I made this list for names of hypothetical habitable planets around stars in the neighborhood of the Solar System. Some are already in-game, some can be modded in, others have to be manually added. I also list the reason, which I try to tie to real scientists or mythology mainly. I do not claim that it is the most accurate possible, but it can be a source of ideas for people.
If you have believable names to propose, please share!
Alpha Centauri:
Chiron ---> it was the wisest of the centaurs who mentored Hercules, it is also a reference to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Toliman ---> alternative name for the star
Proxima Centauri:
Tuomi ---> from Mikko Tuomi, who in 2013 discovered the first planet in a habitable zone around Proxima Centauri, likely tidally locked
Sirius:
Caniculus ---> from the latin "small dog", as Sirius is the main star of Canis Maior ("big dog") which the Romans called Canicola, and a planet would be a little one.
Sopdet ---> ancient Egyptian name for the star, who was the goddess of fertility
Sothis ---> ancient Greek name for the goddess Sopdet
Hesiod ---> ancient Greek poet whose works feature the first attested use of the name Sirios
Auwers ---> from Arthur Auwers who studied the system and inferred the existance of Sirius B.
Procyon:
al-Ghumaisa, Algomeysa, Elgomaisa ---> Arabic names for the star. Note however that today Gomeisa is another name for Beta Canis Minoris aka Mirzam.
Caniculus ---> in ancient Greek "prokyon" means "before the dog", and the star is the brightest of Canis Minor, so a "little dog" would be even better here.
Antecanis ---> Latin for "before the dog", which is also an alternative name for the star
Auwers ---> from Arthur Auwers who studied the system and inferred the existance of Procyon B.
Schaeberle ---> from John Martin Schaeberle who studied the system and confirmed the existance of Procyon B.
Tau Ceti:
Durre Menthor ---> alternative name for the star
Tuomi ---> from Mikko Tuomi, who led the team which detected five planets around the star in 2012
Altair:
Aquila ---> Latin for Eagle, the meaning of the Arabic name of the star, and the name of the constellation of which it is part of
al-Nisr, al-Nesr ---> from the Arabic phrase "al-Nisr al-Ta'ir" meaning "the flying eagle"
Zhinu: weaver girl in a Chinese folk tale, who was in love with Niulang, the two were associated with Vega and Altair respectively
Vega:
al-Waqi: Arabic for "the falling one", from which the etymology of Vega comes
Niulang: cowherd in a Chinese folk tale, who was in love with Zhinu, the two were associated with Altair and Vega respectively
Epsilon Eridani:
Ran ---> alternative name for the star, from the Norse goddess Rán
Vandekamp, van de Kamp ---> from Peter van de Kamp, who studied the system and collected the first data suggesting the presence of a large planet (later revealed to be the gas giant AEgir)
Hatzes ---> from Artie Hatzes who discovered AEgir and we could imagine discovered the habitable planet in your Stellaris canon
Eridania, Eridanus ---> from the constellation Eridanus
Delta Eridani:
Rana ---> alternative name for the star
Frog ---> translation of Rana from Latin
40 Eridani:
Keid, al-Qayd ---> alternative name for the star
Williamina, Fleming ---> from Williamina Fleming who first discovered its dwarf companion
Omicron Eridani aka 38 Eridani:
Beid, Bayd ---> alternative names for the star
Vulcan ---> from the Star Trek planet which is located in this system
61 Cygni:
Piazzi ---> from Giuseppe Piazzi who discovered the proper motion of the star, which is also known as "Piazzi's Flying Star"
Delta Pavonis:
Turnbull, Tarter ---> from Margaret Turnbull and Jill Tarter of SETI who proposed the star to be the best candidate to harbor life among nearby stars, and advocated for the Terrestrial Planet Finder project (later cancelled)
Epsilon Indi:
d'Arrest ---> from Heinrich Louis d’Arrest, who studied the star and discovered its high proper motion
Gill, Elkan ---> from David Gill and William Elkin who studied the star and measured its parallax
Others, particularly with non real life stars:
Thalassean, Thalasseus, Thalassos ---> from the Greek word for sea "thalassa/thalatta", which would make a perfect name for an ocean world imho
If you have believable names to propose, please share!
Alpha Centauri:
Chiron ---> it was the wisest of the centaurs who mentored Hercules, it is also a reference to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Toliman ---> alternative name for the star
Proxima Centauri:
Tuomi ---> from Mikko Tuomi, who in 2013 discovered the first planet in a habitable zone around Proxima Centauri, likely tidally locked
Sirius:
Caniculus ---> from the latin "small dog", as Sirius is the main star of Canis Maior ("big dog") which the Romans called Canicola, and a planet would be a little one.
Sopdet ---> ancient Egyptian name for the star, who was the goddess of fertility
Sothis ---> ancient Greek name for the goddess Sopdet
Hesiod ---> ancient Greek poet whose works feature the first attested use of the name Sirios
Auwers ---> from Arthur Auwers who studied the system and inferred the existance of Sirius B.
Procyon:
al-Ghumaisa, Algomeysa, Elgomaisa ---> Arabic names for the star. Note however that today Gomeisa is another name for Beta Canis Minoris aka Mirzam.
Caniculus ---> in ancient Greek "prokyon" means "before the dog", and the star is the brightest of Canis Minor, so a "little dog" would be even better here.
Antecanis ---> Latin for "before the dog", which is also an alternative name for the star
Auwers ---> from Arthur Auwers who studied the system and inferred the existance of Procyon B.
Schaeberle ---> from John Martin Schaeberle who studied the system and confirmed the existance of Procyon B.
Tau Ceti:
Durre Menthor ---> alternative name for the star
Tuomi ---> from Mikko Tuomi, who led the team which detected five planets around the star in 2012
Altair:
Aquila ---> Latin for Eagle, the meaning of the Arabic name of the star, and the name of the constellation of which it is part of
al-Nisr, al-Nesr ---> from the Arabic phrase "al-Nisr al-Ta'ir" meaning "the flying eagle"
Zhinu: weaver girl in a Chinese folk tale, who was in love with Niulang, the two were associated with Vega and Altair respectively
Vega:
al-Waqi: Arabic for "the falling one", from which the etymology of Vega comes
Niulang: cowherd in a Chinese folk tale, who was in love with Zhinu, the two were associated with Altair and Vega respectively
Epsilon Eridani:
Ran ---> alternative name for the star, from the Norse goddess Rán
Vandekamp, van de Kamp ---> from Peter van de Kamp, who studied the system and collected the first data suggesting the presence of a large planet (later revealed to be the gas giant AEgir)
Hatzes ---> from Artie Hatzes who discovered AEgir and we could imagine discovered the habitable planet in your Stellaris canon
Eridania, Eridanus ---> from the constellation Eridanus
Delta Eridani:
Rana ---> alternative name for the star
Frog ---> translation of Rana from Latin
40 Eridani:
Keid, al-Qayd ---> alternative name for the star
Williamina, Fleming ---> from Williamina Fleming who first discovered its dwarf companion
Omicron Eridani aka 38 Eridani:
Beid, Bayd ---> alternative names for the star
Vulcan ---> from the Star Trek planet which is located in this system
61 Cygni:
Piazzi ---> from Giuseppe Piazzi who discovered the proper motion of the star, which is also known as "Piazzi's Flying Star"
Delta Pavonis:
Turnbull, Tarter ---> from Margaret Turnbull and Jill Tarter of SETI who proposed the star to be the best candidate to harbor life among nearby stars, and advocated for the Terrestrial Planet Finder project (later cancelled)
Epsilon Indi:
d'Arrest ---> from Heinrich Louis d’Arrest, who studied the star and discovered its high proper motion
Gill, Elkan ---> from David Gill and William Elkin who studied the star and measured its parallax
Others, particularly with non real life stars:
Thalassean, Thalasseus, Thalassos ---> from the Greek word for sea "thalassa/thalatta", which would make a perfect name for an ocean world imho
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