It bore the traditional name Alderamin, a contraction of the Arabic phrase الذراع اليمين al-dhirā‘ al-yamīn, meaning "the right arm".

Since Alpha Cephei has an apparent magnitude of about 2.5, the star is the brightest in the constellation and is easily observable to the naked eye, even in light-polluted cities.

[16] Alderamin is a white class A star, evolving off the main sequence into a subgiant, probably on its way to becoming a red giant as its hydrogen supply runs low.

Alpha Cephei is also known to emit an amount of X radiation similar to the Sun, which along with other indicators suggests the existence of considerable magnetic activity—something unexpected (though not at all unusual) for a fast rotator.

[22] Consequently, the Chinese name for Alpha Cephei itself is 天鈎五 (Tiān Gōu wu, English: the Fifth Star of the Celestial Hook.).