We're Celebrating Names That Are Out Of This World!

Celebrating World Space Week with Stikins ® Name Labels

With the word “Planet” in our company name, we could hardly allow ourselves to miss out on the fact that it is World Space Week; a week-long international celebration of space (and the science and technology that supports our understanding and exploration of space).

World Space Week takes place every year between 4th and 10th October; the former being the date on which the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched in 1957 and the latter being the date on which the “Outer Space Treaty” was put into force in 1967.

With this in mind, we thought we’d take a look at some names that have an extra-terrestrial flavour.

Planets & Their Moons

All of the planets within our solar system have been named after mythological gods and goddesses (with the exception of Earth); these names were taken from the Roman pantheon of gods, while many of the moons and satellites that orbit these planets have names taken from Greek mythology (usually related to the Roman counterpart used for the name of the planet they orbit).

Names Inspired By The Planets & Their Moons

• MERCURY
  
• VENUS
  
• EARTH
• MARS
  Deimos & Phobos
  Mars' moons are named after the children of Ares (Greek equivalent of the Roman God Mars).
• JUPITER
  Adrastea, Amalthea, Callisto, Dia, Elara, Europa, Io, Leda, Metis, Pasiphae, Thebe
  Jupiter's moons are named after lovers and children of Zeus (Greek equivalent of the Roman God Jupiter).
• SATURN
  Atlas, Aegir, Anthe, Calypso, Daphnis, Dione, Fenrir, Janus, Kari, Mimas, Pallene, Pan, Pandora, Phoebe, Prometheus, Rhea
  Saturn's moons are named after Titans and Giants (Cronus, leader of the Titans, was the Greek equivalent of the Roman God Saturn), plus other figures from Greek and Roman mythology, along with giants from Inuit, Norse, and Gallic mythologies. 
• URANUS
  Ariel, Belinda, Bianca, Cordelia, Cressida, Cupid, Desdemona, Ferdinand, Francisco, Juliet, Mab, Margaret, Miranda, Oberon, Ophelia, Perdita, Portia, Rosalind, Titania, Umbriel
  Uranus's moons are named after characters created by Shakespeare and Alexander Pope who both created "spirits of the air" - like faries Titania and Oberon and sylphs Ariel and Umbriel (and Uranus was the Roman God of the Sky). 
• NEPTUNE
  Galatea, Halimede, Larissa, Naiad, Nereid, Neso, Psamathe, Sao, Triton (and S/2004 N 1!).
  Neptune's moons are named after water deities from Greek mythology (Neptune is the Roman God of the Sea).
• PLUTO (yes, we know it's a dwarf planet now!)
  Charon, Hydra, Kerberos, Nix, Styx
  Pluto's moons after named after figures in Greek mythology connected to the Underworld (ruled over in Roman mythology by Pluto!).

You could also choose one of the many Earth Goddesses who have been (and some still are) worshipped as the personification of the Earth, including: 

• GAIA (Greek Earth Goddess)
• TERRA (Roman Earth Goddess)

CONSTELLATIONS & THEIR STARS

Another source of space-inspired names is constellations and some of the stars that feature within these arrangements. In modern astronomy, there are 88 constellations officially recognised by the International Astronomical Union and they include 42 animals, 29 objects, and 17 humans/mythological characters.

Names Inspired By Stars & Their Constellations

• ADHARA
• ALCYONE
• ALTAIR
• ALUDRAANDROMEDA (the chained princess)
• AQUILA (the eagle)
• ARA (the altar)
• ARIES (the ram)
• ARISTA
• AURIGA (the charioteer)
• BELLATRIX
• CARINA (the keel)
• CASSIOPEIA (the chained queen)
• COLUMBA (the dove)
• CRUX (the southern cross)
• CYGNUS (the swan or northern cross)
• DELPHINUS (the dolphin)
• DENEB
• DRACO (the dragon)
• GEMINI (the twins CASTOR & POLLUX)
• GRUS (the crane)
• HERCULES (the hero)
• IMAIA
• LACERTA (the lizard)
• LEO (the lion)
• LUPUS (the wolf)
• LYNX (the lynx)
• LYRA (the lyre)
• MEISSA
• NASHIRA
• NORMA (the carpenter’s square)
• ORION (the hunter)
• PAVO (the peacock)
• PERSEUS (the hero)
• PHOENIX (the mythical bird)
• POLARIS
• REGULUS
• SIRIUS
• SUHA
• TUCANA (the toucan)
• VEGA
• VELA (the sails)
• VIRGO (variously identified as ASTRAEA, DEMETER, ERIGONE, and SHALA)

Of course, there are plenty of names that take inspiration from things associated with space itself, such as:

• ASTRA
• COSMO
• ESTELLE
• EVREN
• HALLEY
• HALO
• LUNA
• MOON
• NOVA
• ROCKET
• SEREN
• STAR
• STELLA
• STEREN
• TARA
• ZEKE

Keep your belongings safe and secure whilst stargazing with Stikins ® Name Labels

Of course, if you’re eager to spend time watching the night sky at this time of the year, you’ll definitely need to wrap up warm – and our multipurpose Stikins ® name labels are an ideal way to keep track of all those extra winter warmers. Our name labels measure just 30mm wide by 15mm high, which means they fit neatly onto the wash-care label of all sorts of fabric items – so you can find them easily when you need to read the label but they can also be tucked discretely out of sight when they’re not needed. Each label is white in colour and is printed with a bold black font.

Each label is made with our unique adhesive, which has been specially developed and independently tested to make sure that it can survive repeat trips through the washing machine (as well as repeat exposure to the delights of British weather!). To order your very own of name labels, please contact us via email or telephone. You can also order a packet of labels conveniently online by using our handy enquiry form!