Nameberry's Favorite Celestial Names

Astraea —also found as Astraia — is the Greek goddess of justice and innocence who left earth to become the constellation Virgo after she grew unhappy with the state of humanity. She was prophesised to return and begin a new Golden Age, meaning she is associated with renewal — and with Queen Elizabeth I of England thanks to Renaissance writers associating her with the goddess.

A pretty, if unusual choice for a summer baby, particularly a girl with an ancestor named Ida. An epithet of the goddess Aphrodite, Idalia is derived from the Greek place name Idalion.

A starry-eyed, intergalactic name, far rarer than Stella or Esther. It's attached both to a comic book character and to Princess Astra on "Doctor Who".

Among a small shower of rain-related names, this pure version can have a cool, refreshing image.

Dawn's heyday in the US, Canada and the UK came in the 1960s and 70s. It peaked at #14 in the US in 1971, but has since sunk from sight to be eclipsed by other names with the same meaning, such as Aurora, Roxana or Zariah.

The name of the young Greek sun god, brother to the moon goddess Selene, who rode across the sky each day in a chariot pulled by four horses.

Sunniva was an Irish-born saint who fled to Norway, where she hid in an island cave with her followers and eventually died. After miracles were reported on the island, the cave was excavated and Sunniva's intact body was found. Sunniva is the patron saint of Western Norway. Her name would make a fascinating and unusual choice for a modern baby girl, and if her story is a bit grim, you can take refuge in the upbeat nickname Sunny or Sunni.

Sky is an ambigender nature name that was first legitimized as the character of Sky Masterson in the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls, played in the film version by Marlon Brando. It's a name we appreciate for its clear, wide-open feel, less hippyish than others like Rainbow and Starlight, and makes an appealing middle name possibility.

Asteria is an Anglicized spelling of the Greek Astraea or Astraia, the goddess of justice and innocence. She became the constellation Virgo, so all forms of this name would be especially appropriate for a child born in late August or early September.

This evocative short name is suddenly chic — it was recently chosen by Jennifer Lawrence for her baby boy. JLaw's son's name honors Cy Twombly, the influential mid-century American artist. Born Edwin Parker Twombly Jr., both Cy Twombly and his father shared a nickname after baseball player Cy Young (himself born Denton True Young).

The eleventh brightest star in the sky has a celestial feel, but also could be the name of a commercial airline.

Upbeat nickname-name that can't help but make you smile, along with its soundalike Sonny.

Celestia is a heavenly name that sounds more ethereal than Celeste, Celestia might make a distinctive, feminine choice if your taste runs toward names like Angelina and Seraphina.

A fiery Indian name used enough in the US to make it onto the Top 1000 list in 2010 and 2015.

Mars is a name with interesting potential, ticking the boxes as a mythological name, a space name, and a single syllable choice ending in -s. For parents wanting something unexpected, Mars could work as an alternative to popular Brooks, Max, Atlas, or Miles - and given to around 150 boys - and 35 girls - in a recent year, it is unusual but recognisable.

A title of the Hindu sun god, made cross-culturally famous by sitar player Ravi Shankar.

Another astral name, this one relating to one of the largest and brightest stars in the heavens, is popular in Scandinavia and Spain, where it ranks among the Top 50 girls' names. Although still very rare in the US, we think it has serious potential to follow the likes of Luna and Lyra up the charts.

A surprisingly modern word name, only recorded since the 20th century, Solaris is also the title of a 1961 science fiction novel by Polish author Stanisław Lem, which has been adapted for the big screen several times. An unexpected route to cool-guy nickname Sol.

Io may be one of the slightest names in the book, but there aren't many two-letter names with as much substance as this Greek mythological example. Io, a name used for the largest moon of Jupiter, was in classic myth raped by Zeus and escaped from him by changing herself into a cow.

Forget the oil. It's one of the twins that make up the constellation Gemini, and a mythological name on the cutting-edge of fashion; used by Metallica's James Hetfield.