List of names for the Milky Way explained

This list of names for the Milky Way are in various languages. Some of them derive from myths, which can be found at Milky Way (mythology).

Before galaxies in the modern sense were discovered, in Europe "the Galaxy" was another name for the Milky Way.

List of names in various languages

• Afrikaans: Melkweg "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Albanian: Kashta e Kumtrit "Godfather's Straw"
• Apulian: Strascine de Sande Jàchepe "St. James' trail"
• Arabic: درب التبانة darb at-tabbāna "Haymakers' Way" (classical)
• Arabic: درب اللبانة darb al-labbāna "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Aramaic: נהר די נור "Fire Stream"/"River of Light", from the Bible
• Armenian: Հարդագողի ճանապարհ hardagoghi chanaparh "Straw Thief's Way", from a myth.^[1]
• Akkadian: ṣerret šamê "the snake of the skies"^[2]
• Basque: Esne bidea, translated from Latin
• Belarusian: Млечны Шлях "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Berber languages:
  • Kabyle: Asif n igenwan The heavens river
  • Tamashek: ⵎⵂⵍⵍⴰⵡ (mehellaw)
  • Tasusit: ⴰⵖⴰⵔⴰⵙ ⵏ ⵡⴰⵍⵉⵎ (agharas n walim) "Haymakers Way"
• Belarusian: Птушыная дарога "Way of the Birds"
• Bengali: ছায়াপথ Chāy.āpath "Shadow Path"/"Reflected Path"
• Bengali: আকাশগঙ্গা Ākāśagaŋgā "Ganges of the Aether (Upper Sky)", from a Milky Way
• Bosnian: Mliječni Put, "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Bulgarian: Млечен Път, "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Catalan; Valencian: Via Làctia "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Catalan; Valencian: Camí de Sant Jaume, "The camino (way) of St. James"
• Chechen: Ça Taxina Taça "the route of scattered straw"
• Cherokee: ᎩᎵ ᎤᎵᏒᏍᏓᏅᏱ|translit=Gili Ulisəsdanəyi|lit=The Way the Dog Ran Away, from a myth
• (Yínhé) "Silver River", 星漢 (Xīnghàn) "Star River", 天河 (Tiānhé) "Heaven River", 絳河 (Jiànghé) "River with Southern Color"
• Chuvash: Хуркайӑк ҫулӗ "Way of the Gray goose"
• Cornish: Hyns Sen Jamys "Saint James Way"^[3]
• Croatian: Mliječna Staza "Milky Way", translated from Latin.
• Croatian: Kumova slama Godfather's straw (traditional.)
• Mléčná dráha "Milky Way", translated from Greek or Latin
• Danish: Mælkevejen "The Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Dutch; Flemish: Melkweg "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• English: Milky Way, translated from Latin^[4]
• Erzya: Каргонь ки "Way of the Crane"
• Esperanto: Lakta Vojo "Milky Way", translated from Latin.
• Estonian: Linnutee "Way of Birds", from a myth
• Finnish: Linnunrata "Way of Birds", from a myth
• Faroese: Vetrarbreytin "The Winter Way"
• French: La Voie Lactée "The Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Galician: Via Láctea "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Galician: Camiño de Santiago, "The Road to Santiago"
• Georgian: ირმის ნახტომი, Georgian: irmis nakhtomi "The Deer's Leap"
• German: Milchstraße "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Gujarati: આકાશગંગા Ākāśagaṃgā "Ganges of the Aether (Upper Sky)", from a Hindu myth^[1]
• Greek, Modern (1453-);: Γαλακτικός κύκλος Galaktikos Kyklos "Milky Circle", from a myth
• Hawaiian: Hōkū-noho-aupuni "the ruling star"^[5]
• Hawaiian: Iʻa "fish"^[5]
• Hawaiian: Iʻa-lele-i-aka "fish jumping in shadows"^[5]
• Hawaiian: Kau^[5]
• Hawaiian: Lālani^[5]
• Hawaiian: Lele-aka^[5]
• Hawaiian: Leleiona "shark-sucker"^[5]
  • Hebrew: נהר האש "Fire Stream"/"River of Light", from the Bible Hebrew: שביל החלב "The Milky Way"
• Hindi: आकाशगंगा Ākāśagaṃgā, from ancient history
• Hungarian: Hadak Útja "The Road of the Warriors", from a myth (historical)
• Hungarian: Tejút "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Icelandic: Vetrarbrautin "The Winter Way"
• Bealach na Bó Finne "The Fair Cow's Path"
• Claí Mór na Réaltaí "Great Fence of the Stars"
• Slabhbra Luigh "Lugh's Chain"
• Indonesian: Bima Sakti "Magic Bhima", a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata
• Italian: Via Lattea "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Japanese: 天の川 Ama no Gawa "River of Heaven"
• Kannada: ಆಕಾಶಗಂಗಾ "Ganges of the Aether (Upper Sky)"
• Kashubian

Mlécznô Droga "The Milky Way"

• Kashubian

Ptôszô Droga "The Bird's Path"

• Korean: 은하수 Korean: eunhasu "Silver River", from Chinese 銀河水
• Korean: 미리내 (Korean: mirinae, Dragon's River) in pure Korean.
• Korean: 우리은하 Korean: uri eunha, "Our Galaxy"
• Kurdish: kadiz "Straw Thief"
• Latin: Via Lactea "Milky Way", translated from Greek
• Latvian: Piena Ceļš, "The Milky Way", or Putnu ceļš, "The Birds' Path"
• Lojban: barda tarci bo girzu, "large-star group"
• Lithuanian: Paukščių Takas, The Birds' Path
• Malay: Bima Sakti, a character from the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata
  • Malayalam: ആകാശഗംഗ "Ganges of the Aether (Upper Sky)", from a Hindu myth Malayalam: ക്ഷീരപഥം "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Malayalam: പാലാഴി "Sea of Milk" (alternative)
• Macedonian: Млечен Пат "Milky Way"
• Marathi: आकाशगंगा "Ganges of the Aether (Upper Sky)”, translated from "the river of heaven”
• Mongolian: Тэнгэрийн заадас, Тэнгэрийн заадал "Heaven's Seam"
• Mongolian: Сүүн зам "Milky Way", translated from Greek
• Maltese: Triq Sant' Anna, "St Anne's way"
• Кайыккомбо корно, "Way of the Gray goose"
• მეშხურეშ შარა meshkhuresh shara "The Shepherd's Road"
• Norwegian: Melkeveien "The Milky Way" (Bokmål, comes from Danish)
• Norwegian: Vinterbrauta "The Winter Way" (Nynorsk, related to Icelandic)
• Persian: كهكشان Kehkashan "Straw-drawing" (traditional)
• Persian: راه شیری Rah-e Shiri "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Polish: Droga Mleczna "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Portuguese: Via Láctea "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Portuguese: Estrada de Santiago "The Road of Santiago"
• Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Calea Lactee "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: Calea Robilor or Drumul Robilor ("The Road of the Slaves")
• Russian: Млечный путь "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Sanskrit: मंदाकिनी Maṃdākinī, "the calm or unhurried one (feminine)" in Vedic, personal name of Ākāśagaṃgā (see Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi)^[6]
• Sanskrit: अर्यम्णः पन्थाः Aryamṇáḥ Pánthāḥ, "Aryaman's Path"
• Sardinian: Sa bia de sa paza "the Way of Straw"
• Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Slighe Chlann Uisnich "the path of the children of Uisneach" from Celtic mythology
• Serbian: Kumova slama "Godfather's straw", from Serbian folk myth
• Serbian: Кумова слама "Godfather's straw", from Serbian folk myth
• Slovak: Mliečna dráha "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Slovenian: Rimska cesta "The Roman Road", because pilgrims followed it when traveling to Rome
• Spanish; Castilian: Via láctea "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Spanish; Castilian: Compostela "Field of Stars", originally from Latin
• Spanish; Castilian: Camino de Santiago "The Road to Santiago"
• Swedish: Vintergatan "The Winter Street", from an old myth
• Classical Syriac: ܐܘܼܪܚܵܐ ܕܓܹܢܵ̈ܒ݂ܹܐ "The Road of Thieves"^[7]
• Tamil: பால் வழி Pāl Vaļi "Milky Way", translated from Latin
• Telugu: పాల పుంత Pāla Puṃta
• Thai: ทางช้างเผือก "The way of the white elephant"
• Turkish: Samanyolu "Road of Straw"
• Ukrainian: Чумацький шлях "Chumaks' Road"
• Urdu: کہکشاں Kehkashaṉ, "Straw-drawing", derived from Persian.
• Vietnamese: Ngân Hà "Silver River", translated from Chinese
• Tsirgurada "Way of Birds", from a myth
• Welsh: Llwybr Llaethog "Milky Way", translated from the Latin
• Welsh: Caer Wydion "The Fort of Gwydion"

Aboriginal Australian languages

The Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains of South Australia called the Milky Way wodliparri in the Kaurna language, meaning "house river".^[8] The Gomeroi people between New South Wales and Queensland called the Milky Way Dhinawan, the giant Emu in the Sky that it stretches across the night sky. ^[9]

Common names

Birds' Path

The name "Birds' Path" is used in several Uralic and Turkic languages and in the Baltic languages. Northern peoples observed that migratory birds follow the course of the galaxy^[10] while migrating at the Northern Hemisphere. The name "Birds' Path" (in Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Bashkir and Kazakh) has some variations in other languages, e.g. "Way of the grey (wild) goose" in Chuvash, Mari and Tatar and "Way of the Crane" in Erzya and Moksha.

Milky Way

Many European languages have borrowed, directly or indirectly, the Greek name for the Milky Way, including English and Latin.

Road to Santiago

The Milky Way was traditionally used as a guide by pilgrims traveling to the holy site at Compostela, hence the use of "The Road to Santiago" as a name for the Milky Way.^[4] Curiously, La Voje Ladee "The Milky Way" was also used to refer to the pilgrimage road.^[11]

River Ganga of the Sky

The Sanskrit name "River Ganga of the Sky" (Sanskrit: आकाशगंगा Ākāśagaṃgā) is used in many Indian languages following a Hindu belief .

Silver River

The Chinese name "Silver River" (Chinese: 銀河) is used throughout East Asia, including Korea and Vietnam. In Japan and Korea, "Silver River" means galaxies in general.

River of Heaven

The Japanese name for the Milky Way is the "River of Heaven" (Japanese: 天の川), as well as an alternative name in Chinese .

Straw Way

In West Asia, Central Asia and parts of the Balkans the name for the Milky Way is related to the word for straw. Today, Persians, Pakistanis, and Turks use it in addition to Arabs. It has been suggested that the term was spread by medieval Arabs who in turn borrowed it from Armenians.^[12]

Walsingham Way

In England the Milky Way was called the Walsingham Way in reference to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham which is in Norfolk, England. It was understood to be either a guide to the pilgrims who flocked there, or a representation of the pilgrims themselves.^[13]

Winter Street

Scandinavian peoples, such as Swedes, have called the galaxy Winter Street (Vintergatan) as the galaxy is most clearly visible during the winter at the northern hemisphere, especially at high latitudes where the glow of the Sun late at night can obscure it during the summer.

See also

• List of galaxies
• List of largest galaxies
• List of nearest galaxies

Notes and References

1. Web site: Toivanen . Sampsa . Sipilä, Heikki . What is the Milky Way called in different languages? . 2007-01-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060925125110/http://users.tkk.fi/~stoivane/milkyway/ . 2006-09-25.
2. Web site: Sureth Dictionary . Milky Way . www.assyrianlanguages.org . Association Assyrophile de France . 2019-01-29.
3. Web site: Cornish Dictionary. Cornish Language Partnership. 1 March 2018.
4. Book: Macleod , Fiona . William Sharp (writer) . Where the forest murmurs . Chapter 21: Milky Way . Duffield & Company . 1911 . New York . true . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070217215638/http://www.sundown.pair.com/SundownShores/Volume_VI/ForestMurmers/milky%20way.htm . 17 February 2007.
5. Web site: Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi . Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi . 2019-01-29.
6. Web site: HRODRIGUES . GANGA: GODDESS AND SACRED RIVER . 22 June 2008 . 2018-11-19.
7. Web site: Sureth dictionary . Milky Way . www.assyrianlanguages.org . Association Assyrophile de France . 2019-01-29.
8. Web site: Reconciliation . Adelaide City Council . 26 February 2020 . 12 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190712144216/https://www.adelaide.edu.au/kwp/placenames/council/areas/map_kwp.html . dead .
9. Web site: Rami . Mandow . Moonhack – Coding the Story of the Emu in the Sky . Space Australia . 2021-05-03 . 2022-06-05.
10. ^ Sauer, EGF (July 1971). "Celestial Rotation and Stellar Orientation in Migratory Warblers". Science 30: 459–461.
11. Web site: The Pilgrim's Way: El Camino de Santiago . 2007-01-06 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061217160109/http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/telegraph/04camino/04000001.htm . 17 December 2006.
12. Harutyunyan . Hayk . The Armenian name of the Milky Way . ArAS News . 6 . Armenian Astronomical Society (ArAS) . 2003-08-29 . 2009-08-10 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060429194053/http://www.aras.am/ARASNEWS/arasnews06.html . 29 April 2006 .
13. Web site: Bogle. Joanna. A Pilgrimage to Walsingham, 'England's Nazareth'. National Catholic Register. 16 September 2011 . EWTN. 2013-11-13.