Name our moon

[Podzak]

Why doesn't our poor moon have a name?
The moons of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter etc do, but not ours.
It is only known by it's description "moon", moon is not a name but a description of a satellite of a planet, any planet.
I will start the ball "or moon" rolling by modestly, suggesting it be called Podzak.

[Wolverine]

Luna works for me.

[Gillianren]

I'm good with Luna; I thought, like Sol, that it was the formal name.

[GDwarf]

3 votes for Luna.

[antoniseb]

Traditionally it's been called "Luna", which I also like and use. You were perhaps thinking "orbed Diana, ruler of the night".

[R.A.F.]

Why doesn't our poor moon have a name?

Actually, the name of our nearest neighbor is the Moon.

The confusion arose when we started observing the satellites of the other planets in our Solar System. Since they orbited these planets they came to be known as moons of these planets. They should "properly" be called satellites of these planets.

The name of Earth's satellite is the Moon.

added...gee, I hope this doesn't turn into one of those (.9999~ = 1) type of threads.

[montebianco]

added...gee, I hope this doesn't turn into one of those (.9999~ = 1) type of threads.

We'll see. In my opinion, there's a great deal more room for reasonable people to disagree on the moon/luna issue than that one...

[Van Rijn]

Originally Posted by R.A.F.
added...gee, I hope this doesn't turn into one of those (.9999~ = 1) type of threads.

We'll see. In my opinion, there's a great deal more room for reasonable people to disagree on the moon/luna issue than that one...

Oooh! An argument about Selene's name. I mean Artemis. I mean Luna. Well, you know what I mean ...

Anyway, who said we were reasonable?

[Josh]

I think Luna(r) means Moon in Latin ... doesn't it??

Moon comes from the word "month". Luna is the personification of the moon in Roman mythology. Someone google that. thanks.

I think, however, we should call it Nigel.

[Van Rijn]

Well, Luna is the Roman moon goddess. Selene is her Greek equivalent. Artemis is also Greek and (among other things) a goddess of the moon. And they generally referred to the moon with those names. There are many other names coming from other mythologies and cultures.

[Josh]

I think Nigel is from Norse Mythology ... they're known for strong names: Thor, Loki, Odin and Nigel

[Bluenose]

Luna works for me.

Ditto

[the_shaggy_one]

I think Luna(r) means Moon in Latin ... doesn't it??

Moon comes from the word "month". Luna is the personification of the moon in Roman mythology. Someone google that. thanks.

I think, however, we should call it Nigel.

Technically, you should say that the words moon and month come from the same root, as they used to be the same word. Only since our concept of a month as being different from the time from new moon to the next new moon has there been a need for a distinction, and a divergence of the two words.

However, in english Moon is the correct name for our largest natural satelite. We call other large natural satelites "moons" for the same reason that we call all facial tissues "kleenexes".

That said, I'm going to keep calling it the Moon.

[mickal555]

Actually, the name of our nearest neighbor is the Moon.

The confusion arose when we started observing the satellites of the other planets in our Solar System. Since they orbited these planets they came to be known as moons of these planets. They should "properly" be called satellites of these planets.

The name of Earth's satellite is the Moon.

But why is it called the moon- we don't call Io: the Io


*Luna is fine

[Jens]

I'd suggest we call it "Jens". I think it's got a nice ring to it.

But seriously, it's actually a funny question, because I assume the actual should have been, "why don't we have a name for the Moon *in English*"? I don't know about so many other languages, but in Japanese, the word for the moon is "otsukisama" (-sama is an honorific suffix), whereas the moons of other planets are called "eisei" (a scientific term meaning "satellite"). So I would suspect that there are lots of languages around the world where there is a more-or-less proper name.

One interesting aspect of the question is, why do the satellites of other planets have the same names around the world, whereas the Moon doesn't? But in fact, the same thing applies for the Sun and the major planets, which had names in antiquity.

So is the question:
(1) Why doesn't the Moon have a proper name in English?

-or-

(2) Why isn't there an internationally recognized term for the Moon.

If the question is no. 2, I think you're going to have an uphill battle convincing Chinese, Indians, Malays, Africans, etc., etc., to recognize a Latin word as the universal term. For Io or Europa, people don't care, because it's generally only astronomers who even use the terms. But if you're going to ask people around the world to start using the European term for the moon or the sun, expect some resistance.

Incidentally, as a question, does the IAU have internationally standardized names for the Earth, Sun and Moon?

[Reina]

In spanish the moon is called Luna (in Italian, Luna; Portuguese, Lua).

And to answer Mickal's question, i guess its called The Moon for the same reason, The Bronx is called that, it just makes sense lol

[grant hutchison]

Incidentally, as a question, does the IAU have internationally standardized names for the Earth, Sun and Moon?

The names "Earth" and "Moon" appear in their official list here.

The difference between "the Moon" and other planetary satellites is that it it has been clearly visible since prehistory, so it already has a name in every language in the world - thousands of names. So you're going to struggle to introduce a new, universally accepted name.

And I guess it's called the Moon because it's a single big physical feature of the world: like the ground, the sun, the sea and the sky. For most of human history there was only one of each of these.

Grant Hutchison

[jami cat]

I will call it...noob

[paulie jay]

We could always call it "Bert"

(gratuitous Australian in-joke)

[aiabx]

I vote "The Moon" because of its arrogant, terracentric assumptions. Martians and Jovians just have moons, but we have The Moon.
-Andy B

[hhEb09'1]

And to answer Mickal's question, i guess its called The Moon for the same reason, The Bronx is called that, it just makes sense lol

Similarly, we have The Donald. And there's Madonna, but then The Madonna. Rocky mountains, and The Rocky Mountains. So, we have moons, and then The Moon.

[FordianVillage]

Maybe I missed it if it was mentioned, but what is the International Astronomical Union's official name for dear Luna? Aren't they the official keepers of names for astronomical objects?

[Mr Gorsky]

Having recently watched Titan AE with the kids (again!), I think we should call it ... Bob.

[Joff]

for FordianVillage...

... official list here.

which is shockingly short on asteroids , not even managing Ceres, while going to tedious lengths on Jovian and Saturnian satellites.


... edit to vote for Selene as the name of Terra's satellite.

[StarLab]

hey guys, call it whatever you want. It's formal name is Moon. The end.

[R.A.F.]

It's a pet peeve of mine that even scientists call the satellites that orbit other planets "moons". It's immeadiatly appearent why we don't call the other planets in our Solar System "earths", yet it's exactly the same as calling IO a "moon" of Jupiter.

[Sticks]

How about "On Monday"

So when people ask what do we call it, you can say "We call it On Monday"

[01101001]

IAU/USGS Astrogeology: Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers

Earth The name Earth comes from the Indo-European base 'er,'which produced the Germanic noun 'ertho,' and ultimately German 'erde,' Dutch 'aarde,' Scandinavian 'jord,' and English 'earth.' Related forms include Greek 'eraze,' meaning 'on the ground,' and Welsh 'erw,' meaning 'a piece of land.'

Moon Every civilization has had a name for the satellite of Earth that is known, in English, as the Moon. The Moon is known as Luna in Italian, Latin, and Spanish, as Lune in French, as Mond in German, and as Selene in Greek.

[grant hutchison]

It's a pet peeve of mine that even scientists call the satellites that orbit other planets "moons".

I think they're nervous of "satellites" because that's become the common usage to refer to what used to be called artificial satellites.

Grant Hutchison

[Gillianren]

And to answer Mickal's question, i guess its called The Moon for the same reason, The Bronx is called that, it just makes sense lol

actually, The Bronx is a corruption of The Broncks', because it used to be a farm owned by a family called Bronck. (my spelling may be off on "Bronck," and I'm feeling too lazy to double check.)