Editing Planet (section)

=== Modern discoveries ===
When subsequent planets were discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, Uranus was named for a [[Uranus (mythology)|Greek deity]] and Neptune for a [[Neptune (mythology)|Roman one]] (the counterpart of [[Poseidon]]). The asteroids were initially named from mythology as well—[[Ceres (mythology)|Ceres]], [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], and [[Vesta (mythology)|Vesta]] are major Roman goddesses, and Pallas is an epithet of the major Greek goddess [[Athena (mythology)|Athena]]—but as more and more were discovered, they first started being named after more minor goddesses, and the mythological restriction was dropped starting from the twentieth asteroid [[20 Massalia|Massalia]] in 1852.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schmadel|first=Lutz|title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names|date=2012|edition=6th|publisher=Springer|page=15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aeAg1X7afOoC&pg=PA15|isbn=978-3642297182}}</ref> Pluto (named after the [[Pluto (mythology)|Greek god of the underworld]]) was given a classical name, as it was considered a major planet when it was discovered.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

The names of Uranus ([[wikt:天|天]]王星 "sky king star"), Neptune ([[wikt:海|海]]王星 "sea king star"), and Pluto ([[wikt:冥|冥]]王星 "underworld king star") in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese are [[calque]]s based on the roles of those gods in Roman and Greek mythology.<ref name=bianyulin/><ref>{{cite web |title=Planetary linguistics |publisher=nineplanets.org |url=http://nineplanets.org/days.html |access-date=8 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407154905/http://www.nineplanets.org/days.html |archive-date=7 April 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|In Korean, these names are more often written in [[Hangul]] rather than Chinese characters, e.g. 명왕성 for Pluto. In Vietnamese, [[calque]]s are more common than directly reading these names as [[Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary|Sino-Vietnamese]], e.g. ''sao Thuỷ'' rather than ''Thuỷ tinh'' for Mercury. Pluto is not ''sao Minh Vương'' but ''sao Diêm Vương'' "[[Yama]] star".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-vietnamese/ |title=Cambridge English-Vietnamese Dictionary |access-date=21 September 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007123000/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-vietnamese/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}} In the 19th century, [[Alexander Wylie (missionary)|Alexander Wylie]] and [[Li Shanlan]] calqued the names of the first 117 asteroids into Chinese, and many of their names are still used today, e.g. Ceres ([[wikt:穀|穀]]神星 "grain goddess star"), Pallas ([[wikt:智|智]]神星 "wisdom goddess star"), Juno ([[wikt:婚|婚]]神星 "marriage goddess star"), Vesta ([[wikt:灶|灶]]神星 "hearth goddess star"), and Hygiea ([[wikt:健|健]]神星 "health goddess star").<ref name=lijing>{{cite journal |author1=李竞 [Li Jing] |date=2018 |title=小行星世界中的古典音乐 |url=http://www.term.org.cn/CN/10.3969/j.issn.1673-8578.2018.03.015 |language=zh-cn |journal=中国科技术语 [China Terminology] |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=66–75 |doi=10.3969/j.issn.1673-8578.2018.03.015 |access-date=5 May 2023 |archive-date=5 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505191254/http://www.term.org.cn/CN/10.3969/j.issn.1673-8578.2018.03.015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Such translations were extended to some later minor planets, including some of the dwarf planets discovered in the 21st century, e.g. Haumea ([[wikt:妊|妊]]神星 "pregnancy goddess star"), Makemake ([[wikt:鳥|鳥]]神星 "bird goddess star"), and Eris ([[wikt:鬩|鬩]]神星 "quarrel goddess star"). However, except for the better-known asteroids and dwarf planets, many of them are rare outside Chinese astronomical dictionaries.<ref name=bianyulin>{{cite journal |author1=卞毓麟 [Bian Yulin] |title="阋神星"的来龙去脉 |url=https://nadc.china-vo.org/astrodict/s/2016/committeeArticles/Eris_history_BianYuLin_2007.pdf |journal=中国科技术语 [China Terminology] |volume=9 |issue=4 |date=2007 |pages=59–61 |doi=10.3969/j.issn.1673-8578.2007.04.020 |access-date=21 September 2022 |language=zh-cn |url-access=limited |archive-date=21 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921143511/https://nadc.china-vo.org/astrodict/s/2016/committeeArticles/Eris_history_BianYuLin_2007.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Hebrew names were chosen for Uranus (אורון ''Oron'', "small light") and Neptune (רהב ''Rahab'', a Biblical sea monster) in 2009;<ref>{{cite news |last=Ettinger |first=Yair |date=31 December 2009 |title=Uranus and Neptune Get Hebrew Names at Last |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2009-12-31/ty-article/uranus-and-neptune-get-hebrew-names-at-last/0000017f-ec5c-ddba-a37f-ee7ecaf10000 |work=[[Haaretz]] |location= |access-date=5 October 2022 |archive-date=5 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221005082216/https://www.haaretz.com/2009-12-31/ty-article/uranus-and-neptune-get-hebrew-names-at-last/0000017f-ec5c-ddba-a37f-ee7ecaf10000 |url-status=live }}</ref> prior to that the names "Uranus" and "Neptune" had simply been borrowed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zucker |first1=Shay |date=2011 |title=Hebrew names of the planets |journal=Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union |volume=260 |issue= |pages=301–305 |doi=10.1017/S1743921311002432 |bibcode=2011IAUS..260..301Z |s2cid=162671357 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

After more objects were discovered beyond Neptune, naming conventions depending on their orbits were put in place: those in the 2:3 resonance with Neptune (the [[plutino]]s) are given names from underworld myths, while others are given names from creation myths. Most of the trans-Neptunian planetoids are named after gods and goddesses from other cultures (e.g. [[50000 Quaoar|Quaoar]] is named after a [[Tongva]] god). There are a few exceptions which continue the Roman and Greek scheme, notably including Eris as it had initially been considered a tenth planet.<ref name="WGSBN-Naming-Guidelines">{{cite web
  |title        = Minor Planet Naming Guidelines (Rules and Guidelines for naming non-cometary small Solar-System bodies) – v1.0
  |work        = Working Group Small Body Nomenclature
  |type        = PDF
  |date        = 20 December 2021
|url        = https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/documentation/NamesAndCitations.pdf
  |access-date        = 1 May 2022
|archive-date        = 20 March 2023
|archive-url        = https://web.archive.org/web/20230320000458/https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/documentation/NamesAndCitations.pdf
  |url-status        = live
  }}</ref><ref name="WGSBN-home">{{cite web
  |title      = IAU: WG Small Body Nomenclature (WGSBN)
  |work      = Working Group Small Body Nomenclature
  |url      = https://www.wgsbn-iau.org/
  |access-date      = 9 February 2022
|archive-date      = 8 February 2022
|archive-url      = https://web.archive.org/web/20220208031049/https://wgsbn-iau.org/
  |url-status      = live
  }}</ref>

The moons (including the planetary-mass ones) are generally given names with some association with their parent planet. The planetary-mass moons of Jupiter are named after four of Zeus' lovers (or other sexual partners); those of Saturn are named after Cronus' brothers and sisters, the Titans; those of Uranus are named after characters from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] and [[Alexander Pope|Pope]] (originally specifically from fairy mythology,<ref name="Lassell 1852">
{{cite journal
| last = Lassell
| first = W.
| date = 1852
| title = Beobachtungen der Uranus-Satelliten
| journal = Astronomische Nachrichten
| volume = 34
| page = 325
| bibcode = 1852AN.....34..325.
}}
</ref> but that ended with the naming of [[Miranda (moon)|Miranda]]). Neptune's planetary-mass moon Triton is named after [[Triton (mythology)|the god's son]]; Pluto's planetary-mass moon Charon is named after the [[Charon|ferryman of the dead]], who carries the souls of the newly deceased to the underworld (Pluto's domain).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Planets |title=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |website=IAU |access-date=27 June 2022 |archive-date=21 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821014052/http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Planets |url-status=live }}</ref>