[7] Cagney has been characterized as a carbonaceous C-type asteroid by PanSTARRS' photometric survey.
[3][6] A rotational lightcurve of Cagney was obtained by Slovak astronomer Adrián Galád at Modra Observatory in February 2008.
Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 4.171 hours with a brightness variation of 0.20 magnitude (U=3).
[3] This minor planet was named in memory of American actor and dancer James Cagney (1899–1986), remembered best for playing multifaceted tough guys in movies such as The Public Enemy (1931) and Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).
In 1942, Cagney won the Oscar for his energetic portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy.