Based on parallax measurements taken during the Hipparcos mission, it is about 410 light-years (125 parsecs) distant from the Sun.

It bore the traditional name Fum al Samakah from the Arabic فم السمكة fum al-samakah "mouth of the fish" (compare Fomalhaut).

[10] In Chinese, 霹靂 (Pī Lì), meaning Thunderbolt, refers to an asterism consisting of Beta Piscium and Gamma, Theta, Iota and Omega Piscium.

Consequently, the Chinese name for Beta Piscium itself is 霹靂一 (Pī Lì yī, English: the First Star of Thunderbolt).

[5] Beta Piscium is radiating 524[8] times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 15,500 K.[3] The star has a high rate of spin, showing a projected rotational velocity of around 90 km/s.