The Names of the Planets (and their moons) Explained
This post was inspired by a conversation I had with my partner. We were chatting about the mythological beings that the planets and their moons are named after. I mentioned that I thought it was funny that NASA sent a probe called Juno to Jupiter. NASA sent the wife to check on the husband, and I think that is hilarious,
Mercury and Venus have no moons (that we know of). Mercury is named after the Roman god of communication, travel, and trickery, and the Roman counterpart to Hermes. Which means he's also the swift-footed messenger of the gods. It makes sense then that the planet with the fastest orbit around the sun is named after Mercury.
Venus is the Roman goddess of beauty, love, sex, and fertility, and her Greek counterpart is Aphrodite. Venus is the only planet to be named after a female deity. Thanks to the NASA website, I also learned that most of the features on Venus are also named after women.
Earth is an interesting one. Instead of being named after a Roman deity, the name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for “ground.” The name “Moon” comes from Old English 'mona'. The Romans called it Luna, which is why a lot of words relating to the moon are 'lunar' based. Earth, while it has just the one official moon, also has a whole host of smaller satellites orbiting it that don’t quite qualify as moons.
Mars is the Roman god of war, a fitting name for the red planet. Mars’ moons are called Phobos and Deimos, which mean “fear” and “dread” in Greek. Why Greek, you may ask? Mars is the Roman equivalent of Ares, the Greek god of war, and his attendants were, you guessed it, Phobos and Deimos.
Jupiter, named after the Roman god of the sky and thunder, has a lot of moons - a lot. It makes sense that the biggest planet in the solar system would be named after Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of Zeus. Am I going to list all 97 moons? No. We’ll focus on a handful, known as the Galilean moons. As with Phobos and Deimos, these moons are named after figures in Greek mythology. Io was one of Zeus’ lovers; Europa was abducted by Zeus (delightful…); Callisto’s story varies, but yes, Zeus was involved; and Ganymede? A beautiful prince who was, you guessed it, abducted by Zeus. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Now do you see why I thought it was hilarious that NASA sent Juno to check on Jupiter?
When it comes to moons, Saturn got a bit greedy. Who in their right mind needs 274 moons? Oh… the god of wealth and abundance. Fair enough, Saturn, you can have that one. Saturn’s Greek counterpart isn’t an Olympian god but the Titan, Cronos. That and that probably explains why one of Saturn’s moons is called Titan. The larger moons are named after other Titans, including Rhea (wife of Cronos), Enceladus, Prometheus, Phoebe (grandmother of Apollo), Hyperion (brother of Cronos), and Tethys. The smaller moons are split into three groups: the Inuit, Norse, and Gallic moons. The moons in each group have names that are from the mythologies and cultures they are named after.
Uranus. Finally, a planet named after a Greek deity! Uranus was a primordial god rather than an Olympian; he’s the personification of the sky. The name suits the planet well, given its colour. But Uranus’ moons don’t follow the same mythological pattern. Instead, they’re named after characters from English literature, particularly Shakespeare. They include two of my favourite characters, Oberon and Titania, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Back to Rome for Neptune, the god of the sea. His Greek counterpart is Poseidon, and once again, the name is fitting for the planet’s striking blue colour. Neptune has a modest 16 moons, and once again, many are named after figures from Greek mythology. There’s Triton, who is Poseidon’s son, Thalassa, the primordial goddess of the sea, and Hippocamp, a mythical creature said to be half-horse, half-fish. And so on.
And finally, Pluto. Yes, I know, Pluto isn’t technically a planet anymore, but maybe this will make you feel a bit better about that. Pluto didn’t get “demoted.” Instead, an entire new classification was created and named after it, dwarf planets. This whole class is called “plutoids.” Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld. This planet was named by 11-year-old Venetia Burney, and you can read that story at https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/facts/
His Greek counterpart is Hades, and again, the moons follow Greek naming patterns. Charon, the largest, is named after the ferryman who carries souls to the underworld. The others are Nix, Hydra, Kerberos, and Styx, all of which are appropriate names, given Pluto's domain.
Signa's thoughts
I really enjoyed researching this one. I'd love to do another post exploring the stories behind Saturn's Inuit, Norse, and Gallic moons, so keep an eye out for that coming in the future.
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