As minor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by the IAU's Minor Planet Center, 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 span of numbers that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names. Besides the Minor Planet Circulars (in which the citations are published), a key source is Lutz D. Schmadel's Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Meanings that do not quote a reference (the "†" links) are tentative.
Minor planets not yet given a name have not been included in this list.
| Contents: |
|---|
| Name | Provisional Designation | Source of Name |
|---|---|---|
| 72001–72100 | ||
| 72021 Yisunji | 2000 XJ15 | Yi Sunji, Korean Joseon Dynasty astronomer † |
| 72037 Castelldefels | 2000 XN44 | Castelldefels, Spain † |
| 72059 Heojun | 2000 YC16 | Heo Jun, Korean medical scientist † |
| 72060 Hohhot | 2000 YG16 | Hohhot, capital city of the province of Inner Mongolia, China † |
| 72071 Gábor | 2000 YO33 | Dénes Gábor, Hungarian-American 1971 Nobelist for Physics, for his invention and development of the holographic method † |
| 72501–72600 | ||
| 72543 Simonemarchi | 2001 DN106 | Simone Marchi, Italian astronomer † |
| 72596 Zilkha | 2001 FF9 | Michael and Nina Zilkha, American entrepreneurs and philanthropists † |
| 72601–72700 | ||
| 72633 Randygroth | 2001 FJ31 | Randall H. Groth, American Associate Vice-President of the University of Arizona, key player in establishing Patterson Observatory † |
| 72801–72900 | ||
| 72804 Caldentey | 2001 GQ | Maria-Dolorès Caldentey Rius, Spanish founding member of the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, observatory and planetarium designer † |
| 72819 Brunet | 2001 HX | Joseph Brunet, French astronomer involved in the construction of the Observatoire de Saint-Véran † |
| 72827 Maxaub | 2001 HT8 | Max Aub, Franco-Spanish writer † |
| 72876 Vauriot | 2001 KH2 | Pierre Vauriot, 20th-century French professor of mathematics, variable star astronomer and astronomy popularizer, co-founder of the Société astronomique de Montpellier (Astronomical Society of Montpellier) † |
| Preceded by 71,001–72,000 |
Meanings of minor planet names List of minor planets: 72,001–73,000 |
Succeeded by 73,001–74,000 |