Red. That’s the first thing you see. When you look up at the night sky and spot that tiny, unblinking ruby speck, your brain immediately registers a color that, for most of human history, meant one of two things: fire or blood. Because of that visceral connection, every ancient civilization basically sat down, looked at the horizon, and decided to name the fourth planet after something aggressive. It’s kinda fascinating how consistent we were about it.
If you’re looking for another name for Mars, you aren't just looking for a synonym. You’re looking for a map of human fear and awe. While we call it the Red Planet today—a name that's honestly more descriptive than creative—the history of its nomenclature is rooted in high-stakes mythology and surprisingly complex chemistry.
The Ancient Identity Crisis
Long before NASA’s rovers were digging up dust in Jezero Crater, the Babylonians were tracking the planet's erratic movement. They didn't call it Mars. They called it Nergal.
Nergal was a heavy-hitter in their pantheon. He was the god of death, war, and destruction. It wasn't just about the color; it was about how the planet moved. Mars has this weird habit of retrograde motion, where it looks like it’s backing up in the sky. To an ancient Babylonian priest-astronomer, that wasn't a planetary orbit. It was a divine omen of coming plague or a lost battle.
The Greeks took a similar path. They called it Ares.
Ares wasn't exactly a "good guy" in Greek myths. He was the embodiment of the bloodlust and physical chaos of war. When the Romans eventually took over the cultural landscape, they "borrowed" Ares and rebranded him as Mars. But there was a shift. To the Romans, Mars wasn't just a chaotic killer; he was a protector of the state and the father of Romulus and Remus. This is why "Mars" stuck in the West. It had the weight of an empire behind it.
But let's look elsewhere. In ancient China, the name was Huo Xing. Literally "the Fire Star." It’s a name that feels incredibly modern because it skips the gods and goes straight to the physics. The name was tied to the Five Elements (Wu Xing), linking the planet to a fundamental force of nature rather than a grumpy deity with a spear.
Why the "Red Planet" Isn't Actually Red
We use the Red Planet as another name for Mars constantly. It’s the default. But if you were to actually stand on the surface, you’d realize we’ve been slightly misled by distance.
Mars is covered in iron oxide. Rust.
The entire planet is essentially a giant, spherical piece of oxidized metal. If you look at high-resolution photos from the Perseverance or Curiosity missions, you’ll see that the "red" is actually a mix of butterscotch, gold, tan, and even greenish tints. The dust in the atmosphere scatters light in a way that makes the whole sky look pinkish-red during the day, but at sunset? The sky on Mars turns blue.
Think about that. On Earth, we have blue skies and red sunsets. On Mars, they have red skies and blue sunsets.
It's these nuances that make the simple nicknames feel a bit thin. Astronomers often use more technical designations, especially when talking about specific regions, but for the general public, "The Rust Bucket" might actually be more scientifically accurate than the Red Planet.
The Cultural Evolution of Martian Labels
By the 19th century, the way we talked about Mars changed again. We stopped looking at it as a god and started looking at it as a neighborhood.
Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, started mapping the surface in 1877. He saw straight lines and called them canali. In Italian, that just means "channels" (natural grooves). But when the word was translated into English, it became "canals."
Canals imply engineers.
Suddenly, another name for Mars in the popular imagination became "The Dying World." People like Percival Lowell became obsessed with the idea that an aging Martian civilization was building massive irrigation systems to bring water from the poles to their thirsty cities. This gave birth to the "Martian" as we know it—the little green men, the tripod-walking invaders from H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds.
We began naming the planet after our own anxieties about technology and environmental collapse.
The Names You’ve Never Heard
While "Ares" and "The Red Planet" dominate the conversation, there are dozens of regional names that reveal how different cultures interpreted that red light:
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- Mangala: In Sanskrit and Hindu astronomy, this is the name for the planet. It’s associated with the god of war, but also with strength and celibacy.
- Al-Qahira: This is the Arabic name for Mars, which translates to "The Victorious." Fun fact: the city of Cairo is actually named after this. Legend says the city was founded at a moment when Mars was rising.
- Auqakuh: The Quechua name used by the Inca.
- Harmakhis: An ancient Egyptian name meaning "Horus of the Horizon." They actually had several names for it, including "Horus the Red."
It's weirdly poetic. We’ve spent thousands of years looking at the same dot, giving it different titles, but we always come back to the same themes of power, fire, and victory.
Why Technical Names Matter Now
In the modern era, another name for Mars is often just a set of coordinates or a mission target. But if you listen to folks at SpaceX or NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, they talk about it differently. They talk about "The Next Frontier" or "The B-Plan."
This shift in naming reflects a shift in our relationship with the planet. It’s no longer a god to be feared. It’s a destination to be colonized. We are moving from mythological naming conventions to real estate naming conventions.
There's a lot of debate in the scientific community about how we name things on Mars today. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the "boss" of naming features. Large craters are named after deceased scientists or writers. Small craters? They’re named after towns on Earth with populations of less than 100,000. It’s a way of bringing our world to theirs.
So, while you might call the planet Mars, a geologist might be more interested in Eridania or Noachis Terra. These aren't just cool-sounding Latin words; they represent specific geological epochs of the planet’s history. The "Noachian" period is the era when Mars might have actually been habitable, with thick clouds and crashing waves.
The Future: What Will We Call It Next?
What happens when people actually live there?
Language is fluid. Eventually, the name "Mars" might feel as archaic as "Nergal" does to us. If humans become multi-planetary, we might start calling it "Sector 4" or simply "Home."
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The names we choose matter because they dictate how we treat the thing. If it’s a God of War, we respect it from a distance. If it’s a "Fire Star," we observe its beauty. If it’s "The Red Planet," we treat it as an object of study. But if we start calling it by names that imply ownership or residency, the whole vibe changes.
Making Use of the Names
If you're writing a paper, building a game, or just curious about the cosmos, don't just stick to one label. Each another name for Mars offers a different perspective:
- Use "Ares" if you want to lean into the aggressive, mythological, or raw power aspects of the planet.
- Stick with "The Red Planet" for general science or descriptive writing that focuses on its appearance.
- Reference "Mangala" or "Huo Xing" to provide a global, non-Western context that acknowledges the rich history of Eastern astronomy.
- Mention "The Rust Planet" if you want to be a bit of a contrarian and highlight the actual chemical makeup of the Martian regolith.
Knowing these names isn't just trivia. It’s a way of understanding how humans have tried to make sense of the universe. We name things so they aren't scary anymore. By calling that red light "Mars," we turned a terrifying celestial omen into a place where we can land a robot and take a selfie.
Next time you see that red dot, remember it’s been a god, a bringer of plague, a fire in the sky, and a potential future home. It just depends on who’s doing the naming.
Actionable Next Steps
- Check the sky tonight. Use an app like SkyView or Stellarium to locate Mars. It’s currently in a position where its "Red Planet" moniker is most obvious.
- Explore the Martian map. Visit Google Mars (yes, it's a real thing) to see the names of craters and plains like Valles Marineris or Olympus Mons.
- Read the classics. Pick up a copy of The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury to see how 20th-century literature used the name of the planet to explore human nature.
- Follow the rover. Check the latest raw images from the Perseverance rover on NASA's website to see the "butterscotch" colors for yourself and decide if the name fits.