People are searching the skies for the perfect baby name.
What should we name the baby? That is a discussion that goes on in every family. In my own family, I considered space-related names for both my children while pregnant, but only one ended up with a middle name related to the sky. And I picked the child who currently has no interest in astronomy.
There are a good deal of choices among the astronomical objects to use directly or convert slightly into a child's name. These choices are also definitely for the parent who doesn't mind if their child has a unique name. There probably won't be too many Jupiters in your son's first grade class. In fact, any of the planets would make decent choices except for Uranus. Please, PLEASE don't name your child Uranus. Just because you know how to pronounce it the right way doesn't mean the rest of the world does or will.
While I wouldn't pick a planet to name a child of mine, there are some interesting constellation names that are good possibilities. Especially when you consider the nickname. Cassiopeia could easily become Cassie, Perseus would make a nice Percy, Andromeda could be called Andi, and Taurus could even be Tauri (Tori). Some of the names would work well (and already do) on their own. Orion is slowly growing in popularity for boys, and Carina makes a pretty girl's name. Norma is an old-fashioned name and also a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere representing a surveyor's level.
Some of the brightest stars could be turned into names. Capella (nickname Ella), Antares (nickname Terry), Adhara (Dara) are all viable options. Then there are the historical astronomers, such as Galileo or Kepler, which would make cute names. The names of the planet's moons are taken from literature. Uranus's moons are all characters in Shakespearean plays, such as Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Rosalind, and Portia. One of Jupiter's biggest moons, Callisto, could have the nickname of Callie.
J.K. Rowling has already used a number of celestial names in her Harry Potter series: Regulus, Sirius, Bellatrix, Merope, Hestia, Luna, and Draco.
Have you chosen a star-studded name for your child? Share it in the discussion forum.
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