Bright stars from
first to
third magnitude have proper names that have been in use for hundreds of years. Most of them are Arabic (e.g., Betelgeuse, Dubhe). J. Bayer of
Bavaria introduced his
system for star names in 1603. Bayer assigned
successive letters of the
Greek alphabet to the brighter stars of each
constellation. Each Bayer designation is the Greek letter with the
genitive form of the constellation name.(
Polaris is Alpha Ursae Minoris. (Although he wasn't
consistent: Bayer switched brightness order for
serial order in assigning Greek letters in the
Ursa Major, going from
cup to
handle).
Faint stars are designated in catalogs like
the The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Catalogue, the Yale Star Catalog, and The Henry Draper Catalog, and the Bonner Durchmusterung, compiled at Bonn Observatory starting in 1837. A third of a million stars are listed by "BD numbers."
These procedures and catalogs accepted by the International Astronomical Union are the only means by which stars receive
long-lasting names. So if you're buying a name from the Celestial Registry, you're doing so for your own amusement
Source: International Planetarium Society