[1] It is named after Xanthippe, the wife of the Greek philosopher Socrates.
[4] Xanthippe is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.
[5] Photometric observations of this asteroid at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile during 1981 gave a light curve with a period of 22.5 hours.
[18] Based upon its spectrum this is classified as a hydrated C-type asteroid (Ch-subtype) in the SMASS classification, indicating that it likely has a carbonaceous composition.
[5][6] According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Xanthippe measures between 110.409 and 143.35 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.030 and 0.0687.