You’ve probably seen those websites. The ones that promise to name a star after your grandmother or a newborn baby for a "small processing fee" and a glossy certificate. It’s a sweet gesture. Honestly, it’s a great gift if you just want something for the mantelpiece. But if you think that name is going into a real astronomy textbook or being used by a researcher at NASA, I’ve got some bad news.
Space is big. Like, really big.
There are hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way alone, but the official list of named stars is surprisingly exclusive. We aren't talking about millions of names. We aren't even talking about hundreds of thousands. As of 2026, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially recognizes only a few hundred proper names for stars. The rest? They’re just coordinates and strings of numbers in a database.
Who Actually Gets to Name the Stars?
The IAU is the only authority that matters here. They’ve been around since 1919, and they’re pretty picky about what sticks. For a long time, star naming was a bit of a mess. You had different cultures calling the same star three different things, and astronomers were getting headaches trying to figure out if everyone was looking at the same dot in the sky.
In 2016, the IAU decided to clean house. They formed the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN). Their job was to go through history, look at Arabic, Greek, and Latin traditions, and decide on a "standard" name for the brightest and most famous stars.
The result is the official list of named stars, which mostly focuses on individual stars rather than entire systems. If you look at Alpha Centauri, for example, the IAU specifically approved the name Rigil Kentaurus for the primary star. It’s about precision.
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Why Most Stars Just Have Numbers
Most stars are faint. Really faint. To see them, you need high-powered telescopes like James Webb or Gaia. Giving a unique, poetic name to every single one of the octillion stars in the universe is basically impossible.
Instead, astronomers use catalogs. You’ve probably heard of the Henry Draper (HD) catalog or the Bright Star Catalogue (HR). In these lists, a star isn’t called "Starlight Princess." It’s called HD 140283. It’s not romantic, but it’s functional. It tells a scientist exactly where to point the lens.
The Cultural Legacy Behind the List of Named Stars
Most of the names we use today come from a mix of ancient cultures. It’s a linguistic jigsaw puzzle. If you look at the list of named stars, you’ll notice a heavy Arabic influence. This is because, during the Middle Ages, while Europe was in the dark, Islamic astronomers were busy mapping the heavens and translating Greek texts.
- Betelgeuse: This one comes from "Yad al-Jauza," which basically means the "Hand of the Giant" (Orion).
- Vega: Derived from an Arabic phrase meaning "the falling eagle."
- Sirius: This one is Greek, meaning "glowing" or "scorching." It’s the brightest star in our night sky, so the name fits.
Some names are much newer. In 2019, the IAU ran a "NameExoWorlds" campaign. They let different countries name a star and its orbiting planet. For instance, the star formerly known as HD 136418 was officially named "Nikawiy" by Canada, which is a Cree word for "mother." This was a huge shift from the traditional Latin and Arabic roots, showing that the list of named stars is a living document, even if it grows slowly.
Common Misconceptions About Star Registries
Let’s talk about the "International Star Registry" and its competitors. You pay $50, you get a star. Is it a scam? Well, it’s not illegal, but it’s not "official." These companies maintain their own private books. It’s like me writing your name on a rock in my backyard and charging you for it.
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If you want to find your named star in a professional observatory’s database, you won’t find it.
The IAU has actually released statements about this. They don't recognize these commercial names. To them, the only valid list of named stars is the one they’ve vetted through historical and cultural consensus. If you want to name a star for real, your best bet is to discover a comet or a supernova, but even then, the naming rules for those are incredibly strict and usually involve the discoverer’s surname or a date-based code.
The Weird Case of the "Navi" Stars
During the Apollo missions, some stars were given "unofficial" names by astronauts for navigation purposes. Stars like Navi, Dnoces, and Regor. If you read them backward, they’re Ivan, Second, and Roger—tributes to the Apollo 1 crew (Gus Grissom’s middle name was Ivan). For a while, these names appeared in amateur star charts. However, the IAU didn't officially recognize them until recently for some, or not at all for others, because they didn't fit the historical criteria.
How to Access the Real List
If you’re a nerd for data, you can actually download the official WGSN spreadsheet. It’s a fascinating read. You’ll see the star's "designation" (like Alpha Canis Majoris) right next to its "Approved Name" (Sirius).
There are currently about 450 names on the list.
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That’s it. Out of billions.
Making Sense of Modern Star Cataloging
Technology has changed everything. We’re no longer just looking at points of light; we’re analyzing the chemical composition of stars thousands of light-years away. This is why the list of named stars has slowed down in its growth. Astronomers care more about the "metallicity" or the "effective temperature" of a star than what we call it.
Take the "Tabby’s Star" (KIC 8462852). It’s famous for its weird flickering. People call it Tabby’s Star after astronomer Tabetha Boyajian, but that’s an informal name. In the official list of named stars, it doesn’t have a proper name. It’s just a KIC number.
This creates a weird divide. There’s the "Pop Culture" list of stars and the "Scientific" list. Sometimes they overlap, like with Polaris or Antares. Most of the time, they don't.
Practical Steps for Aspiring Stargazers
If you really want to engage with the stars and not just buy a piece of paper, here is what you should actually do:
- Get a Star Map App: Use something like Stellarium or SkySafari. These apps allow you to toggle between "Common Names" and "Scientific Designations." You can see the official IAU names in real-time.
- Visit the IAU Website: Check the official WGSN database. It’s the only place where you can see the definitive list of named stars that world governments and scientists actually use.
- Learn the Constellations First: Names are easier to remember when you know the neighborhood. Learn where the "Big Dipper" (Ursa Major) is, and then find Dubhe and Merak. Those are real, official names.
- Support Real Science: Instead of spending money on a "star name," consider donating to an organization like the International Dark-Sky Association. They work to reduce light pollution so we can actually see the stars we’ve already named.
The night sky is a shared heritage. It belongs to everyone and no one at the same time. While it’s fun to imagine our names written in the heavens, the real list of named stars tells a much deeper story—one of ancient sailors, desert scholars, and the modern quest to map the infinite.
To find the most current version of the IAU's list, search for the "IAU Catalog of Star Names." It is regularly updated as the Working Group vets more historical entries from non-Western traditions, ensuring the map of the sky reflects all of humanity, not just a portion of it. Use this data to calibrate your own telescopes or simply to appreciate the history behind the light reaching your eyes tonight.