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 Meanings that do not quote a reference (the "†" links) are tentative.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 |
|---|---|---|
| 55001–55100 | ||
| 55082 Xlendi | 2001 QJ110 | Xlendi, Gozo, Malta † |
| 55101–55200 | ||
| 55108 Beamueller | 2001 QU142 | Beatrice E. A. Mueller, American astronomer † |
| 55112 Mariangela | 2001 QQ153 | Maria Angels Gassol i Avante, wife of the discoverer † |
| 55196 Marchini | 2001 RM16 | Alessandro Marchini, Italian computer scientist, astronomy popularizer, and director of the University of Siena's Osservatorio Astronomico di Torre Luciana (Astronomical Observatory of Torre Luciana) † |
| 55201–55300 | ||
| 55221 Nancynoblitt | 2001 RM63 | Nancy Noblitt, a friend and loyal supporter of the Rose-Hulman Oakley Observatory (the discovery site) † |
| 55276 Kenlarner | 2001 SK10 | Ken Larner, American exploration geophysicist † |
| 55301–55400 | ||
| 55331 Putzi | 2001 SY115 | Antonie ("Putzi") T. Schwartz, American mother, artist and holistic health practitioner † |
| 55401–55500 | ||
| 55428 Cappellaro | 2001 TN47 | Enrico Cappellaro, Italian chief astronomer of the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (National Institute for Astrophysics) and director of the Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova (Padua Astronomical Observatory) † |
| 55477 Soroban | 2001 UC1 | Soroban, the Japanese abacus † ‡ |
| 55501–55600 | ||
| 55543 Nemeghaire | 2001 XN16 | Jean Nemeghaire, Belgian assistant at the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, the discoverer's physics teacher † |
| 55555 DNA | 2001 YR2 | DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid † |
| 55561 Madenberg | 2002 AF9 | Janet A. Stevens, née Madenberg, American amateur astronomer † |
| 55576 Amycus | 2002 GB10 | The centaur Amycus, son of Ophion, who attended Pirithous' wedding, fought against the Lapiths, and was killed by Pelates of Pella † |
| 55601–55700 | ||
| 55676 Klythios | 3034 T-1 | Klythios (Clytius), one of the Elders of Troy (Iliad, Book III) † |
| 55678 Lampos | 3291 T-1 | Lampos or Lampus, son of Laomedon, one of the Elders of the city of Troy, father of Dolops † |
| 55701–55800 | ||
| 55701 Ukalegon | 1193 T-3 | Ucalegon, one of the Elders of Troy, whose house was set on fire by the Achaeans when they sacked the city † |
| 55702 Thymoitos | 1302 T-3 | Thymoetes (Thymoitos), son of Laomedon, one of the Elders of the city of Troy, and the first to urge that the Trojan Horse be brought into the city † |
| 55733 Lepsius | 1986 WS2 | Karl Richard Lepsius, German egyptologist † |
| 55735 Magdeburg | 1987 QV | Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany † |
| 55749 Eulenspiegel | 1991 AT2 | Till Eulenspiegel, 14th-century character of Middle Low German oral tradition † |
| 55753 Raman | 1991 RF5 | Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Indian physicist † |
| 55755 Blythe | 1991 TB15 | Blythe Andra Lowe, Canadian geologist and the discoverer's wife † |
| 55759 Erdmannsdorff | 1991 XJ1 | Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Erdmannsdorff, German architect † |
| 55772 Loder | 1992 YB5 | Justus Christian Loder, German anatomist † |
| 55801–55900 | ||
| 55815 Melindakim | 1994 YU2 | Melinda Kim Dowling, née Steel, the discoverer's younger sister † |
| 55844 Bičák | 1996 RN2 | Jirí Bicák, Czech professor of theoretical physics at Charles University in Prague † |
| 55873 Shiomidake | 1997 UP7 | Shiomidake mountain, in northern Shizuoka, Japan † |
| 55874 Brlka | 1997 UL9 | Petr Brlka, Czech amateur astronomer † |
| 55875 Hirohatagaoka | 1997 VH | Hirohatagaoka, a hill on which is located Hadano High School, from which the discoverer graduated † |
| 55892 Fuzhougezhi | 1997 XQ5 | Fuzhou Gezhi High School, China, founded in 1846 † |
| 55901–56000 | ||
| 56000 Mesopotamia | 1998 SN144 | Mesopotamia, cradle of human civilization † |
| Preceded by 54,001–55,000 |
Meanings of minor planet names List of minor planets: 55,001–56,000 |
Succeeded by 56,001–57,000 |