Is naming a star legit, or a scam?

Last updated 31 October 2026

Is naming a star real?

Partly, and it matters which part. The star is real: a catalogued star with a reference number and coordinates you can check. The record is real: your dedication is written once in our register, and anyone can look it up. The name is not official: astronomers will never use it, because only the International Astronomical Union assigns star names, and it does not sell them.

So can you really name a star? Yes, as a personal dedication that is written down and can be verified. No, as a name the scientific world adopts. Any company that tells you otherwise is the problem, not the gift.

What's actually real

The star is real. Reputable star naming companies — ours included — allocate genuine stars from scientific catalogues (we use the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues, compiled by the European Space Agency's Hipparcos mission). The coordinates on your certificate point to a real ball of burning gas, in a real constellation you can find on any clear night. The register entry is real too: your dedication is recorded in our register, a star named for eternity on our database. Each star in our register can only be named once, and anyone can verify an entry by its registry number.

What nobody can sell you

Official star names are assigned by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) — the scientific body responsible for celestial naming since 1919. The IAU does not sell naming rights, at any price, to anyone. Astronomers will never call your star by the name on your certificate. That's true of every star naming company in the world, whatever their paperwork implies — including the ones with "official", "registry" or "international" in their names.

So when review sites and astronomers say "star naming is a scam", what they mean is: the pretence of officialness is a scam. They're right. The symbol, honestly sold, is not — no more than an engraved locket is a scam because the jeweller didn't legally rename your grandmother.

How to spot a dishonest star company

• They imply officialness — "internationally registered", "legally recorded", or certificates dressed up as government documents.
• They bury the truth — if the word "symbolic" appears only in the small print of the terms page, that's deliberate.
• They won't show the star — no catalogue number, no coordinates you can check, no way to verify the entry after purchase.
• They resell — no public register means nothing stops the same star being sold twice. Ask how their allocation is verified.
• Vanishing registries — a register that exists only on paper dies with the printer. Ask what happens to the record in ten years.

How we do it

We tell you plainly that it's symbolic — in our homepage FAQ, on every guide page, in our terms and on the certificate itself. Every star we allocate has its genuine catalogue reference (HIP or TYC number) and coordinates printed on your documents; every entry is publicly verifiable at any time by registry number; and each star in our register can only be named once. You can read exactly how it all works in our honest guide.

So — should you name a star?

If you want to legally rename part of the universe: no one can sell you that, save your money. If you want to point to a real star's place in the night sky and say "that one's yours" — and have it written down where anyone can look it up — then yes. That's what star naming honestly is, and it's why people have loved it for decades. From £9.99 digitally, £19.99 for the Physical Gift Pack, or £29.99 for the Twin Star Gift Pack, posted free in the UK.

Common questions

Read next: Is the star register real? · Name a star or adopt a star? · How much does it cost? · How to choose a company · Star naming companies compared