It bore the traditional name Ancha; Medieval Latin for "the haunch". In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN)[8] to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name Ancha for this star on 12 September 2016, and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.[7]
In Chinese, 泣 (Qì), meaning Weeping, refers to an asterism consisting of Theta Aquarii and Rho Aquarii.[9] Consequently, the Chinese name for Theta Aquarii itself is 泣二 (Qì èr, English: the Second Star of Weeping).[10] Possibly, the name Lei, meaning "tears (weeping)" in Chinese, derives from the Chinese name for this star.[11]
^ abcdGutierrez-Moreno, Adelina; et al. (1966). "A System of photometric standards". Publications of the Department of Astronomy University of Chile. 1. Publicaciones Universidad de Chile, Department de Astronomy: 1–17. Bibcode:1966PDAUC...1....1G.
^ abPizzolato, N.; Maggio, A.; Sciortino, S. (September 2000), "Evolution of X-ray activity of 1-3 Msun late-type stars in early post-main-sequence phases", Astronomy and Astrophysics, 361: 614–628, Bibcode:2000A&A...361..614P.
^"The Colour of Stars", Australia Telescope, Outreach and Education, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, December 21, 2004, archived from the original on 2013-12-03, retrieved 2012-01-16.