, Estella Havisham, in Charles Dickens' novel 'Great Expectations' (1860).

EVRENm & fTurkish
Means "cosmos, the universe" in Turkish. In Turkic mythology the Evren is a gigantic snake-like dragon.

GEMINImRoman Mythology
Means "twins" in Latin. This is the name of the third sign of the zodiac. The two brightest stars in the constellation, Castor and Pollux, are named for the mythological twin sons of Leda.

IAPETUSmGreek Mythology (Latinized)
Latinized form of IAPETOS. This is the name of one of Saturn's moons.

IOfGreek Mythology
Meaning unknown. In Greek mythology Io was a princess loved by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer in order to hide her from Hera. A moon of Jupiter bears this name in her honour.

LUNAfRoman Mythology, Italian, Spanish, English
Means "the moon" in Latin. Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky.

LYRAfAstronomy
The name of the constellation in the northern sky containing the star Vega. It is said to be shaped after the lyre of Orpheus.

MAIA (1)fGreek Mythology, Roman Mythology, Portuguese, Georgian
Meaning unknown. In Greek and Roman mythology she was the eldest of the Pleiades, the group of seven stars in the constellation Taurus, who were the daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Her son by Zeus was Hermes.

MENODORAfAncient Greek
Derived from Greek μηνη (mene) "moon" and δωρον (doron) "gift". This was the name of a 4th-century saint who was martyred with her sisters Metrodora and Nymphodora.

MINODORAfRomanian
Romanian form of MENODORA.

NAJMmArabic
Means "star" in Arabic.

NAJMAfArabic
Feminine form of NAJM.

NEPTUNEmRoman Mythology (Anglicized)
From the Latin Neptunus, which is of unknown meaning, possibly related to the Indo-European root *nebh "wet, damp, clouds". Neptune was the god of the sea in Roman mythology, approximately equivalent to the Greek god Poseidon. This is also the name of the eighth planet in the solar system.

NOVAfEnglish
Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.

ORIONmGreek Mythology
Meaning unknown, but possibly related to Greek ‘οριον (horion) meaning "boundary, limit". Alternatively it may be derived from Akkadian Uru-anna meaning "light of the heavens". This is the name of a constellation, which gets its name from a legendary Greek hunter who was killed by a scorpion sent by the earth goddess Gaia.

SEDNAfMythology
Meaning unknown. This is the name of the Inuit goddess of the sea, sea animals and the underworld. According to some legends Sedna was originally a beautiful woman thrown into the ocean by her father.

SERENfWelsh
Means "star" in Welsh.

SIRIUSmAstronomy
The name of a bright star in the constellation Canis Major, derived via Latin from Greek σειριος (seirios) "burning".

SITARAfUrdu
Means "star" in Urdu, ultimately from Persian.

SITORAfTajik, Uzbek
Tajik and Uzbek form of SITARA.

STARfEnglish
From the English word for the celestial body, ultimately from Old English steorra.

STELLA (1)fEnglish, Italian, Dutch, German
Means "star" in Latin. This name was created by the 16th-century poet Sir Philip Sidney for the subject of his collection of sonnets 'Astrophel and Stella'. It was a nickname of a lover of Jonathan Swift, real name Esther Johnson (1681-1728), though it was not commonly used as a given name until the 19th century. It appears in Tennessee Williams' play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (1947), belonging to the sister of Blanche DuBois and the wife of Stanley Kowalski.

STELLA (2)fGreek
Diminutive of STYLIANI, with the spelling influenced by that of STELLA (1).

URSAfLate Roman
Feminine form of URSUS. This is the name of two constellations in the northern sky: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

VEGAfAstronomy
The name of a star in the constellation Lyra. Its name is from Arabic الواقع (al-Waqi') meaning "the swooping (eagle)".

VENUSfRoman Mythology
Means "love, sexual desire" in Latin. This was the name of the Roman goddess of love and sex. Her character was assimilated with that of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. As the mother of Aeneas she was considered an ancestor of the Roman people. The second planet from the sun is named after her.

YUUTOmJapanese
From Japanese 優 (yuu) meaning "excellence, superiority, gentleness" or 悠 (yuu) meaning "distant, leisurely" combined with 斗 (to), which refers to a Chinese constellation, 人 (to) meaning "person" or 翔 (to) meaning "soar, fly". Other kanji combinations are possible.

ZHULDYZfKazakh
Means "star" in Kazakh.

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