The English name for Earth comes from the Anglo-Saxon erda or ertha, meaning “land” or “soil.” It is the only planet not named after a Greek or Roman god. Other planets in our solar system have mythological names, such as Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus.
Planet Earth is known as Terra in Portuguese, Dünya in Turkish and Aarde in Dutch. The English name for our planet is thought to date back at least 1,000 years, derived from the Anglo-Saxon erda or ertha and its Germanic equivalent, erde. All of these terms have similar etymologies, essentially meaning “land” or “soil.” But there’s no definitive way to know exactly how Earth got its name. Interestingly, it is the only planet in the Solar System not named after a Greek or Roman god or goddess.
Third Rock from the Sun:
The Romans called the five planets visible from Earth. Venus, the planet that appears the brightest, is named after the Roman goddess of beauty. Mars is named after the god of war.
Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture and Jupiter is named after the king of the Roman gods.
The German-British astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Uranus in 1781, wanted to name it Georgium Sidus (“George’s Star”) in honor of King George III. The name wasn’t particularly popular outside of Britain, and some argued that the planet should have had a mythological name. The name Uranus (father of Saturn and grandfather of Jupiter) was officially adopted in 1850.
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