# Naming worlds and the like



## Cheshyr (Jan 10, 2012)

I'm pretty new to fantasy writing, having only just decided to really actively pursue it, so sorry if this is a stupid question...

How do authors generally go about naming planets? The story I am working on involves a world with seven moons, and requires names for both the world and the moons. I did some research on the names of planets and moons in the Milky Way (so pretty much all the Greek ad Roman names), so should I just look up other Greek and Roman names? I'm sure there's not a simple or singular answer to this, but I'm a bit lost as to where to begin. Any advice on places to start would be super appreciated!


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## Johnny Cosmo (Jan 10, 2012)

You might be interested in this thread. Perhaps the names of the moons could be derived from the deities and mythic figures of your own world (if there are any).

*Edit:* Check out the 5th post in particular.


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## OrionDarkwood (Jan 17, 2012)

Cheshyr said:


> I'm pretty new to fantasy writing, having only just decided to really actively pursue it, so sorry if this is a stupid question...
> 
> How do authors generally go about naming planets? The story I am working on involves a world with seven moons, and requires names for both the world and the moons. I did some research on the names of planets and moons in the Milky Way (so pretty much all the Greek ad Roman names), so should I just look up other Greek and Roman names? I'm sure there's not a simple or singular answer to this, but I'm a bit lost as to where to begin. Any advice on places to start would be super appreciated!



How does the race(s) on the planet feel about the moons if they are heavenly bodies full of mytersty then I would go with deity or exotic names like Grey Watcher, Bookai the cracked Moon. Otherwise they probably have mundane names (we have no special name for our moon)


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## sashamerideth (Jan 17, 2012)

If there is a strong cultural, religious or magical connection to the moons then they would probably have significant names. 

If they differ in size or color then you can have the small moon, the vermilion moon, or "Hopeth, the Lesser Watcher" as a name. I think with superstitious people they would name the moons with whatever properties they ascribe to the moon's influence, whether it is real or imaginary. This does go in both directions, see origins of the word "lunatic". 

Edit, had lycanthrope in there as well, but word origin has nothing to do with the moon. 

Sent from my Blade using Forum Runner


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## Xanados (Jan 17, 2012)

I would have to agree with Sasha's post. I think if they are in some way significant to the race/culture that you are building then you'd definitely benefit from having individually powerful names. Perhaps you could create names for seasons, festivals based on the rotations of these planets, and lore for how they were forged? These planets could be thought of as deities themselves. There are countless possibilities.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jan 17, 2012)

OrionDarkwood said:


> How does the race(s) on the planet feel about the moons if they are heavenly bodies full of mytersty then I would go with deity or exotic names like Grey Watcher, Bookai the cracked Moon. Otherwise they probably have mundane names (we have no special name for our moon)



Technically, we do: "Luna." We just don't normally call it that because 99.999% of the time, there's only one moon that anyone on earth cares about.

I do like "Bookai the Cracked Moon" though. Gives it something of a personality.


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## myrddin173 (Jan 17, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> Technically, we do: "Luna." We just don't normally call it that because 99.999% of the time, there's only one moon that anyone on earth cares about.



Not to be nit-picky but actually the name of the moon is "The Moon."  Of course I do prefer Luna and Sol as names for the moon and sun.

I also like "Bookai the Cracked Moon."  But I would come up with some sort of rough mythology to name them from.


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## Benjamin Clayborne (Jan 17, 2012)

myrddin173 said:


> Not to be nit-picky but actually the name of the moon is "The Moon."



True, somehow I didn't know that. Thxinfo. Although I suspect that if humans were to ever start coming in contact with any other moon on a regular basis (e.g. colonizing one, or another planet with one), The Moon would start getting referred to as Luna on a regular basis.


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## Anders Ã„mting (Jan 18, 2012)

Giving fantasy worlds fancy names is probably one of those artistic liberties that just comes with the genre. Realistically, people usually have simple names for the huge and obvious stuff, because names are for things that need to be distinguished whereas there's only one Earth and one Moon. Even the names of nations tend to translate into  "The Kingdom of This People" or "The Land of Those People" when you get right down to it. It's just that "the world" is a bit indistinct and calling it "Earth" when it clearly isn't our Earth can get confusing or disturb the mood.

I think the best way is to build it into the mythology of the world. The name of the planet is actually the name of the earth-god, for example, or the monster the creator gods slew, building the world from its corpse, etc. Or it's "earth" in that old language that was spoken by the Ancient Ones in the Old Age, or whatever.


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## OrionDarkwood (Jan 18, 2012)

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> Technically, we do: "Luna." We just don't normally call it that because 99.999% of the time, there's only one moon that anyone on earth cares about.
> 
> I do like "Bookai the Cracked Moon" though. Gives it something of a personality.



Thanks, just something I pulled out of the air.


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## OrionDarkwood (Jan 19, 2012)

myrddin173 said:


> Not to be nit-picky but actually the name of the moon is "The Moon."  Of course I do prefer Luna and Sol as names for the moon and sun.
> 
> I also like "Bookai the Cracked Moon."  But I would come up with some sort of rough mythology to name them from.



Hmm maybe its the cracked moon because one of the gods got ticked off because it interfered with their watching of the planet and try to punch it out of orbit. Or maybe the natives tried to mine it for treasure and its cracked because of thier folly


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