There are several real or apparent name conflicts between different Solar System bodies, despite efforts to give every named body a distinct name. Most of these conflicts are between asteroids and natural satellites of planets, which are named according to different but partially overlapping schemes. Most satellites are named after people and divinities in Greek and Roman mythology; this is rarely true of asteroids currently, with the exception of centaurs and Jupiter trojans, but formerly many asteroids had mythological names, which consequently came into conflict with the names of natural satellites. Some Solar System bodies also share names with stars, exoplanets or constellations.
There are attempts to mitigate this among bodies in the Solar System. Asteroid 10386 Romulus was named in April 2002, and the moon (87) Sylvia I Romulus in August 2005. However, when the name "Nyx" was proposed for Pluto II in 2006, it was rejected because it conflicted with asteroid 3908 Nyx, and thus was resubmitted with the spelling "Nix".
Bodies with identical names and referents
Some of these bodies have exactly the same name, referring to the same mythological character. The earliest such conflicts possibly arose through not considering certain mythological names as "official"; for instance, the names Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto for the Galilean satellites of Jupiter were not used in astronomical literature of a certain era, their place being taken by Jupiter I, Jupiter II, Jupiter III, Jupiter IV (cf. Naming of moons).
Moon named first
In the earliest of these conflicts, the natural satellite was named first, and the conflict arose with the naming of an asteroid. These conflicts span the period 1858–1906.
Later conflicts arose in relatively recent times from giving newly discovered satellites the same names as those of asteroids. By this time, it was possibly felt that the true name of an asteroid such as "38 Leda" included its minor planet number, and so re-using the name for a satellite did not really create a conflict. These conflicts span the period 1975–2001, though some conflicts of this type had arisen earlier with some names used unofficially.
9 Metis, discovered 1848 and Metis, a moon of Jupiter, named 1983.
38 Leda, discovered 1856 and Leda, a moon of Jupiter, named 1975.
55 Pandora, discovered 1858 and Pandora, a moon of Saturn, named 1985.
113 Amalthea, discovered 1871 and Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter, discovered 1892; the name was suggested by Camille Flammarion shortly after its discovery, but it was not officially named until 1975.
171 Ophelia, discovered 1877 and Ophelia, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986.
239 Adrastea, discovered 1884 and Adrastea, a moon of Jupiter, named in 1983. Adrastea was also an unofficial name for Jupiter's moon Ananke (1955–1975).
Hiisi, binary companion of 47171 Lempo, named 2017 and Hiisi (HAT-P-38b), an exoplanet, named 2019.
Conflicts with disproven bodies
24 Themis, discovered 1853 and Themis, named 1905. The latter Themis was a supposed moon of Saturn that turned out not to exist.
Comets
By convention comets are named after their discoverers, so multiple comets often have the same name; they are differentiated by numerical designations. Comets can also share names with asteroids, for example Halley's Comet and 2688 Halley, both named after Edmond Halley.
Bodies with identical names and different referents
Some bodies have names of identical form, but were actually named for different persons or things.
218 Bianca, discovered 1880, was named after opera singer Bianca Bianchi and Bianca, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986, was named after a Shakespeare character.
1162 Larissa, discovered 1930, was named for the Thessalian town Larissa and Larissa, a moon of Neptune, discovered 1981, was named after the nymph Larissa.
Imai (δ Crucis) is a traditional Mursi name, referring to the grass that grows along the banks of the Omo River. 8271 Imai was named in 2012 after Yasushi Imai, president of a planetarium manufacturing company.
Peacock (α Pavonis) was named in the 1930s after the peacock, which its constellation Pavo represents. 18727 Peacock was named in 2007 after Anthony Peacock, project scientist for the Exosat and XMM-Newton missions.
Some objects have names that refer to the same mythological character, but slight variations in spelling prevent there from being a technical conflict.
Moon named first
Callisto, a moon of Jupiter, named 1614 and 204 Kallisto, discovered 1879, both variant transliterations of the name of the nymphCallisto.
Ganymede, a moon of Jupiter, named 1614 and 1036 Ganymed, discovered 1924, both named for Zeus' cupbearer. The name in Latin is Ganymedes, of which Ganymede is an English form and Ganymed a German one. The names are therefore in full conflict in German.
548 Kressida, discovered 1904 and Cressida, a moon of Uranus, discovered 1986, both named after Cressida, a heroine in English-language versions of the Troy legend (in the case of the moon of Uranus, by way of Shakespeare).
657 Gunlöd, discovered 1908 and Gunnlod, a moon of Saturn, named 2022, both named after Norse giantess Gunnlöð
899 Jokaste, discovered 1918 and Iocaste, a moon of Jupiter, named 2002, both named for Queen Jocasta of Thebes.
763 Cupido, discovered 1913 and Cupid, a moon of Uranus, discovered 2003, after the Roman god Cupid. Cupido is the Latin form, Cupid a modification of the same used in English. The name of the moon Cupid specifically refers to Cupid appearing as a character in the play Timon of Athens.
3908 Nyx, discovered 1980 and Nix, a moon of Pluto, named 2006, both named for Nyx, goddess of night.
558 Carmen, discovered 1905, named after the title character of Bizet's Carmen; and Carme, a moon of Jupiter, discovered 1938, named after the mythological Carme, mother by Zeus of the goddess Britomartis.
Several bodies have completely distinct names, but may be confused because their names refer to the same thing or the same mythological character. This is usually true when one name is Latin and another Greek, and causes special confusion in Greek, where the Greek forms of all mythological names are used in preference to the Latin names.
Conflicts with non-minor or Solar System bodies
Some of the conflicts are with planets and satellites, or other astronomical objects with long-established names.
There was a potential conflict between Saturn and Cronus, a suggested name for Pluto, discovered 1930. "Kronos" is also a nickname for the star HD 240430.
10 Hygiea, discovered 1849, and Valetudo, a moon of Jupiter discovered 2018. Named for Hygieia (Valetudo in Roman mythology), the goddess of personal healing.
There was also a potential conflict between Hades, an unofficial name for Sinope, a moon of Jupiter between 1955 and 1975, and Pluto.
Vulcan, a hypothetical planet once proposed to exist in an orbit between Mercury and the Sun, and 2212 Hephaistos, discovered 1978.
Theia, a planet supposed to have collided with the early Earth, producing the Moon as a result, and 106 Dione, discovered 1868, and 405 Thia, discovered 1895. The equivalence between Dione and Thia is less certain.
Tyche, a hypothetical planet residing in the Oort cloud whose existence was ruled out in 2014, and 19 Fortuna, discovered 1852, and 258 Tyche, discovered 1886.
Siarnaq, a moon of Saturn discovered 2000, and 90377 Sedna, discovered 2003.
Conflicts among asteroids
Other conflicts occurred between asteroids discovered earlier and those discovered later.
1 Ceres, discovered 1801 and 1108 Demeter, discovered 1929. Demeter was also an unofficial name for Jupiter's moon Lysithea 1955–1975. Named for the goddess Demeter. (In Greek, both objects are named Demeter, as 1 Ceres was discovered at a time when new "planets" were being named in Greek after the Greek equivalents of the Latin mythological names they were given upon discovery. As a result, 1 Ceres was given the Modern Greek name Δήμητρα (Dēmētra). Later, when 1108 was discovered and named, to avoid conflict it was given the Ancient Greek form, Δημήτηρ (Dēmētēr).)
2 Pallas, named 1802, 93 Minerva, discovered 1867, and 881 Athene, discovered 1917. It might be argued that "Pallas" here does not actually refer to the goddess Athene, but rather her mythological companion Pallas; however, in the 19th century "Pallas" was commonly used as shorthand for "Pallas Athene", and in the company of Ceres, Juno, and Vesta, it seems more likely that Athene was intended.
3 Juno, discovered 1804, 103 Hera, discovered 1868 and 55637 Uni, discovered 2002. Hera was also an unofficial name for Jupiter's moon Elara 1955–1975. Named for the goddess Hera.
4 Vesta, discovered 1807 and 46 Hestia, discovered 1857. Hestia was also an unofficial name for Jupiter's moon Himalia 1955–1975. Named for the goddess Hestia.
78 Diana, discovered 1863 and 105 Artemis, discovered 1868 and 395 Delia and 15992 Cynthia. These names all refer to the goddess Artemis, the last two being epithets derived from placenames associated with the goddess.
94 Aurora, discovered 1867 and 221 Eos discovered 1882. Named for the goddess of the dawn.
104 Klymene, discovered 1868 and 356217 Clymene, discovered 2009. 104 Klymene was named after one of the many Clymenes in Greek mythology, while 356217 Clymene was named specifically after the Cretan princess; the daughter of King Catreus.
433 Eros, discovered 1898 and 763 Cupido, discovered 1913 and 1221 Amor discovered 1932, the first being the Greek, and the second and third Latin renditions of the name of Eros, the god of love.
