Mythology is the obvious answer, seeing as those in our system were named for it, but I was wondering if any of you had different ideas? Maybe their most prominent features - but a lot of planets are just similar pieces of rock/gas, especially at the time of their first discovery and naming…
(I have the actual names, I'm just trying to decide where they come from :) For the curious, they are Restaul and Rinastar, plus the moons Esr, Staraver and Tsarava.)
You could slam Pokemon names together and see what you come up with, though I would base the name of the planet on the civilization. We would use numbers if they weren't already within our solar system, but other civilizations may use natural features or even what lives there!
"Yo, Krogath! You wanna come to Diamondia with me and get some mining done?"
"Sorry, Korrith, but I've gotta go to Tigris and get some pelts for a Mother's Day gift."
"You mean the planet that's chock-full of the dangerous felines with the big teeth?"
Sigh "…Yup."
or if there's a sentient specie on each planet, use what the locals call it
You could slam Pokemon names together and see what you come up with, though I would base the name of the planet on the civilization. We would use numbers if they weren't already within our solar system, but other civilizations may use natural features or even what lives there!
"Yo, Krogath! You wanna come to Diamondia with me and get some mining done?"
"Sorry, Korrith, but I've gotta go to Tigris and get some pelts for a Mother's Day gift."
"You mean the planet that's chock-full of the dangerous felines with the big teeth?"
Sigh "…Yup."
This is the best thing I've ever heard @Yamatsu
As someone who loves etymology, my favorite way to name a planet is what it would mean or look to someone who lives there and in their language. And if you're a multi-world writer like me, a planet will have multiple names. Oweirho may be a meaningful "the home God gave us" to the planet's natives, Wedi, but to outworlders it'll just be plain weird (and hard to pronounce) and call it Wedi after the natives and call the Wedi Wedians. Or completely localize it all if the specie's naming is too difficult.
Or smash your hand on the keyboard to see what you come up with like I just did with Oweirho and Wedi and build something off of it.
You could have different names for the planets in different cultures on the planet! So if you can't decide on one?
I literally just slam a bunch of keyboard keys and make a name up from what comes out.
For Example:
"bflbfliehfpeohfoyhsdbpefguefbejfbpiuegfuebfpiuejwfhedfljedgbflgfluwglgjljgblwguwe"
My eyes caught onto "Peohfoy".
Honestly I love the sound of a planet named "Hoyfeoh", even though it sounds kind of funny, you know.
It's a good starter idea! haha.