Zubenelgenubi /ˌzuːbənɛldʒəˈnuːbi/, also rendered Zuben Elgenubi, derives from the Arabic ّالزُبَانَى الجَنُوبِي al-zubānā al-janūbiyy "the southern claw", which was coined before Libra was recognized as a constellation distinct from Scorpius.

[20] Consequently, the Chinese name for α2 Librae itself is 氐宿一 (Dī Xiù yī), "the First Star of Root".

The two brightest components of Alpha Librae form a double star moving together through space as common proper motion companions.

They are probably members of the Castor Moving Group of stars that have a similar motion through space and share a common origin some 200 million years ago.

It too is a spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 5,870 days and an angular separation of 0.383 arcseconds; equal to about 10 AU.

KU Lib shares a similar motion through space to the Alpha Librae system, but is separated from the other stars by about a parsec.