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There’s something about standing under a clear night sky — that specific feeling of smallness and wonder — that makes it one of the best places to find a name. Humans have been naming their children after stars, planets, and celestial phenomena for thousands of years, and the tradition cuts across every culture on earth. A name pulled from the night sky carries weight without heaviness: it’s aspirational, it’s ancient, and it has a built-in story that your child can grow into.
🔍 Curious how popular a name is?
Check any name's popularity trend since 1880 with our free Baby Name Popularity Checker.
When referencing popularity, I am referring to baby name data from Social Security Administration database in the United States for 2025, which is the most current year of data available.
Here’s what’s in store –
Planets, Moons, and Dwarf Worlds
Moon-Inspired Names from Around the World
Sky Gods and Mythological Heavens
The Seven Sisters: Pleiades and Star Cluster Names
What makes cosmic names so compelling right now isn’t just the trend toward the unusual — it’s that they’re genuinely meaningful. These aren’t invented words with good sounds. Names like Vega, Rigel, and Selene have histories stretching back millennia. They were used by astronomers, mythologists, poets, and parents long before they showed up on a Pinterest board. When you name a child Orion or Lyra, you’re handing them a thread that runs all the way back through human history.
This list covers the full spectrum: star and constellation names with documented use as given names; planets, moons, and dwarf worlds with surprising depth; lunar names from Turkish, Arabic, Sanskrit, Māori, and Armenian traditions; sky deities from Greek, Norse, Hindu, Japanese, and Slavic mythology; the Pleiades and their mythological sisters; cosmic phenomena like novas and nebulae; and dozens of names from across cultures that mean star, light, or heaven. More than 200 names, all real, all with accurate origins.
Whether you’re after something soft and romantic like Lyra or bold and ancient like Hyperion, the universe has more names than you could use in a lifetime. Here are the best of them.
Stars and Constellations
The 88 official constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union have been accumulating names for millennia — Greek, Roman, Arabic, and pre-classical. Many of the brightest stars in those constellations carry Arabic names from the golden age of Islamic astronomy, when Arab scholars were doing the most sophisticated stargazing in the world. This section draws from both traditions.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “hunter/boundary”
- Popularity: #325
The most recognizable winter constellation; strong, mythic, and given enough cultural presence to feel classic rather than trendy.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “lyre”
- Popularity: #482
Named for the lyre of Orpheus; delicate and musical, rising fast in baby name charts.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “the swooping eagle”
- Popularity: #3944
The fifth-brightest star in the sky; sleek, short, and effortlessly cool.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “the left foot of Orion”
- Popularity: #6095
Orion’s brightest star; uncommon as a given name and all the better for it.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “the flying eagle”
- Popularity: #4063
Brightest star in Aquila; sharp and global, easily wearable across cultures.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “glowing/scorching”
- Popularity: #2657
The brightest star in the night sky; Harry Potter’s Sirius Black made this familiar without making it common.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “possibly beaver or he who excels”
- Popularity: #6887
One of the Gemini twins; sophisticated and underused, with a stately feel.
- Origin: Greek/Latin
- Meaning: “very sweet”
- Popularity: Rare
The brighter Gemini twin; genuinely rare as a given name and beautifully symmetrical.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “ear of grain/wheat”
- Popularity: Rare
Virgo’s brightest star; rare as a given name, quietly stunning, and agricultural in the best mythological sense.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “tail of the hen”
- Popularity: Rare
The tail of Cygnus the Swan; brief and bold, sounds modern without being invented.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “little she-goat”
- Popularity: Rare
The brightest star in Auriga; melodic, feminine, and completely unexpected.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “guardian of the bear”
- Popularity: Rare
The fourth-brightest star in the sky; ancient and grand, nickname Arc for everyday use.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: a pilot of Greek mythology
- Popularity: Rare
The second-brightest star; nautical-mythological and rare.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “destroyer” or “from Persia”
- Popularity: #1290
The hero constellation; strong mythological weight, nickname Percy or Perse.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “swan”
- Popularity: Rare
The swan constellation; literary, graceful, and less expected than names like Phoenix.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “ruler of men”
- Popularity: #2300
The princess constellation and the nearest major galaxy; bold and elaborate, nickname Andy.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “she whose words excel” or possibly “cassia tree”
- Popularity: #8523
The queen constellation; elaborate but unforgettable, Cassie or Sia for short.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “dark red/crimson”
- Popularity: #275
The mythical bird and southern constellation; resilient and powerful, widely usable.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “crow/raven”
- Popularity: Rare
The raven constellation; dark, distinguished, and completely unused as a given name.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “eagle”
- Popularity: #12246
The eagle constellation; fierce, rare, and striking.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: already listed above; see entry
- Popularity: #482
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “altar”
- Popularity: #3116
A small southern constellation; three letters, cross-cultural, soft and direct.
- Origin: Latin/Portuguese
- Meaning: “sensitive plant/mimicking”
- Popularity: Rare
A star in Crux; also a flower name — botanical and astronomical at once, with a playful brightness.
- Origin: Hebrew/Arabic
- Meaning: “splendor/glory”
- Popularity: #14180
A bright star in Centaurus; short, global, and genuinely meaningful.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “amber/shining”
- Popularity: #9068
A star in the Taurus cluster and one of the Pleiades; dramatic and strong.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “little king”
- Popularity: Rare
The brightest star in Leo; regal, short, a lion-hearted choice.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: compound of “Alpha” and “Crux”
- Popularity: Rare
The brightest star in the Southern Cross; unusual and striking.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “the end of the river”
- Popularity: Rare
Brightest star in Eridanus; rare, exotic-sounding, and genuinely ancient.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “the southern claw”
- Popularity: Rare
A star in Libra; impractical as a full name but “Zuben” as a nickname is genuinely cool and rare.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “the ghoul/demon star”
- Popularity: Rare
The famous variable star in Perseus; short, mysterious, perfect for a parent who leans dark.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “fat tail of the sheep”
- Popularity: Rare
The brightest star in the Big Dipper’s handle; soft-sounding despite its earthy meaning.
Planets, Moons, and Dwarf Worlds
The solar system has been generating names for thousands of years. The classical planets gave us the days of the week and a gallery of Roman deities. The outer planets, discovered in the telescope age, were named by scientists who reached for mythology and got it right. The moons — hundreds of them — draw from Shakespeare, Homer, and every tradition in between.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “love/desire/beauty”
- Popularity: #1736
Roman goddess of love and the second planet; warm, classic, and enduringly beautiful.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “god of war”
- Popularity: #1457
The red planet; short and strong, worn by boxers, musicians, and a growing number of babies.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “queen of heaven”
- Popularity: #1382
A major asteroid and Jupiter’s consort; strong, film-famous, and definitively on the rise.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “goddess of grain/harvest”
- Popularity: Rare
The largest asteroid and dwarf planet; serene, ancient, and quietly chic.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “goddess of the hearth”
- Popularity: #17475
A major asteroid and Roman goddess; warm, brief, and mid-century cool without feeling dated.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “brandishing/young woman”
- Popularity: Rare
An asteroid and epithet of Athena; warrior-smart and rare.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “flowing/ease”
- Popularity: #616
A moon of Saturn and a Titan goddess; soft, mythological, and rising fast in the US.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “straining/great one”
- Popularity: #1016
Saturn’s largest moon; powerful and elemental, surprisingly usable.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “of the sea/third”
- Popularity: #3874
Neptune’s largest moon and a sea-god; strong maritime mythology attached.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “wide-faced/broad gaze”
- Popularity: Rare
Jupiter’s ice-covered ocean moon; mythological and elegant.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “violet/moon”
- Popularity: #9867
Jupiter’s volcanic moon and a mythological priestess; tiny, punchy, and beautifully ancient.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “lion of God”
- Popularity: #299
A moon of Uranus and Shakespeare’s sprite in The Tempest; familiar and luminous.
- Origin: Old French/Germanic
- Meaning: “noble bear/elf ruler”
- Popularity: #3744
Uranus’s outermost large moon and the fairy king; Shakespearean and magical.
- Origin: Greek/Latin
- Meaning: “great one/daughter of the Titans”
- Popularity: #8361
Uranus’s largest moon and the fairy queen; theatrical and grand.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “worthy of admiration”
- Popularity: #622
A moon of Uranus from Shakespeare’s The Tempest; steady, classic, and more celestial than most people realize.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “most beautiful”
- Popularity: #12592
A moon of Jupiter and a nymph turned into a bear by Zeus; graceful and mythologically rich.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “rejoicing in his manhood/virility”
- Popularity: Rare
Jupiter’s largest moon; beautiful, mythological, the divine cupbearer of the gods.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “fierce brightness/keen gaze”
- Popularity: #12470
Pluto’s largest moon; dark and poetic, the ferryman of souls.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “goddess of night”
- Popularity: Rare
A small moon of Pluto named after the goddess Nyx; short, edgy, and mythologically dense.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “strife/discord”
- Popularity: #1650
The dwarf planet that sparked the planet debate; mythologically rich and delightfully contrarian as a name.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: Hawaiian goddess of childbirth and fertility
- Popularity: Rare
A dwarf planet; warm, cultural, deeply meaningful for a new parent.
- Origin: Rapa Nui
- Meaning: Rapa Nui creator god of humanity
- Popularity: Rare
A dwarf planet; unique and cross-cultural, a rare global name with genuine indigenous roots.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “bright/shining”
- Popularity: #1156
A moon of Jupiter named after a mythological nymph; elegant and quietly rising.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: “mischievous sprite”
- Popularity: Rare
A small moon of Uranus and Shakespeare’s trickster in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; playful and literary.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “dread/terror”
- Popularity: Rare
A moon of Mars; intense and mythological, twin of Phobos — bold choice.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “fear/panic”
- Popularity: Rare
The other moon of Mars and twin of Deimos; fierce, rare, mythologically weighty.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “water nymph/flowing”
- Popularity: Rare
A small moon of Neptune; soft, aquatic, and almost unknown as a given name.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “sea”
- Popularity: Rare
A moon of Neptune; flowing and oceanic, feels both ancient and fresh.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “first/first-formed”
- Popularity: Rare
A moon of Neptune; the shape-shifting sea-god, adaptable and ancient.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “citadel/fortress”
- Popularity: #1615
A moon of Neptune, also a city in Greece; familiar as a given name and quietly celestial.
Moon-Inspired Names from Around the World
The moon has more names and personifications than any other celestial body — every culture on earth looked up at the same light and gave it a different sound. This section collects the most nameable of them, from the Greek Selene to the Finnish Kuu, with stops across Arabic, Sanskrit, Māori, Turkish, Armenian, and Swahili traditions.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “moon”
- Popularity: #13
The Roman moon goddess; romantic, popular, and genuinely beautiful — the rare name that earns its trendiness.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “moon/brightness”
- Popularity: #675
The Greek moon goddess who drove a silver chariot across the sky; classical, flowing, and less common than Luna.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “bright/shining/radiant”
- Popularity: #183
A Titan associated with the moon; beloved, literary, nickname-proof, and consistently strong.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: origin uncertain, possibly pre-Greek
- Popularity: #1022
The huntress moon goddess; fierce, rising fast, and carrying centuries of fierce-feminine mythology.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “divine/luminous”
- Popularity: #243
The Roman moon goddess; classic, elegant, and carrying a timeless coolness.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “from Mount Kynthos”
- Popularity: #826
An epithet for Artemis; vintage cool that is genuinely making a comeback.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “goddess/divine”
- Popularity: #1844
The ancient Titan whose daughter was Selene; rare and powerful, the primordial source.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: origin uncertain, possibly “far-reaching”
- Popularity: Rare
The goddess of the crossroads associated with the moon and magic; dark, mystical, and decidedly bold.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “moon/sacred drink”
- Popularity: #7645
The Vedic moon deity; short, cross-cultural, quietly meaningful.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “moon/shining/illustrious”
- Popularity: #11381
The Hindu moon deity; warm, South Asian in origin, used across India, Nepal, and beyond.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “moon”
- Popularity: Rare
The Japanese word for moon used as a given name; short, graceful, and rare outside Japan.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: “moon halo/the halo around the moon”
- Popularity: #386
An extremely popular Turkish name; lyrical and luminous.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: “moon halo/moonlight”
- Popularity: #69
From the Turkish “ay” (moon) with a suffix; soft, rising in the US and Europe.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “moon”
- Popularity: #3360
Used across the Arab world as both a given name and surname; short and luminous, gender-flexible.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “full moon”
- Popularity: #5916
Carries the specific beauty of a full moon; unisex, short, widely used across Arabic-speaking countries.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “brightness of the full moon”
- Popularity: #2489
A softer Arabic feminine name with a precise lunar meaning; rare in Western naming.
- Origin: Swahili
- Meaning: “moonlight”
- Popularity: #2699
East African in origin; melodic, radiant, and completely distinctive in Western naming pools.
- Origin: Māori
- Meaning: “moon/understanding/clarity”
- Popularity: Rare
The Māori word for both the moon and comprehension — a name that carries meaning in two registers.
- Origin: Armenian
- Meaning: “moon”
- Popularity: #10721
The Armenian word for the moon used as a given name; melodic and rare outside the Armenian diaspora.
- Origin: Finnish
- Meaning: “moon”
- Popularity: Rare
The Finnish word for moon; ultra-minimalist, three letters, quietly Scandinavian.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “moon/a bright drop”
- Popularity: Rare
A Vedic name for the moon; ancient, rare, and gentle.
- Origin: Portuguese
- Meaning: “moon/moonlight”
- Popularity: #1563
Used in Brazilian Portuguese to evoke the moon; sleek and short, cross-cultural.
- Origin: Indonesian/Malay
- Meaning: “moon”
- Popularity: Rare
The word for moon in Indonesian and Malay; gentle, flowing, and beautifully cross-cultural.
- Origin: Tumbuka, Malawi
- Meaning: “moonlight”
- Popularity: #8915
A Central African name meaning moonlight; rare, luminous, and three syllables of elegance.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: already listed above in planets; the moonlight-and-nymph associations also fit here
- Popularity: #1156
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “moon child”
- Popularity: Rare
A compound Japanese name; evocative and rare in the West, meaning exactly what it says.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: “brightness/radiance”
- Popularity: #3112
An Irish goddess associated with the moon and sun; short, flowing, one of the most beautiful Irish names.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: shortened from Priscilla or Lucilla
- Popularity: Rare
In some Scandinavian traditions it connects to the word for moon-bright; delicate and rare.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “crescent moon”
- Popularity: #10243
The word for the thin new crescent moon; used across the Muslim world for both boys and girls.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “one who is lush/well-watered”
- Popularity: #1320
In some traditions associated with the moon’s glow; popular in Muslim-majority countries.
Sky Gods and Mythological Heavens
Long before telescopes, humans mapped the sky through mythology. Sky deities appear in every culture — Greek Titans who held up the heavens, Vedic gods who governed rain and thunder, Norse personifications of celestial phenomena, Japanese kami of storms. The names in this section come from all of those traditions. Many are unused in modern Western naming, which makes them feel both ancient and newly available.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “enduring/he who carries”
- Popularity: #101
The Titan condemned to hold up the sky; strong and widely recognized, with genuine mythological depth.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “sun”
- Popularity: #2881
The god who drove the solar chariot; bold, bright, and rising in Greek-influenced naming.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: origin disputed, possibly “destroyer” or “assembly”
- Popularity: #414
God of the sun, music, and prophecy; classic cool that transcends any one era.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “sun”
- Popularity: #819
The Roman personification of the sun; simple, warm, gender-neutral, growing steadily.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “dawn”
- Popularity: Rare
The rosy-fingered goddess of the dawn; tiny, radiant, one of those three-letter names with enormous presence.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “dawn”
- Popularity: #16
The Roman goddess of dawn and the northern lights; beautiful, beloved, and classic without being tired.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “night”
- Popularity: #2704
The primordial goddess of night, one of the first beings to exist; short, edgy, deeply mythological.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “upper air/brightness”
- Popularity: Rare
The primordial god of the upper sky and light; ethereal and rare, perfect for parents who lean philosophical.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “day”
- Popularity: Rare
The goddess of day, born from Nyx and Erebus; light, delicate, and ancient.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “the high one/going above”
- Popularity: Rare
A Titan god of light and father of Helios, Selene, and Eos; grand and Shakespearean.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “intelligence/questioning”
- Popularity: Rare
The Titan god of intellect and the north sky; unusual and intellectual, a name for curious kids.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “deep darkness/shadow”
- Popularity: Rare
The primordial deity of darkness; poetic and dramatic, for parents comfortable with the night.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “possessor of rain drops”
- Popularity: #5736
Vedic king of the gods, ruler of the sky and thunder; strong, Pan-Asian, widely used across South and Southeast Asia.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “all-encompassing sky/truth”
- Popularity: Rare
Vedic deity of cosmic order and the night sky; grand, rare, and deeply philosophical.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: “thunder”
- Popularity: #2820
The Norse thunder god; iconic, strong, and genuinely usable without being a costume name.
- Origin: Gaulish Celtic
- Meaning: “thunder”
- Popularity: Rare
Celtic thunder god; rare, ancient, and carrying genuine Iron Age mythology.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “thunder god”
- Popularity: Rare
Japanese kami of thunder, lightning, and storms; striking and rare outside Japan.
- Origin: Proto-Slavic
- Meaning: “thunder/to strike”
- Popularity: Rare
Slavic god of thunder and sky; unusual and ancient, with a strong Slavic-diaspora tradition.
- Origin: Finnish
- Meaning: “old man/thunder”
- Popularity: Rare
Finnish sky god; quirky, distinctive, and deeply Finnish.
- Origin: Ancient Egyptian
- Meaning: “royal child/to decay”
- Popularity: #4881
Associated with the sky and celestial navigation in funerary rites; dark and striking.
- Origin: Ancient Egyptian
- Meaning: “sky/heaven”
- Popularity: Rare
The Egyptian sky goddess who arched her body over the earth as the sky; ancient, short, and powerful.
- Origin: Ancient Egyptian
- Meaning: “air/dryness”
- Popularity: Rare
Egyptian god of air between earth and sky; minimal and cross-cultural.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “sky/heaven”
- Popularity: Rare
The Roman primordial sky deity; rare and stately.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “sky/heaven”
- Popularity: Rare
The primordial sky god and father of the Titans; ancestral and mythologically central.
- Origin: Sumerian
- Meaning: “lord of the air/wind”
- Popularity: Rare
Mesopotamian wind and storm deity; rare and ancient, one of the oldest named deities.
- Origin: Sumerian/Akkadian
- Meaning: “sky/heaven”
- Popularity: #8336
The Mesopotamian sky god; ancient, short, and cross-cultural.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: “immaculate/undefiled”
- Popularity: #7973
Persian goddess associated with water, fertility, and the planet Venus; lush and ancient, widely used in Iran today.
- Origin: Chinese
- Meaning: “heaven/sky”
- Popularity: #4398
Mandarin word for heaven; short, cross-cultural, clean.
- Origin: Japanese
- Meaning: “wind god”
- Popularity: Rare
Japanese kami of wind; striking and rare outside Japan, but utterly distinctive.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: “dawn/aurora”
- Popularity: Rare
The Slavic dawn goddess; bright, soft, and rare in Western naming.
The Seven Sisters: Pleiades and Star Cluster Names
The Pleiades are one of the most famous star clusters in the sky — visible to the naked eye, navigated by for millennia, and woven into mythology across cultures that had no contact with each other. The Greeks named them after Atlas’s seven daughters: Alcyone, Maia, Electra, Taygete, Merope, Celaeno, and Asterope. Their mother was Pleione. These are among the most poetic name sources in all of astronomy.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “kingfisher”
- Popularity: Rare
The brightest of the Pleiades; rare and elegant, the kingfisher’s mythological association with calm seas adds depth.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “great one/nursing mother”
- Popularity: #459
Eldest of the Pleiades and mother of Hermes; soft, popular, and completely beautiful.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “bee-eater/eloquent”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Pleiades who hid her face in shame for marrying a mortal; unusual and literary.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “long-necked”
- Popularity: Rare
A Pleiad and a nymph of Sparta; rare and mythological, Tay as a nickname.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “dark/black”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Pleiades; dark and distinctive, the contrast between its meaning and the star’s beauty is quietly interesting.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “star face/lightning”
- Popularity: Rare
A Pleiad — the faintest of the seven; unusual and beautiful, Aster for short.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: variant of Asterope
- Popularity: Rare
The alternate spelling used in some traditions; slightly softer than Asterope.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “to sail/to increase”
- Popularity: Rare
Mother of the Pleiades; rare and mythological, one of those names that parents who know their mythology will recognize immediately.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: already listed; father of the Pleiades, carrying double meaning here
- Popularity: #101
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “rain bringers”
- Popularity: Rare
The other famous Taurus star cluster; used as a name in antiquity for the nymphs who brought spring rain.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “immortal/divine food”
- Popularity: #11131
One of the Hyades; lush, elaborate, and completely unexpected as a given name.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “good gift”
- Popularity: #8073
One of the Hyades; rare vintage name with genuine Greek roots — actually means “good gift,” which is lovely for a baby.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “crow/garland”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Hyades and also a companion of Athena; dark and literary.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “many voices”
- Popularity: Rare
One of the Hyades; unusual and powerful-sounding.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “she who conceals”
- Popularity: #3966
A nymph in the Odyssey and a small moon of Saturn; musical and mythological.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “wine woman/of wine”
- Popularity: Rare
A naiad and the first wife of Paris; flowing and rare.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “laurel tree”
- Popularity: #192
A naiad who became the laurel tree; beloved, botanical, and associated with Apollo’s chase across the sky.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “burner of ships”
- Popularity: Rare
A Phaeacian princess in the Odyssey; elaborate, literary, and completely distinctive.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “earth/earthly”
- Popularity: Rare
Mother of Dionysus and a sky-touched figure; short and mythologically rich.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “fern/snowy”
- Popularity: #13083
A figure transformed into a weeping rock by Artemis; rare and ancient, the geology of grief.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “she who is milk-white/ivory”
- Popularity: Rare
A sea nymph and a moon of Saturn; flowing and mythological.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “the quickly flowing”
- Popularity: Rare
A naiad who became a freshwater spring; elaborate, rare, and beautifully liquid-sounding.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “thorn/prickle”
- Popularity: Rare
A nymph associated with Apollo; unusual and sharp, for a child with edge.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “tender goddess”
- Popularity: Rare
The goat-nymph who nursed Zeus and a moon of Jupiter; warm, mythological, and very rare.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “pure/clean”
- Popularity: Rare
A nymph of the prophetic spring at Delphi; flowing and oracular.
Cosmic Phenomena: Novas, Nebulae, and Deep Space
Beyond named stars and planets lies the vocabulary of phenomena — the events and structures that astronomers have been cataloguing for centuries. Nova, nebula, zenith, solstice: these are words that already live in common English, which makes them approachable as names while retaining their astronomical specificity.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “new star”
- Popularity: #39
A star that suddenly flares in brightness; short, bright, rising rapidly in baby name popularity for good reason.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “mist/cloud/fog”
- Popularity: #6308
A cloud of gas and dust in space; ethereal, evocative, and used in enough pop culture contexts to feel approachable.
- Origin: Unknown
- Meaning: already listed; the northern and southern lights are also a cosmic phenomenon, doubling its depth
- Popularity: #16
- Origin: Arabic via Spanish
- Meaning: “the way/direction overhead”
- Popularity: #2906
The point directly overhead in the sky; aspirational, rare, and surprisingly wearable.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “the sun stands still”
- Popularity: #6870
The longest or shortest day of the year; seasonal and poetic, a standout word name.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “abandonment/failure to appear”
- Popularity: Rare
The celestial alignment that hides one body behind another; dramatic and striking as a name.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “long-haired star”
- Popularity: Rare
Named for the tail that streams behind it; whimsical and evocative, surprisingly gentle-sounding.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “threshing floor/disc of the sun or moon”
- Popularity: #512
The ring of light that appears around the sun or moon; radiant and rare.
- Origin: Greek/Latin
- Meaning: “breeze/breath of air”
- Popularity: #872
Also used in astronomy for a luminous field; soft, luminous, and perfectly wearable.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “west wind”
- Popularity: #1133
The god of the gentle west wind; soft, breezy, literary, and quietly celestial.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “rain cloud/luminous vapor”
- Popularity: Rare
The luminous cloud around a celestial body; ethereal and rare, known mostly from meteorology and sacred art.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “of the sun”
- Popularity: #7880
The solar adjective; used in Tarkovsky’s film and now cosmically cool.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “order/world/universe”
- Popularity: Rare
The entire organized universe; bold as a given name, worn by Carl Sagan’s book and a generation of science-curious parents.
- Origin: English, from Latin
- Meaning: “quasi-stellar”
- Popularity: Rare
An extremely luminous galactic nucleus; bold and sci-fi cool, genuinely distinctive.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “shadow”
- Popularity: Rare
The darkest part of a shadow, especially in an eclipse; short, striking, and poetically dark.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “almost shadow”
- Popularity: Rare
The partial shadow at the edge of the umbra; rare, lyrical, and longer-form dramatic.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “of midday/south”
- Popularity: #9982
The celestial line passing through the poles; classic and rare, with a navigational weight.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “the lowest point/opposite of zenith”
- Popularity: #4814
The point directly below the observer; unusual, meaningful, and phonetically strong.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “away from the earth”
- Popularity: Rare
The farthest point of an orbit; unique and poetic, the name for a child who always reaches the outer edge.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “whirlpool/turning”
- Popularity: Rare
A spinning mass of fluid or air; dynamic and vivid, a name with kinetic energy.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: “pulsating star”
- Popularity: Rare
A rapidly spinning neutron star emitting regular pulses; energetic and unusual.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “shining/bright rays”
- Popularity: Rare
In astronomy, the point from which a meteor shower appears to originate; luminous and aspirational.
- Origin: Greek/English
- Meaning: from the constellation Lyra
- Popularity: Rare
The April meteor shower; rare and specific, a name for parents who know exactly which shower they watched the night their child was conceived.
- Origin: Greek/English
- Meaning: from the constellation Perseus
- Popularity: Rare
The summer meteor shower; the most famous shower, for children born in August.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: “flame”
- Popularity: Rare
A sudden burst of radiation from the sun; dynamic, short, and vivid as a name.
Names That Mean Star, Light, or Heaven
Not everyone wants to hand their child a technical astronomical term. These names come from across the world’s languages and traditions, and they carry the same celestial meaning in a more wearable form — names that mean star, light, heaven, or radiance in Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, and Celtic traditions.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #49
Perennially beloved; warm, bright, and one of the few star names that has never felt overexposed.
- Origin: Old French/Provençal, from Latin stella
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #636
The French form of Stella; vintage and elegant, Estie as a nickname.
- Origin: Persian, possibly
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #131
A biblical name whose Persian root likely means star; traditional, widely used, quietly celestial.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #2745
The direct Greek word for star; short, botanical (there’s a flower), and astronomical all at once.
- Origin: Latin/Greek
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #3167
The Latin-Greek plural becoming a name; sleek, global, and less common than Stella.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: “divinely beautiful”
- Popularity: #383
From Old Norse “áss” (god) + “fríðr” (beautiful); Scandinavian, strong, and carries a quiet celestial authority.
- Origin: Latin/Arabic
- Meaning: “of the stars/lote tree”
- Popularity: #1641
From Latin “sidus” (star) or Arabic sacred tree; multi-cultural and evocative.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #1021
Also means rocky hill in Irish; used widely across South Asia and the Irish diaspora, with different meanings in each tradition.
- Origin: Persian/Urdu
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #2733
The Persian word for star used as a given name; lush and rare in Western naming.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “star”
- Popularity: #6305
The Arabic feminine word for star; rare in the West, widely used across the Arab world and North Africa.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “brightness/brilliance/Venus”
- Popularity: Rare
The Arabic name for the planet Venus and a word for brightness; luminous and rare.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “evening star”
- Popularity: #16133
The Greek name for Venus as the evening star; poetic and rare, softer than Vesper.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “evening star”
- Popularity: #2789
The Latin evening star; modern cool, worn by a James Bond character without becoming exclusively associated with it.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: “star maiden”
- Popularity: #2096
The goddess of justice who became the Virgo constellation; beautiful and mythological.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “heavenly”
- Popularity: #198
One of the most beautiful sky names; soft, classic, and floating.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “heavenly”
- Popularity: #3968
The French form; elegant, vintage, Celly as a nickname.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “sky/heaven”
- Popularity: #2026
Also a small constellation; rare and stately, direct Latin for the sky.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: “light”
- Popularity: #1856
The Arabic word for light used as a given name; widely used across the Arab world, soft and luminous.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “I have light/my light”
- Popularity: #2427
A Hebrew name meaning light; short, modern, widely used in Israel.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “radiance/brilliance/glow”
- Popularity: #10880
The mystical text and a Hebrew name for radiance; beautiful and rare outside Jewish traditions.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “light/illuminated”
- Popularity: #291
From “lux” (light); Italian and Spanish form, warm and flowing.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “light”
- Popularity: #1223
The direct Latin word for light as a name; minimal, bright, growing.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: “luminous/light”
- Popularity: #4719
From “lumen” (light); rare and beautiful, evocative of glowing.
- Origin: Russian
- Meaning: “dawn/radiance”
- Popularity: #4647
The Russian word for dawn used as a name; soft and Slavic.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: “burning ones”
- Popularity: #778
From the seraphim, the fiery celestial angels in Jewish and Christian tradition; elaborate, warm, Sera or Phina for short.
How to Choose a Name From This List
Two hundred names is an embarrassment of riches. If you’re staring at this list feeling more overwhelmed than inspired, start by eliminating categories rather than choosing from all of them. Do you want a name that sounds immediately like a name — familiar enough that no one will stumble? Start with Section 7 (star and light meanings) or the planetary names from Section 2 that have long histories as given names: Ariel, Miranda, Rhea. Do you want something that carries real astronomical specificity — a name that another sky-watcher would recognize? Look at Sections 1 and 5 — the star and Pleiades names.
Sound matters more than you think it will. A name you love in theory can feel exhausting when you’re repeating it fifty times a day. Try calling it out loud, full volume, with whatever middle and last name you’re pairing it with. Vega is versatile. Cassiopeia requires commitment. Both are beautiful choices, but they’re different kinds of beautiful.
Consider the nickname problem from both directions. Some cosmic names have obvious, lovely shortenings: Cassiopeia becomes Cassie; Andromeda becomes Andy; Galileo becomes Gal. Others are already so short they resist it — Nyx, Sol, Ara. If you love Hyperion but worry it’s too grand for a toddler, confirm you’re happy with Hyp or Rion before committing.
Pay attention to cultural weight. Names like Indra, Chandra, and Varuna are genuinely used in South Asian communities. Names like Raijin and Tsuki are Japanese given names. Haumea is Hawaiian and tied to a specific cultural tradition. Many people choose cross-cultural names with genuine respect and curiosity — but it’s worth knowing the origin and considering whether the name feels like a genuine connection or a costume.
Finally: trust the one that keeps coming back. After reading two hundred names, one or two will have lodged in your brain and won’t leave. That’s usually the answer.
Name Art for Your Favorite
Love a name from this list? MinimalistMama offers custom Name Art prints — personalized, minimalist nursery art with the name you choose, designed to match your aesthetic. A perfect gift for baby showers or to hang above the crib.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are cosmic and space-inspired baby names becoming more popular?
Yes, measurably so. Names like Luna, Aurora, Nova, and Orion have all climbed the Social Security Administration’s top-1000 list in the last decade. Luna broke the top 20 in the US in recent years. The trend isn’t just Western — across Europe, South Asia, and Latin America, celestial names have seen consistent growth. Part of the appeal is that they’re meaningful without being trendy in a way that will feel dated: the stars aren’t going anywhere.
What are the most wearable cosmic names for everyday use?
The most wearable tend to be short (2-3 syllables), phonetically clear in English, and either already used as given names or easy to explain. Top picks: Nova, Lyra, Vega, Orion, Leo (bonus: it’s also a constellation), Phoebe, Maia, Rhea, Ariel, and Aurora. These are recognizably names without requiring you to spell them out. On the bolder end, Sirius, Elara, Castor, and Altair are all short enough to be practical while still being genuinely distinctive.
Which of these names work equally well for boys and girls?
Many cosmic names are genuinely gender-flexible or have historical use on both sides. Orion, Sol, Zephyr, Cosmos, Nova, Lyra, Vega, Castor, Atlas, and Aries have all been used across genders. In Arabic-speaking traditions, Qamar and Badr are given to both boys and girls. In Sanskrit traditions, Chandra and Indra have both masculine and feminine associations. If gender-neutrality matters to you, the phenomenon names (Nova, Eclipse, Comet, Zenith) tend to sit comfortably in that space.
Are there celestial names that come from non-Western traditions?
Yes, and this list has tried to represent them fully. Arabic names in this list include Altair, Rigel, Vega, Deneb, Qamar, Badr, Mayar, Nour, and Zuhra. Sanskrit names include Chandra, Soma, Indu, Varuna, Indra, Tara, and Sitara. Japanese names include Tsuki, Tsukiko, Fujin, and Raijin. Māori and Polynesian names include Marama. Hawaiian names include Haumea. Finnish names include Kuu and Ukko. Armenian includes Lusine. Swahili includes Kamaria. Many of these are actively used given names in their home cultures.
Which names from this list have famous bearers?
Several. Sirius Black is the Harry Potter character who brought the star name to a new generation. Aurora is both the Roman goddess and the Disney princess from Sleeping Beauty. Apollo has been worn by boxers and musicians. Yuri Gagarin made Yuri a lasting tribute name. Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, made Valentina feel cosmically charged. In literature: Andromeda appears in Percy Jackson and classical mythology; Miranda and Ariel come directly from Shakespeare. Phoebe is both a Friends character and a Titan goddess. Maia is familiar across multiple mythological and modern contexts.
What middle names pair well with cosmic first names?
Cosmic first names tend to pair well with grounded, classic middle names that provide contrast — think Orion James, Nova Claire, Lyra Mae, Vega Rose, or Elara Jane. You can also lean into the theme for a double-down effect: Selene Aurora, Orion Atlas, Nova Celeste. If the first name is very short (Nyx, Sol, Ara, Io), a longer middle name provides balance: Nyx Evangeline, Sol Augustine. If the first name is very elaborate (Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Hyperion), a single-syllable middle name lands cleanly: Cassiopeia Grace, Hyperion Cole.
What is the difference between star names and constellation names?
Star names are given to individual stars — Vega, Rigel, Sirius, Altair. Constellation names refer to the larger pattern of stars that forms a shape — Orion, Lyra, Cygnus, Andromeda. Interestingly, both categories overlap on this list: Andromeda is both a constellation and a mythological figure; Lyra is a constellation and a star name. Some names like Perseus are constellation names that carry the hero’s name. For practical naming purposes, the distinction rarely matters — both categories produce beautiful, historically documented names.
Final Thoughts
The universe is big enough to hold every kind of name. Whether you’re drawn to the soft Latin warmth of Celeste, the sharp Arabic precision of Altair, or the ancient Māori beauty of Marama, there’s a real name here — with a real history, a real meaning, and a real story — waiting for your child. Pick the one that feels like it already belongs to them, and trust that the stars will take it from there.
Read next; 🌷 85 Cute Unisex Baby Names Going *Viral* in 2026 🌷 53+ Geographical Baby Names Inspired by Places Around the World 🌷 115+ Baby Names That Mean Gift From God
✨ Love these names? Create free printable nursery art for any name →
