Quote
Originally posted by Martin Turner:
**Why struggle?
Your planet names are an important part of your TC's atmosphere.
Why not think about the history of your universe. How were the planets settled? The star systems (of course) were largely identified by astronomers on Earth (or wherever your people originated from). Some of them have names, but most of them are just identified either by numbers (like SAO ... or NGC ...) or by a constellation and a Greek letter, eg Delta Capricorn.
However, once people started settling the planets, they would start naming them.
If a group of planets were all settled by the same wave of explorers, they are likely to have similar names. Some of them may be named after the explorer, some after a political figure.
If a single explorer discovered a number of planets, he might choose a set of names - for example, Greek Heroes, or Norse Gods.
If a set of planets were conquered by an empire, they might be named after whatever that empire thought was important - famous kings, values (such as Peace, Justice, or perhaps 'Ironfist' 'Mightisright' etc), the names of important battles or famous soldiers.
If a planet was settled after a particular event or out of a particular historical context, the name might commemorate that - for example, Liberia in North West Africa.
A planet might be named based on its physical characteristics - like Tierra del Fuego or Iceland.
Planets named by an automated scoutship would have automated names - either randomly generated or numbered.
A planet that has changed its government by revolution might decide to rename itself - like the way the Russians renamed cities to Stalingrad and Leningrad.
A planet established by a commercial concern might have a whole branding strategy attached to it.
**
so, to name alien worlds you need to give them a complete history and linguistic character? :frown:
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