Naming worlds is half the fun of building a science fiction setting. A good planet name has to sound like it belongs to its environment — a lush habitable world reads differently from a scorched rock or a banded gas giant. This tool blends invented phonology with real astronomical naming conventions so the names feel authentic.
How it works
Each world type uses its own approach. Habitable and barren worlds assemble pronounceable proper names from curated onset, vowel, and coda syllables — soft flowing sounds for habitable worlds, harder consonant clusters for barren rocks. Gas giants lean on weighty, rolling syllables. Catalog-style names follow the real exoplanet convention: a host-star designation (a survey prefix plus a number) followed by a lowercase letter starting at b, mirroring labels like Kepler-22b or TRAPPIST-1e.
The generator shuffles its assembled pool so repeated clicks give fresh results without immediate duplicates.
Tips and example
- For a star map, mix catalog-style designations for minor bodies with proper names for the worlds your story actually visits — that contrast feels real.
- Habitable names ending in soft vowels (Aelora, Vesari) read as welcoming; barren names with hard codas (Kraxt, Durnok) feel hostile. Pick the type that matches the scene.
- Pair a planet with a star system name to anchor it in a wider setting.