List of asteroids named after people

This is a list of asteroids named after important people:

Science

Physicists

• 1979 Sakharov (Andrei Sakharov)
• 2001 Einstein (Albert Einstein, mathematician and physicist)
• 2002 Euler (Leonhard Euler, mathematician and physicist)
• 2352 Kurchatov (Igor Kurchatov)
• 3905 Doppler (Christian Doppler)
• 3949 Mach (Ernst Mach)
• 4065 Meinel (Aden Meinel)
• 4716 Urey (Harold Urey)
• 5668 Foucault (Léon Foucault)
• 7000 Curie (Maria Skłodowska-Curie)
• 7495 Feynman (Richard Feynman)
• 7672 Hawking (Stephen Hawking)
• 8000 Isaac Newton (Isaac Newton)
• 8103 Fermi (Enrico Fermi)
• 13092 Schrödinger (Erwin Schrödinger)
• 13149 Heisenberg (Werner Heisenberg)
• 37582 Faraday (Michael Faraday)
• 10979 FRiStephenson (Professor F. Richard Stephenson)

Astronomers

• 366 Vincentina (Vincenzo Cerulli)
• 676 Melitta (Philibert Jacques Melotte)
• 729 Watsonia (James Craig Watson)
• 768 Struveana (Otto Wilhelm von Struve, Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve and Karl Hermann Struve)
• 819 Barnardiana (Edward Emerson Barnard)
• 827 Wolfiana (Max Wolf)
• 914 Palisana (Johann Palisa)
• 999 Zachia (Franz Xaver, Baron von Zach)
• 1000 Piazzia (Giuseppe Piazzi, discoverer of the asteroid 1 Ceres)
• 1002 Olbersia (Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers, astronomer, physician, physicist)
• 1042 Hale (George Ellery Hale)
• 1111 Reinmuthia (Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth)
• 1129 Neujmina (Grigory Nikolaevich Neujmin)
• 1134 Kepler (Johannes Kepler)
• 1241 Dysona (Sir Frank Watson Dyson)
• 1280 Baillauda (Jules Baillaud)
• 1303 Luthera (Karl Theodor Robert Luther)
• 1412 Lagrula (Joanny-Philippe Lagrula)
• 1501 Baade (Walter Baade)
• 1510 Charlois (Auguste Charlois)
• 1529 Oterma (Liisi Oterma)
• 1539 Borrelly (Alphonse Louis Nicolas Borrelly)
• 1563 Noël (Emanuel Arend, son of the astronomer Sylvain Julien Victor Arend)
• 1573 Väisälä (Yrjö Väisälä, astronomer and physicist)
• 1578 Kirkwood (Daniel Kirkwood)
• 1600 Vyssotsky (Emma T.R. Williams Vyssotsky)
• 1614 Goldschmidt (Hermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt, astronomer and painter)
• 1622 Chacornac (Jean Chacornac)
• 1655 Comas Solá (Josep Comas Solá)
• 1686 De Sitter (Willem de Sitter, mathematician, physicist and astronomer)
• 1693 Hertzsprung (Ejnar Hertzsprung, chemist and astronomer)
• 1714 Sy (Frédéric Sy)
• 1745 Ferguson (James Ferguson)
• 1761 Edmondson (Frank K. Edmondson)
• 1776 Kuiper (Gerard Kuiper)
• 1778 Alfvén (Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén, Swedish electrical power engineer and astrophysicist)
• 1803 Zwicky (Fritz Zwicky)
• 1830 Pogson (Norman Robert Pogson)
• 1831 Nicholson (Seth Barnes Nicholson)
• 1850 Kohoutek (Luboš Kohoutek)
• 1877 Marsden (Brian G. Marsden)
• 1940 Whipple (Fred Lawrence Whipple)
• 1983 Bok (Bart Bok)
• 1995 Hajek (Tadeás Hájek, astronomer, physician and occultist)
• 1998 Titius (Johann Daniel Titius)
• 1999 Hirayama (Kiyotsugu Hirayama)
• 2000 Herschel (John Herschel)
• 2003 Harding (Karl Ludwig Harding)
• 2005 Hencke (Karl Ludwig Hencke)
• 2018 Schuster (Hans-Emil Schuster)
• 2074 Shoemaker (Eugene Shoemaker)
• 2099 Öpik (Ernst Julius Öpik, astronomer and astrophysicist)
• 2325 Chernykh (Lyudmila Ivanovna Chernykh and Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh)
• 2602 Moore (Sir Patrick Moore)
• 2635 Huggins (William Huggins)
• 2646 Abetti (Antonio Abetti and Giorgio Abetti)
• 2709 Sagan (Carl Sagan, astronomer and science popularizer)
• 2772 Dugan (Raymond Smith Dugan)
• 2801 Huygens (Christiaan Huygens)
• 2813 Zappalà (Vincenzo Zappalà)
• 2849 Shklovskij (Iosif Shklovsky|)
• 2917 Sawyer Hogg (Helen Battles Sawyer Hogg, astronomer and columnist)
• 3070 Aitken (Robert Grant Aitken)
• 3169 Ostro (Steven J. Ostro)
• 3174 Alcock (George Alcock, comet and nova hunter)
• 3216 Harrington (Robert Sutton Harrington)
• 3277 Aaronson (Marc Aaronson)
• 3467 Bernheim (Robert Burnham, Jr., author of Burnham's Celestial Handbook)
• 3673 Levy (Davide Levy, astronomer and author)
• 3722 Urata (Takeshi Urata, asteroid hunter)
• 3808 Tempel (Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel)
• 3936 Elst (Eric Walter Elst)
• 3999 Aristarchus (Aristarchus, Ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician)
• 4037 Ikeya (Kaoru Ikeya, comet hunter)
• 4062 Schiaparelli (Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, Mars mapper)
• 4279 De Gasparis (Annibale de Gasparis)
• 4364 Shkodrov (Vladimir Georgiev Shkodrov)
• 4593 Reipurth (Bo Reipurth)
• 4987 Flamsteed (John Flamsteed, Astronomer Royal)
• 5035 Swift (Lewis Swift, comet hunter)
• 5036 Tuttle (Horace Parnell Tuttle, comet hunter)
• 5757 Tichá (Jana Tichá)
• 6006 Anaximandros (Anaximander, Ancient Greek astronomer)
• 7291 Hyakutake (Yuji Hyakutake, amateur astronomer and comet hunter)
• 7359 Messier (Charles Messier)
• 9133 d'Arrest (Heinrich Louis d'Arrest)
• 9134 Encke (Johann Franz Encke)

Space exploration

• Planetary scientists
  • 8356 Wadhwa (Meenakshi Wadhwa, meteorite analyst)
• Rocket scientists
  • 1590 Tsiolkovskaja (Konstantin Tsiolkovsky)
  • 1855 Korolev (Sergei Korolev)
  • 25143 Itokawa (Hideo Itokawa)
• USSR/Russian cosmonauts
  • 1772 Gagarin (Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space)
  • 1789 Dobrovolsky (Georgi Dobrovolski)
  • 1790 Volkov (Vladislav Volkov)
  • 1791 Patsayev (Viktor Patsayev)
  • 1836 Komarov (Vladimir Komarov)
• Apollo 11 astronauts:
  • 6469 Armstrong (Neil Armstrong)
  • 6470 Aldrin ("Buzz" Aldrin)
  • 6471 Collins (Michael Collins)
• STS-51-L crew members:
  • 3350 Scobee (Francis "Dick" Scobee)
  • 3351 Smith (Michael J. Smith)
  • 3352 McAuliffe (Christa McAuliffe)
  • 3353 Jarvis (Gregory Jarvis)
  • 3354 McNair (Ronald McNair)
  • 3355 Onizuka (Ellison Onizuka)
  • 3356 Resnik (Judith Resnik)
• STS-107 crew members:
  • 51823 Rickhusband (Rick D. Husband)
  • 51824 Mikeanderson (Michael P. Anderson)
  • 51825 Davidbrown (David M. Brown)
  • 51826 Kalpanachawla (Kalpana Chawla)
  • 51827 Laurelclark (Laurel Clark)
  • 51828 Ilanramon (Ilan Ramon)
  • 51829 Williemccool (William C. McCool)

Other sciences

• 1858 Lobachevskij (Nikolai Lobachevsky, mathematician)
• 1859 Kovalevskaya (Sofia Kovalevskaya, mathematician)
• 1996 Adams (John Couch Adams, mathematician)
• 1997 Leverrier (Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, mathematician)
• 2010 Chebyshev (Pafnuti Chebyshev, mathematician)
• 2766 Leeuwenhoek (Anton van Leeuwenhoek, pioneering cell biologist)
• 3256 Daguerre (Louis Daguerre, photographic pioneer)
• 3313 Mendel (Gregor Mendel, father of genetics)
• 4628 Laplace (Pierre-Simon Laplace, mathematician)
• 4342 Freud (Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis)
• 4354 Euclides (Euclid, mathematician)
• 4798 Mercator (Gerardus Mercator, cartographer)
• 5102 Benfranklin (Benjamin Franklin, scientist/philosopher/statesman)
• 5697 Arrhenius (Svante Arrhenius), chemist
• 5864 Montgolfier (Montgolfier brothers, hot air balloon pioneers)
• 6032 Nobel (Alfred Nobel, chemist)
• 6143 Pythagoras (Pythagoras, mathematician)
• 6765 Fibonacci (Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa, mathematician)
• 6826 Lavoisier (Antoine Lavoisier, chemist)
• 8373 Stephengould (Stephen Jay Gould, evolutionist and essayist)
• 12493 Minkowski (Hermann Minkowski, mathematician)

Politicians and monarchs

• 12 Victoria (officially named after the Roman goddess of victory, but also honours Queen Victoria)
• 45 Eugenia (Empress Eugénie)
• 216 Kleopatra (Cleopatra VII of Egypt)
• 944 Hidalgo (Miguel Hidalgo)
• 4317 Garibaldi (Giuseppe Garibaldi)
• 4721 Atahualpa (Atahuallpa)
• 4927 O'Connell (Daniel O'Connell)
• 7117 Claudius (Emperor Claudius)
• 7211 Xerxes (Xerxes)

War heroes and veterans

World War II heroes and veterans

• 1793 Zoya (Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya)
• 1907 Rudneva (Evgeniya Rudneva)
• 2132 Zhukov (Georgy Zhukov)
• 3348 Pokryshkin (Aleksandr Ivanovich Pokryshkin)

Religion

• 89 Julia (Julia of Corsica, martyr and patron saint, 5th century)
• 7100 Martin Luther (Martin Luther)
• 7256 Bonhoeffer (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Explorers

• 54 Alexandra (Alexander von Humboldt, naturalist and explorer)
• 853 Nansenia (Fridtjof Nansen, polar explorer)
• 1065 Amundsenia (Roald Amundsen, polar explorer)
• 2473 Heyerdahl (Thor Heyerdahl, archaeologist and writer)
• 2785 Sedov (Georgy Sedov, Arctic explorer)
• 3130 Hillary (Edmund Hillary, mountaineer [see Tenzing, below])
• 4055 Magellan (Ferdinand Magellan, circumnavigator)
• 6481 Tenzing (Tenzing Norgay, Sherpa [see Hillary, above])
• 6542 Jacquescousteau (Jacques-Yves Cousteau, marine explorer)
• 8291 Bingham (Hiram Bingham III, explorer)

Historians

• 3092 Herodotus (Herodotus)
• 3097 Tacitus (Tacitus)
• 4549 Burkhardt (Jacob Burkhardt)
• 6174 Polybius (Polybius)
• 6304 Josephus Flavius (Josephus)

Philosophers

• 5450 Sokrates (Socrates)
• 5451 Plato (Plato)
• 6001 Thales (Thales)
• 6123 Aristoteles (Aristotle)
• 7009 Hume (David Hume)
• 7010 Locke (John Locke)
• 7012 Hobbes (Thomas Hobbes)
• 7014 Nietzsche (Friedrich Nietzsche)
• 7015 Schopenhauer (Arthur Schopenhauer)
• 8318 Averroës (Averroës or Ibn Rushd)

The Arts

Literature

General authors

• 2681 Ostrovskij (Nikolai Ostrovsky)
• 3047 Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
• 3412 Kafka (Franz Kafka)
• 5418 Joyce (James Joyce)
• 5535 Annefrank (Anne Frank)
• 5666 Rabelais (François Rabelais)
• 5676 Voltaire (Voltaire)
• 6984 Lewiscarroll (Lewis Carroll or Charles Dodgson)
• 7016 Conandoyle (Arthur Conan Doyle)
• 7328 Casanova (Giacomo Casanova)
• 8379 Straczynski (J. Michael Straczynski)
• 44597 Thoreau (Henry David Thoreau)

Novelists

• 2362 Mark Twain (Mark Twain)
• 2578 Saint-Exupéry (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry}
• 2625 Jack London (Jack London)
• 2675 Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien)
• 3453 Dostoevsky (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
• 3836 Lem (Stanisław Lem)
• 4124 Herriot (James Herriot)
• 4370 Dickens (Charles Dickens)
• 4474 Proust (Marcel Proust)
• 4923 Clarke (Arthur C. Clarke)
• 5020 Asimov (Isaac Asimov)
• 6223 Dahl (Roald Dahl)
• 6371 Heinlein (Robert Heinlein)
• 6440 Ransome (Arthur Ransome)
• 7016 Conandoyle (Arthur Conan Doyle)
• 7232 Nabokov (Vladimir Nabokov)
• 7644 Cslewis (C.S. Lewis)
• 10733 George Sand (George Sand)
• 11020 Orwell (George Orwell)
• 11379 Flaubert (Gustave Flaubert)
• 25399 Vonnegut (Kurt Vonnegut)
• 25924 Douglasadams (Douglas Adams)

Poets

• 2208 Pushkin (Aleksandr Pushkin)
• 2222 Lermontov (Mikhail Lermontov)
• 3067 Akhmatova (Anna Akhmatova)
• 4110 Keats (John Keats)
• 4635 Rimbaud (Arthur Rimbaud)
• 7855 Tagore (Rabindranath Tagore)

Playwrights

• 2930 Euripides (Euripides)
• 2985 Shakespeare (William Shakespeare)
• 2921 Sophocles (Sophocles)
• 2934 Aristophanes (Aristophanes)
• 3046 Molière (Molière, French playwright)
• 3079 Schiller (Friedrich Schiller, German playwright)
• 5696 Ibsen (Henrik Ibsen)

Satirists

• 3244 Petronius (Petronius)
• 3044 Saltykov (Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Russian satirist)
• 15017 Cuppy (Will Cuppy)

Visual arts

• 2730 Barks (Carl Barks, cartoonist)
• 3001 Michelangelo (Michelangelo Buonarroti, painter and sculptor)
• 4511 Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn, painter)
• 5800 Pollock (Jackson Pollock, painter)
• 6055 Brunelleschi (Filippo Brunelleschi, architect)
• 6056 Donatello (Donatello, painter)
• 6592 Goya (Francisco Goya, painter)
• 6674 Cézanne (Paul Cézanne, painter)
• 6676 Monet (Claude Monet, painter)
• 6677 Renoir (Pierre-Auguste Renoir, painter)
• 6701 Warhol (Andy Warhol, artist)
• 8236 Gainsborough (Thomas Gainsborough, landscape and portrait artist)
• 8237 Constable (John Constable, painter)
• 8240 Matisse (Henri Matisse, painter)

Classical music

Composers

• 1034 Mozartia (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer)
• 1059 Mussorgskia (Modest Mussorgsky, composer)
• 1405 Sibelius (Jean Sibelius, composer)
• 1814 Bach (member of Bach family, probably Johann Sebastian Bach, composer)
• 1815 Beethoven (Ludwig van Beethoven, composer)
• 1818 Brahms (Johannes Brahms, composer)
• 2047 Smetana (Bedrich Smetana, composer)
• 2055 Dvořák (Antonin Dvorak, composer)
• 2073 Janáček (Leos Janacek, composer)
• 2205 Glinka (Mikhail Glinka, composer)
• 2266 Tchaikovsky (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer)
• 2523 Ryba (Jakub Jan Ryba, composer)
• 2669 Shostakovich (Dmitri Shostakovich, composer)
• 3081 Martinůboh (Bohuslav Martinu, composer)
• 3159 Prokof'ev (Sergei Prokofiev, composer)
• 3590 Holst (Gustav Holst, composer)
• 3592 Nedbal (Oskar Nedbal, composer)
• 3784 Chopin (Frédéric Chopin, composer)
• 3826 Handel (George Frideric Handel, composer)
• 3917 Franz Schubert (Franz Schubert, composer)
• 3941 Haydn (Joseph Haydn, composer)
• 3954 Mendelssohn (Felix Mendelssohn, composer)
• 3955 Bruckner (Anton Bruckner, composer)
• 3975 Verdi (Giuseppe Verdi, composer)
• 3992 Wagner (Richard Wagner, composer
• 4003 Schumann (probably Robert Schumann, composer)
• 4040 Purcell (Henry Purcell, composer)
• 4079 Britten (Benjamin Britten, composer)
• 4132 Bartók (Béla Bartók, composer)
• 4134 Schütz (Heinrich Schütz, composer)
• 4330 Vivaldi (Antonio Vivaldi, composer)
• 4345 Rachmaninoff (Sergei Rachmaninoff, composer)
• 4382 Stravinsky (Igor Stravinsky, composer)
• 4406 Mahler (Gustav Mahler, composer)
• 4492 Debussy (Claude Debussy, composer)
• 4515 Khrennikov (Tikhon Khrennikov, composer)
• 4527 Schoenberg (Arnold Schoenberg, composer)
• 4528 Berg (Alban Berg, composer)
• 4429 Webern (Anton Webern, composer)
• 4532 Copland (Aaron Copland, composer)
• 4534 Rimskij-Korsakov (Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer)
• 4546 Franck (Cesar Franck, composer)
• 4559 Strauss (Johann Strauss family or Richard Strauss)
• 4579 Puccini (Giacomo Puccini, composer)
• 4625 Shchedrin (Rodion Shchedrin, composer)
• 4727 Ravel (Maurice Ravel, composer)
• 4734 Rameau (Jean-Philippe Rameau, composer
• 4802 Khatchaturian (Aram Khatchaturian, composer)
• 4818 Elgar (Edward Elgar, composer)
• 4850 Palestrina (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, composer)
• 4972 Pachelbel (Johann Pachelbel, composer)
• 5004 Bruch (Max Bruch, composer)
• 5063 Monteverdi (Claudio Monteverdi, composer)
• 5157 Hindemith (Paul Hindemith, composer)
• 5177 Hugowolf (Hugo Wolf, composer)
• 5203 Pavarotti (Luciano Pavarotti, opera singer)
• 5210 Saint-Saëns (Camille Saint-Saëns, composer)
• 6480 Scarlatti (Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti, both composers)
• 6549 Skryabin (Alexander Scriabin, composer)
• 6777 Balakirev (Mily Balakirev, composer)
• 6780 Borodin (Alexander Borodin, composer)
• 6798 Couperin (François Couperin, composer)
• 7522 Pergolesi (Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, composer)
• 7624 Gluck (Christoph Willibald Gluck, composer)
• 7625 Louisspohr (Louis Spohr, composer)
• 7903 Albinoni (Tomaso Albinoni, composer)
• 8181 Rossini (Gioacchino Rossini, composer)
• 8249 Gershwin (George Gershwin, composer)
• 8877 Rentaro (Taki Rentaro, composer)
• 9438 Satie (Erik Satie, composer)
• 9912 Donizetti (Gaetano Donizetti, composer)
• 9913 Humperdinck (Engelbert Humperdinck, composer)
• 10055 Silcher (Friedrich Silcher, composer)
• 10116 Robertfranz (Robert Franz, composer)
• 10820 Offenbach (Jacques Offenbach, composer)
• 10875 Veracini (Francesco Maria Veracini, composer)
• 11050 Messiaën (Olivier Messiaën, composer)
• 11289 Frescobaldi (Girolamo Frescobaldi, composer)
• 11530 d'Indy (Vincent d'Indy, composer)
• 11899 Weill (Kurt Weill, composer)
• 15808 Zelter (Carl Friedrich Zelter, composer)
• 16590 Brunowalter (Bruno Walter, composer and conductor)
• 17509 Ikumadan (Ikuma Dan, composer)
• 69288 Berlioz (Hector Berlioz, composer)

Operas and musical pieces

• 463 Lola (character from Pietro Mascagni's opera Cavalleria Rusticana)
• 467 Laura (Amilcare Ponchielli's opera Laura)
• 471 Papagena (character from Mozart's opera The Magic Flute)
• 524 Fidelio (Beethoven's opera Fidelio)
• 527 Euryanthe (Carl Maria von Weber's opera Euryanthe)
• 530 Turandot (Puccini's opera Turandot)
• 531 Zerlina (character from Mozart's opera Don Giovanni)
• 539 Pamina (from The Magic Flute)
• 540 Rosamunde (Franz Schubert's Rosamunde)
• 550 Senta (Wagner's opera)
• 551 Ortrud (character from Wagner's Lohengrin)
• 553 Kundry (from Wagner's Parsifal)
• 555 Norma (Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma)
• 557 Violetta (from Verdi's La Traviata)
• 558 Carmen (Bizet's Carmen)
• 579 Sidonia (Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera)
• 606 Brangäne (from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde)
• 675 Ludmilla (from Mikhail Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila)
• 861 Aïda and 871 Amneris (both from Verdi's opera Aida)
• 8945 Cavaradossi (from Puccini's La Tosca)
• 8957 Koujounotsuki (Taki Rentaro's work)
• From Lohengrin:
  • 9505 Lohengrin
  • 9606 Telramund
  • 9507 Gottfried
• From Parsifal:
  • 9508 Titurel
  • 9509 Amfortas
  • 9510 Gurnemanz
  • 9511 Klingsor

Entertainment

Popular music

• 2620 Santana (Carlos Santana, musician)
• 3834 Zappafrank (Frank Zappa, musician)
• 4305 Clapton (Eric Clapton, musician)
• 4442 Garcia (Jerry Garcia, musician)
• The Beatles members:
  • 4147 Lennon (John Lennon)
  • 4148 McCartney (Paul McCartney)
  • 4149 Harrison (George Harrison)
  • 4150 Starr (Ringo Starr)
• 6354 Vangelis (Vangelis Papathanassiou, composer)
• 6433 Enya (Enya, musician)
• 7934 Sinatra (Frank Sinatra, vocalist)
• 8249 Gershwin (George Gershwin, composer)
• 9179 Satchmo (Louis Armstrong, musician)
• 16155 Buddy (Buddy Holly, musician)
• 17059 Elvis (Elvis Presley, musician)
• 18125 Brianwilson (Brian Wilson, musician)
• 23990 Springsteen (Bruce Springsteen, musician)

Film and TV

• 2374 Vladvysotskij, (Vladimir Vysotsky, singer, poet, writer, movie and theatre actor)
• 2816 Pien, (Armand Pien (1920–2003), Belgian TV weatherman)
• 3147 Samantha (Samantha Smith, US girl, peace ambassador, actress)
• 3252 Johnny (Johnny Carson, Talk Show Host)
• 4238 Audrey (Audrey Hepburn, actress)
• 4659 Roddenberry (Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek creator)
• 6318 Cronkite (Walter Cronkite, TV newsreader)
• 6377 Cagney (James Cagney, actor)
• 6546 Kaye (Danny Kaye, actor and comedian)
• 7032 Hitchcock (Alfred Hitchcock, film director)
• 7037 Davidlean (David Lean, film director)
• 8299 Téaleoni (Téa Leoni, actress)
• 8353 Megryan (Meg Ryan, actress)
• 9341 Gracekelly (Grace Kelly, actress)
• 9342 Carygrant (Cary Grant, actor)
• Monty Python members:
  • 9617 Grahamchapman (Graham Chapman)
  • 9618 Johncleese (John Cleese)
  • 9619 Terrygilliam (Terry Gilliam)
  • 9620 Ericidle (Eric Idle)
  • 9621 Michaelpalin (Michael Palin)
  • 9622 Terryjones (Terry Jones)
• 10221 Kubrick (Stanley Kubrick)
• 10378 Ingmarbergman (Ingmar Bergman, film director)
• 11548 Jerrylewis (Jerry Lewis, comedian and actor)
• 13070 Seanconnery (Sean Connery, actor)
• 17744 Jodiefoster (Jodie Foster, actress)
• 19578 Kirkdouglas (Kirk Douglas, actor)
• 26858 Misterrogers (Fred Rogers, US children's television host)

Sports

• 1740 Nurmi (Paavo Nurmi, Olympic medalist)
• 2202 Pele (Pelé, Brazilian soccer star)
• 5891 Gehrig (Lou Gehrig, baseball player)
• 5910 Zátopek (Emil Zátopek, Olympic medalist)
• 6758 Jesseowens (Jesse Owens, athlete)
• 8217 Dominikhašek (Dominik Hašek, ice hockey player)
• 12373 Lancearmstrong, (Lance Armstrong, cyclist)

Other entertainers

• 3163 Randi (James Randi, magician)

Others

• 83 Beatrix (Beatrice Portinari, immortalized in Dante's Divine Comedy)
• 1462 Zamenhof (L. L. Zamenhof, father of Esperanto)
• 3018 Godiva (Lady Godiva)
• 4487 Pocahontas (Pocahontas)
• 3147 Samantha (Samantha Smith, peace activist)

Fictional characters

Characters in classic fiction

• 92 Undina (Undine, heroine of the novella Undine by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué)
• 2041 Lancelot (Arthurian knight)
• 2082 Galahad (Arthurian knight)
• 2483 Guinevere (Guinevere, King Arthur's queen)
• 2597 Arthur (King Arthur, legendary king of England)
• 2598 Merlin (Merlin, wizard who helped King Arthur)
• 3552 Don Quixote (Don Quixote, hero of the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes)

Characters in modern fiction

• 2309 Mr. Spock (Mr. Spock, the famous Vulcan)
• Characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • 5048 Moriarty (Professor Moriarty, archenemy of Sherlock Holmes)
  • 5049 Sherlock (Sherlock Holmes, detective)
  • 5050 Doctorwatson (Doctor Watson, sidekick of Sherlock Holmes)
• Characters created by Lewis Carroll in Alice in Wonderland
  • 6042 Cheshirecat (the Cheshire cat)
  • 6735 Madhatter (the Mad Hatter)
  • 6736 Marchare (the March Hare)
• Fabulous beasts described or mentioned by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky
  • 7470 Jabberwock (the Jabberwock)
  • 7980 Bandersnatch (the Bandersnatch)
• 7796 Járacimrman (Jára Cimrman, a fictional Czech genius)
• 9007 James Bond (James Bond, fictional spy created by Ian Fleming)
• 12448 Mr. Tompkins (Mr. Tompkins, hero of science books by George Gamow)
• 18610 Arthurdent (Arthur Dent, hapless protagonist in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series)
• Petit-Prince, moon of 45 Eugenia (The Little Prince, hero of book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

References

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Tribute to the Crew of Columbia." http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2003/columbia-tribute.cfm (accessed 17 May 2004).
• Kleť Observatory. "Kleť numbered minor planets" (9 May 2004). http://www.klet.org/names/ (accessed 12 May 2004).
• Minor Planet Center. "Minor Planet Names: Alphabetical List" (6 May 2004). http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/lists/MPNames.html (accessed 13 May 2004).
• Schmadel, Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (2nd ed.). Berlin; New York: Springer-Verlag, 1993.

See also

• List of asteroids
• List of noteworthy asteroids
• List of asteroids named after places
• Meanings of asteroid names