It was discovered on 24 February 1987, by Belgian astronomer Henri Debehogne at ESO's La Silla Observatory in northern Chile, and later named after American cartoonist and former NASA roboticist Randall Munroe.

[2] Munroe orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,193 days).

[4] As of 2017, Munroe's rotation period, poles and shape remain unknown.

[1][5] In 2013, it was named after Randall Munroe (born 1984), a former NASA roboticist and the author of the webcomic xkcd.

[6] The name was chosen by xkcd readers Lewis Hulbert and Jordan Zhu.