Ice Planet Name Generator

Ice planets in science fiction are named in a handful of recognizable ways, and the name usually tells you who named it. A world charted by a survey ship gets a catalog designation: a star plus a numeral (Thule IX, Procyon VII) or a discoverer's possessive (Barnard's Cold, Teegarden's Drift, Halvard's Reach). A world settled by colonists gets a name that admits how bleak it is, which is where you find Whiteout, Last Thaw, Forty Below, and Where the Sun Fails. Worlds with older or alien histories carry coined names whose sounds do the work: hard k, v, and r clusters with long vowels (Vyrrhos, Kelthane, Ossendar, Veskarath) read as cold and remote.

Real languages of cold places are the other great source. Old Norse and Scandinavian roots give Isenheim, Thrymheim, Niflgard, and Hrimfaxi, and Inuit, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese weather words supply Siku, Sermeq, Purga, Fubuki, and Bingchuan. Latin and Greek supply the clinical register that scientists and empires prefer: Nivalis, Frigoris, Glacies, Kryokos, Pagetos.

Use the style to signal the planet's role in your story. A designation suits a forgotten mining colony, a coined alien name suits a lost civilization under the ice, and a possessive name like Skadi's Rest or Einar's Lament hints at a tragedy worth writing.