Baby Name Options #15 - Celestial Names

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have noticed that I have a slight obsession with space. I doubt I'll ever get the chance to fly beyond the Earth's atmosphere, but I'm pretty content staring up at the night sky with my feet safely planted on solid ground. Perhaps I can inspire my children to be more bold...

Aurora Latin "dawn" Princess Aurora was always my favorite Disney princess, but if you've ever seen the Aurora Borealis (or Australis) dance across the night sky, this name becomes truly magical.

Carina Italian "dear little one" A sweet name for a little girl, and who wouldn't want to be named after a nebula?

Celeste Latin "heavenly" 

Gale Hebrew "my father rejoices" A nebula is one thing, but I'm not sure I'd want to be named after a hole in the ground. However, my grandma's name was Gail, so technically this crater on Mars could be used as a family name.

Haley English "hay field" The famous comet is only visible from Earth every 75-76 years. It last appeared in February 1986, and is scheduled to make its next appearance in July 2061!

Henrietta German, from Henry "estate ruler" Henrietta Swan Leavitt was a famous female astronomer, credited with discovering the cepheid variable period-luminosity relationship. (For those of you who don't spend their evenings watching NOVA: she figured out how to measure distances in space.)

Io (eye-o) Greek mythology name One of Jupiter's many moons, which were named after Zeus' many lovers.

Leda Greek "happy" Another one of Jupiter's moons, and the mother of Helen of Troy from Greek mythology.

Luna Italian and Spanish "moon" One of the names given to our own moon.

Stella Latin "star" There are hundreds of names out there that mean "star." For me, this one will always bring up the image of Marlon Brando shouting "Stella!"

Svetlana Russian "star" Also the name of the first woman to walk in space - Svetlana Savitskaya! First woman in space was fellow Russian Valentina Tereshkova. The first American woman in space was Sally Ride, who sadly passed away last summer.

Vega Arabic "swooping eagle" One of the brightest stars in the sky. These days anyone can have a star named after them, but how many of those stars are easy to find?

Venus Roman mythology name Tennis champion, goddess of love, and the second planet in our solar system. We already have a Serena in the family...

All images via NASA. Click on photos for more information.