As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU's naming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
Official naming citations of newly named small Solar System bodies are published in MPC's Minor Planet Circulars several times a year.[1] Recent citations can also be found on the JPL Small-Body Database (SBDB).[2] Until his death in 2016, German astronomer Lutz D. Schmadel compiled these citations into the Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (DMP) and regularly updated the collection.[3][4] Based on Paul Herget's The Names of the Minor Planets,[5] Schmadel also researched the unclear origin of numerous asteroids, most of which had been named prior to World War II. Meanings marked with * are from legacy sources may not be accurate. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "SBDB".
Giuseppe Zan Zanini (1794–1869) lived in Val Bavona and Val Foiòi in Ticino, Switzerland. His history is a symbol of the hard life and fragile existence supported by the valley inhabitants of Ticino in 1800.
Václav Knoll (born 1964) has been a prominent promoter and popularizer of astronomy, natural sciences and technologies in the Czech city and region of Pardubice and particularly for young people. Since 1994 he has been the chief of the Pardubice's observatory of Baron Arthur Kraus.
Alberto Angela (born 1962) is a well-known Italian science writer and the host of a number of popular television programs on science, technology and the environment.
George Winters (born 1950) is the former Secretary of the Association of Paleontological Suppliers (AAPS) and recipient of the prestigious Sternberg Medal from the AAPS in 2018.