How meteorites get their names

Every officially recognised meteorite has a unique name. Learning how names work helps you read any meteorite label or catalogue.

Named after places

Meteorites are named after the place where they fell or were found, usually a nearby town, village, river or other geographical feature. Winchcombe fell near the town of Winchcombe in England. Allende fell near the village of Pueblito de Allende in Mexico. Murchison fell near the town of Murchison in Australia.

Names are approved by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society, an international scientific organisation. Approved meteorites are published in the Meteoritical Bulletin, which acts as the official register. The total now exceeds 70,000 approved meteorites and grows by thousands each year.

To be approved, a meteorite must be described and classified by a qualified scientist, and a type specimen must be deposited in a recognised collection where researchers can study it.

Numbers in names

In some areas, so many meteorites are found that place names alone would run out. These are called dense collection areas, and meteorites there are given a place name followed by a number.

Antarctic meteorites are named after the icefield or nearby feature, plus a number that includes the collecting season. For example, ALH 84001 was the first sample catalogued from the Allan Hills collected in the 1984–85 season. Yamato meteorites are named after the Yamato Mountains, where Japanese teams have collected thousands.

In the Sahara, many meteorites are bought from dealers without precise locations. These are given the name Northwest Africa, or NWA, plus a number, such as NWA 7034. Other desert names include Dhofar and Sayh al Uhaymir in Oman and Dar al Gani in Libya.

Reading a classification label

A meteorite's name is usually followed by its classification, a short code that summarises what kind of rock it is. For example, a label might read: Winchcombe, CM2, fall, 2021.

This means Winchcombe belongs to the CM group of carbonaceous chondrites and is petrologic type 2, indicating it was altered by water on its parent body. You will learn these codes in detail at the enthusiast level.

Other labels you might see include H5 for an ordinary chondrite, eucrite for a basaltic achondrite from Vesta, or IIIAB for a chemical group of iron meteorites. Some labels add extra codes for shock and weathering. Once you can read these labels, a museum display or catalogue becomes much more informative. Labels may also note whether the meteorite was a fall or a find.

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