Planet Name Generator

Names for alien worlds, catalogued exoplanets, human colonies and moons.

Kind of name

Name format

Press Generate Names for 8 planet names.

Tap a name to copy it, or the bookmark to keep it.

black shadow = tap it

By Rich · Updated 22 October 2026

Example Planet Names

A few names this generator came up with. Tap one to copy it, or press "Generate Names" above for more.

Any · Name only

Verdigrisglass
Haddad's Promise
Frostdeep
NVS-4096 b

Any · With what kind of world

MRS-3141 g, an ocean world
Molothys, a tundra world
Little Providence, a cloud world
Delacroix's Rest, a rogue planet

Alien-sounding · With what kind of world

Pelathos, a garden world
Harileth VII, a glass desert
Vemar, a gas giant
Lutatheon Major, a storm world

Survey catalogue · With a numeral

TGS-311 e
WRS-2240 f
CRS-5150 c
KSV-2001 d

Human colony · With a numeral

Port Meridian V
New Dundee X
Fort Bristol III
Second Prospect IV

Descriptive · Name only

Dustrest
Thornmark
Silencehold
Saltspire

How the Planet Name Generator Works

It works from 800 names and name parts, which combine into over 270,000 possible results.

The choices:

Kind of name: Any, Alien-sounding, Survey catalogue, Human colony, Descriptive.
Name format:
- Name only, e.g. TGS-9001 g
- With a numeral, e.g. Fort Concord III
- With what kind of world, e.g. Dralan Major, a ringed giant

Each press gives you 8 names. "Show 8 more" adds 8 you haven't seen yet, until the names for the choices you've made run out.

Real planets get catalogue numbers; the ones in stories get names. This planet name generator makes both: alien-sounding worlds, survey catalogue designations, human colonies named after home, and descriptive names like Glasswater, with a numeral or the kind of world if you want one.

How real planets are named

Real planets outside our solar system are named after their star, with a lower-case letter in order of discovery.

The first exoplanet found around a Sun-like star was 51 Pegasi b, in 1995: the first planet of the star 51 Pegasi. The star itself is "a".
Survey numbers: planets found by telescopes like Kepler take the survey's name, as in Kepler-452b.
Public names: the International Astronomical Union's NameExoWorlds contests let the public name some, so 51 Pegasi b is also called Dimidium.
Our own planets are named after Roman gods, apart from Uranus, who's Greek.

Naming a planet for a story

Alien names are coined to sound like nowhere on Earth: Xasephis, Karevos.
Catalogue numbers (KTS-4417 b) sound like a world nobody has named yet.
Colonies are named by the people who settled them, after home, a founder or a hope: New Meridian, Okafor's Landing, Last Concord.
Descriptive names are what the first crew called it: Glasswater, Stormhold.
Add a numeral (Velithra IV) for a planet's place around its star, or a world type, like "an ocean world".

For the people who live there, try the Alien and Futuristic name generators, and for the ship that gets them there, the Spaceship Name Generator.

For the rest of the future, see all the sci-fi name generators.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are real exoplanets named?

After their star plus a lower-case letter, from b upwards in order of discovery, like 51 Pegasi b. Some also get public names through the IAU's NameExoWorlds contests.

What's a good name for an alien planet?

A coined name that sounds like nowhere on Earth, like Xasephis, with a numeral for its place around its star: Velithra IV.

Why are the planets in our solar system named after gods?

Because the Romans named the ones they could see after their gods. The later ones followed the pattern: Uranus (Greek) and Neptune (Roman).