# Who named Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015 "2003-12-09T21:25:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sundaisybabie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sundaisybabie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundaisybabie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/1 "2003-12-09T21:25:54Z")
I was watching a discovery channel show the other night on the solar system and it occurred to me to ask…“Who named Earth?” I haven’t been able to find anything online so far, does anyone have information/suggestions. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/2 "2003-12-09T21:29:57Z")
Every distinct culture has had it’s own name for our planet. Of course, for much of history, we didn’t _know_ it was a planet. so, it’s natural that terms for “ground” or “dirt” came to be used as the name for the planet as well. in Latin, it was Terra; in Greek, it was Geos. ---
**Author:** ![Eric\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@Eric\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric_II)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/3 "2003-12-09T21:30:56Z")
The MAN! ---
**Author:** ![sundaisybabie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@sundaisybabie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundaisybabie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/4 "2003-12-09T21:36:51Z")
Thanks Q.E.D. Makes perfect sense. And, Eric II, thanks too. I wasn’t really sure…(ha ha!) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/5 "2003-12-09T21:56:05Z")
**E. Arth** ur ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/6 "2003-12-09T22:53:03Z")
So, if the terrain had been generally a little wetter, we’d have called our planet ‘mud’? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/7 "2003-12-09T23:13:06Z")
[http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/earth.html](http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/earth.html) > [@](#): > > Earth is the only planet whose English name does not derive from Greek/Roman mythology. The name derives from Old English and Germanic. The German word for ground is [Erde.](http://german.realdictionary.com/German/Erde-f.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Gamaliel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b487fb/32.png) [@Gamaliel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gamaliel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/8 "2003-12-09T23:54:42Z")
Once we get out into the galaxy, I think the other races are gonna laugh at us because we named our planet “dirt”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/9 "2003-12-10T00:00:45Z")
Not to worry; there’s always someone worse off than yourself; the compost creatures of the Gyzinticor III star system happened to name their own planet ‘Shite’ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-named-earth/218015/10 "2003-12-10T00:08:19Z")
The ironic thing is that in their language, it means “smells like roses”