There are several real or apparent name conflicts between different Solar System bodies, despite efforts to give every named body a distinct name. Most of these conflicts are between asteroids and natural satellites of planets, which are named according to different but partially overlapping schemes. Most satellites are named after people and divinities in Greek and Roman mythology; this is rarely true of asteroids currently, with the exception of centaurs and Jupiter trojans, but formerly many asteroids had mythological names, which consequently came into conflict with the names of natural satellites. Some Solar System bodies also share names with stars, exoplanets or constellations.
There are attempts to mitigate this among bodies in the Solar System. Asteroid 10386 Romulus was named in April 2002, and the moon (87) Sylvia I Romulus in August 2005. However, when the name "Nyx" was proposed for Pluto II in 2006, it was rejected because it conflicted with asteroid 3908 Nyx, and thus was resubmitted with the spelling "Nix".
Bodies with identical names and referents Some of these bodies have exactly the same name, referring to the same mythological character. The earliest such conflicts possibly arose through not considering certain mythological names as "official"; for instance, the names Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto for the Galilean satellites of Jupiter were not used in astronomical literature of a certain era, their place being taken by Jupiter I, Jupiter II, Jupiter III, Jupiter IV (cf. Naming of moons).
Moon named first In the earliest of these conflicts, the natural satellite was named first, and the conflict arose with the naming of an asteroid. These conflicts span the period 1858–1906.
Europa, a moon of Jupiter, named 1614 and 52 Europa, discovered 1858 Io, a moon of Jupiter, named 1614 and 85 Io, discovered 1865 Dione, a moon of Saturn, named 1847 and 106 Dione, discovered 1868 Rhea, a moon of Saturn, named 1847 and 577 Rhea, discovered 1905 Titania, a moon of Uranus, named 1852 and 593 Titania, discovered 1906
Asteroid named first Later conflicts arose in relatively recent times from giving newly discovered satellites the same names as those of asteroids. By this time, it was possibly felt that the true name of an asteroid such as "38 Leda" included its minor planet number, and so re-using the name for a satellite did not really create a conflict. These conflicts span the period 1975–2001, though some conflicts of this type had arisen earlier with some names used unofficially.
9 Metis, discovered 1848 and Metis, a moon of Jupiter, named 1983. 38 Leda, discovered 1856 and Leda, a moon of Jupiter, named 1975. 55 Pandora, discovered 1858 and Pandora, a moon of Saturn, named 1985. 74 Galatea, discovered 1862 and Galatea, a moon of Neptune, discovered 1989. 113 Amalthea, discovered 1871 and Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter, discovered 1892; the name was suggested by Camille Flammarion shortly after its discovery, but it was not officially named until 1975. 171 Ophelia, discovered 1877 and Ophelia, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986. 239 Adrastea, discovered 1884 and Adrastea, a moon of Jupiter, named in 1983. Adrastea was also an unofficial name for Jupiter's moon Ananke (1955–1975). 666 Desdemona, discovered 1908 and Desdemona, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986. 1810 Epimetheus, discovered 1960 and Epimetheus a moon of Saturn, named 1983. 1809 Prometheus, discovered 1960 and Prometheus, a moon of Saturn, named 1985. 2758 Cordelia, discovered 1978 and Cordelia, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986. 4450 Pan, discovered 1987 and Pan, a moon of Saturn, discovered 1990. Pan was also an unofficial name for Jupiter's moon Carme (1955–1975). 10386 Romulus, discovered 1996 and Romulus, a moon of Sylvia, discovered 2001 and named 2005.
Conflicts with extrasolar bodies Asterope (21 Tauri) and 233 Asterope, discovered 1883. Merope (23 Tauri) and 1051 Merope, discovered 1925. Mimosa (β Crucis) and 1079 Mimosa, discovered 1927. Atlas (27 Tauri) and Atlas, a moon of Saturn, named 1983. Anser (α Vulpeculae) and 8435 Anser, named 1999. 238 Hypatia, discovered 1884 and Hypatia (ι Draconis b), an exoplanet, named 2015. 571 Dulcinea, discovered 1905 and Dulcinea (μ Arae c), an exoplanet, named 2015. 31338 Lipperhey, named 2008 and Lipperhey (55 Cancri d), an exoplanet, named 2015. 79144 Cervantes, named 2005 and Cervantes (μ Arae), a star, named 2015. Hiisi, binary companion of 47171 Lempo, named 2017 and Hiisi (HAT-P-38b), an exoplanet, named 2019.
Conflicts with disproven bodies 24 Themis, discovered 1853 and Themis, named 1905. The latter Themis was a supposed moon of Saturn that turned out not to exist.
Comets By convention comets are named after their discoverers, so multiple comets often have the same name; they are differentiated by numerical designations. Comets can also share names with asteroids, for example Halley's Comet and 2688 Halley, both named after Edmond Halley.
Bodies with identical names and different referents Some bodies have names of identical form, but were actually named for different persons or things.
218 Bianca, discovered 1880, was named after opera singer Bianca Bianchi and Bianca, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986, was named after a Shakespeare character. 1162 Larissa, discovered 1930, was named for the Thessalian town Larissa and Larissa, a moon of Neptune, discovered 1981, was named after the nymph Larissa.
Conflicts with extrasolar bodies Mira (ο Ceti) is a Latin name meaning "amazing" or "wonderful". 3633 Mira was named in 1994 after Hugo Mira, researcher at Félix Aguilar Observatory. Imai (δ Crucis) is a traditional Mursi name, referring to the grass that grows along the banks of the Omo River. 8271 Imai was named in 2012 after Yasushi Imai, president of a planetarium manufacturing company. Peacock (α Pavonis) was named in the 1930s after the peacock, which its constellation Pavo represents. 18727 Peacock was named in 2007 after Anthony Peacock, project scientist for the Exosat and XMM-Newton missions. Neri (HD 32518 b), an exoplanet, was named in 2019 after the Neri River in Ethiopia. 126965 Neri was named in 2021 after Rodolfo Neri Vela, the first Mexican to travel to space. Maia (20 Tauri) is named after Maia, one of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione in Greek mythology. 127936 Maia was named in 2023 after Maia Palomba, the second daughter of Ernesto Palomba. 1863 Antinous, discovered 1948, is named after Antinous of Ithaca, a character in the Odyssey. The star Antinous (θ Aquilae) was named in 2024 after the obsolete constellation Antinous, which in turn was named after Antinous, lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian.
Conflicts with constellations Ara and 849 Ara, discovered 1912. Carina and 491 Carina, discovered 1902. Hydra and Hydra, a moon of Pluto, named 2006. Norma and 555 Norma, discovered 1905
Bodies with similar names and the same referent Some objects have names that refer to the same mythological character, but slight variations in spelling prevent there from being a technical conflict.
Moon named first Callisto, a moon of Jupiter, named 1614 and 204 Kallisto, discovered 1879, both variant transliterations of the name of the nymph Callisto. Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, named 1614 and 1036 Ganymed, discovered 1924, both named for Zeus' cupbearer. The name in Latin is Ganymedes, of which Ganymede is an English form and Ganymed a German one. The names are therefore in full conflict in German.
Asteroid named first 14 Irene, discovered 1851 and Eirene, a moon of Jupiter, named 2019, both named for the Greek personification of peace. 53 Kalypso, discovered 1858 and Calypso, a moon of Saturn, named 1983, both named for the Atlantid nymph Calypso. 548 Kressida, discovered 1904 and Cressida, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986, both named after Cressida, a heroine in English-language versions of the Troy legend (in the case of the moon of Uranus, by way of Shakespeare). 101 Helena, discovered 1868 and Helene, a moon of Saturn, named 1988, both named after Helen of Troy. 657 Gunlöd, discovered 1908 and Gunnlod, a moon of Saturn, named 2022, both named after Norse giantess Gunnlöð 899 Jokaste, discovered 1918 and Iocaste, a moon of Jupiter, named 2002, both named for Queen Jocasta of Thebes. 763 Cupido, discovered 1913 and Cupid, a moon of Uranus, discovered 2003, after the Roman god Cupid. Cupido is the Latin form, Cupid a modification of the same used in English. The name of the moon Cupid specifically refers to Cupid appearing as a character in the play Timon of Athens. 3908 Nyx, discovered 1980 and Nix, a moon of Pluto, named 2006, both named for Nyx, goddess of night. 1865 Cerberus, discovered 1971 and Kerberos, a moon of Pluto, named 2013, both named for Cerberus, canine guardian of the underworld.
Both moons Herse, a moon of Jupiter discovered 2003, and Ersa, a moon of Jupiter discovered 2018, both named after the goddess Ersa (the Greek goddess of dew).
Both asteroids 26 Proserpina, discovered 1853 and 399 Persephone, discovered 1895, both named for Persephone, goddess of the underworld. 68 Leto, discovered 1861 and 639 Latona, discovered 1907. Named for Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis. 161 Athor, discovered 1876 and 2340 Hathor, discovered 1976, both named for the Egyptian goddess Hathor. 646 Kastalia, discovered 1907 and 4769 Castalia, discovered 1989, both named for the Greek nymph Castalia. 1068 Nofretete, discovered 1926 and 3199 Nefertiti, discovered 1982, both named for the Egyptian queen Nefertiti. 1143 Odysseus, discovered 1930, and 5254 Ulysses, discovered 1986, named for the Greek warrior Odysseus. 2155 Wodan, discovered 1960 and 3989 Odin, discovered 1986, variant names of the Germanic god Odin. 3477 Kazbegi, discovered 1979 and 65541 Kasbek, discovered 1960, variant names of Mount Kazbek.
Conflicts with extrasolar bodies 66 Maja, discovered 1861, and Maia (20 Tauri), a star. 697 Galilea, discovered 1910, and Galileo (55 Cancri Ab), an exoplanet, named 2015. 1322 Coppernicus, discovered 1934, and Copernicus (55 Cancri A), a star, named 2015. 1677 Tycho Brahe, discovered 1940, and Brahe (55 Cancri Ac), an exoplanet, named 2015. 3552 Don Quixote, discovered 1983, and Quijote (Mu Arae b), an exoplanet, named 2015. 10385 Amaterasu, discovered 1996, and Amateru (Epsilon Tauri b), an exoplanet, named 2015. 11284 Belenus, discovered 1990, and Bélénos (HD 8574), a star, named 2019. 189011 Ogmios, discovered 1997, and Ogma (HD 149026), a star, named 2015. Aegir, a moon of Saturn, named 2007 and Ægir (Epsilon Eridani b), an exoplanet, named 2015.
Bodies with similar names and different referents 66 Maja, discovered 1861, named after Maia, from Greek mythology; and 127936 Maia, named after Maia Palomba, second daughter of Ernesto Palomba. 100 Hekate, discovered 1868, named after Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft; and 2245 Hekatostos, discovered 1968, named for the Greek word for "100", in honour of a joint program. 558 Carmen, discovered 1905, named after the title character of Bizet's Carmen; and Carme, a moon of Jupiter, discovered 1938, named after the mythological Carme, mother by Zeus of the goddess Britomartis. 832 Karin, discovered 1916, named after Karin Månsdotter, the Queen of King Erik XIV of Sweden; and Kari, a moon of Saturn, discovered 2006, named after Kári, the personification of wind in Norse mythology. 1042 Amazone, discovered 1925, named after the Amazon Rainforest; and 129555 Armazones, discovered 1996, named after Cerro Armazones in Chile. 1131 Porzia, discovered 1929, named for Porcia Catonis, wife of Marcus Junius Brutus; and Portia, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986, named for the character Portia in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice.