It was discovered on 23 February 1999, by Canadian astronomer Denis Bergeron at the Val-des-Bois Observatory in Quebec, Canada.
The asteroid was named for the three Canadian astronomers Christian Marois, René Doyon and David Lafrenière.
They had developed instruments and techniques that allowed them to be the first to directly photograph an extrasolar planetary system, namely the first three planets orbiting the star HR 8799 in the constellation Pegasus.
At the time of naming this asteroid, René Doyon was the director of the Canadian Mont Mégantic Observatory, while Christian Marois and David Lafrenière were postdocs at the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics and the University of Toronto.
The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 9 April 2009 (M.P.C.