Stellar designations and names

Only a tiny minority of known stars have proper names; all others have only designations from various catalogues or lists, or no identifier at all.

A smaller number of names have been introduced since the Middle Ages, and a few in modern times as nicknames have come into popular use, for example Sualocin for α Delphini and Navi for γ Cassiopeiae.

To the IAU, name refers to the (usually colloquial) term used for a star in everyday speech, while "designation is solely alphanumerical" and used almost exclusively in official catalogues and for professional astronomy.

and for a small number of slightly less bright but "interesting" stars (Algol, Polaris, Mira, etc.).

The first such case (discounting characters from mythology) was Cor Caroli (α CVn), named in the 17th century for Charles I of England.

The International Astronomical Union has held two NameExoWorlds contests to give proper names to exoplanets and their host stars, in 2014/5 and 2019.

[10][11] As a result, several stars were named after people, including Cervantes for Mu Arae, Copernicus for 55 Cancri A,[6][12] and Rosalíadecastro (HD 149143) after the writer Rosalía de Castro.

[15] However, there are a number of non-scientific "star-naming" companies that offer to assign personalized nicknames to stars within their own private catalogs.

Names by commercial entities are not recognized by the astronomical community, or by competing star-naming companies.

[17] The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs has issued violation notices against companies which claimed to sell stars or the naming rights to them.