Many ancient sky-watching cultures noticed Jupiter and gave it a name. The Romans named it after the king of their gods. The Greeks, Babylonians, Hindus, Chinese, and many others all had their own names — and their own stories. This page explores them all. To learn about the science of Jupiter itself, see the main Jupiter pillar.
The planet is named after the Roman king of the gods, whose Latin name Iuppiter is linked to an old idea of a “sky-father.” The Romans gave one of the brightest wandering lights in the sky the name of their most powerful god. Today we know Jupiter is also the biggest planet — but the Romans didn’t know that. Many other cultures had their own names — like Zeus (Greek), Marduk (Babylonian), Brihaspati (Hindu), and the Wood Star (Chinese).
Look up at Jupiter in the night sky if it’s visible. (Need help finding it? See How to See Jupiter.) Now imagine you are watching it 3,000 years ago, with no telescopes, no electric lights, no idea what planets really are. Wouldn’t that bright, slow-moving “star” look like the home of a god? That’s how every culture in this guide felt the first time they saw it.
📋 Jupiter’s names — Quick Facts
- Roman nameJupiter (Iuppiter, also Jove) — king of the gods, sky-father, god of thunder
- Latin meaning“Sky-father” (from “dyēus” = sky + “patēr” = father)
- Greek name for the godZeus — king of Mount Olympus, equivalent to Jupiter
- Greek name for the planetPhaethon — “shining” or “blazing”
- Babylonian nameMarduk — chief god of Babylon, god of thunder and storms
- Hindu nameBrihaspati (also Guru) — teacher of the gods, one of the nine Navagraha
- Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese nameWood Star (木星 / mùxīng) — in the five-element planet system
- Norse equivalentThor — Germanic/Norse thunder god, culturally linked with Jupiter through Thursday and Roman comparisons
- Etruscan nameTinia — supreme storm god
- Famous symbolsLightning bolt, eagle, oak tree, royal throne
- Why this planet?Because Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky — only the Moon and Venus normally outshine it
- Days of the week linked to JupiterThursday is linked to Jupiter, Thor, or the Wood Star in many languages: Latin Iovis dies, French Jeudi, Italian Giovedì, Spanish Jueves, Hindi Brihaspativara
Some names on this page come from ancient myths, while others are still important in living cultures and religions today. We describe them respectfully as names and stories connected to astronomy. Brihaspati, for example, is still meaningful in Hindu traditions; the Wood Star is still used in East Asian languages and calendars. These are not just “old stories” — they are part of how people around the world still talk about the sky.
Jupiter the Roman god — where the name came from
In ancient Rome — about 2,000 years ago — Jupiter (Latin: Iuppiter, sometimes called Jove) was the king of all the gods. He ruled the sky, the storms, and even the other gods. The Romans believed he watched over Rome itself.
The name “Iuppiter” actually comes from two even older words: “dyēus” meaning “sky,” and “patēr” meaning “father.” Together, “Sky-father.” The same ancient root is connected to names like Zeus in Greek, and possibly to other old Indo-European sky-god names — different cultures inherited the same very old sky-god from the same family of languages.
Jupiter’s famous symbols
- Lightning bolt — his weapon. When you saw lightning in the sky, the Romans believed it was Jupiter throwing thunderbolts.
- Eagle — his sacred animal. The eagle was powerful, soared high above other birds, and could fly close to the sky where Jupiter ruled.
- Oak tree — his sacred tree. Oaks were often struck by lightning, which the Romans saw as a sign Jupiter favoured them.
- Throne — because he was king of the gods.
When Roman astronomers looked up and saw one of the brightest “stars” moving slowly across the night sky, naming it after the king of their gods felt like the obvious choice. They knew the planet was bright and important; today we know it is also the biggest planet — but the Romans didn’t know that. (You can read more about how bright Jupiter looks in real life on the How to See Jupiter page.)
Jupiter around the world
The Romans were not the first to name the planet. Many ancient civilizations — some of them thousands of years before Rome — had their own names for the bright slow-moving “star” we now call Jupiter. Here is a tour of the most famous:
| Culture | Name for Jupiter | Meaning | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman | Jupiter (Iuppiter) | “Sky-father” | King of the gods, thunder and lightning |
| Greek | Zeus (god) / Phaethon (planet) | “Shining one” | King of the gods of Mount Olympus |
| Babylonian | Marduk | Chief god of Babylon | Patron god of the city of Babylon, storms |
| Hindu | Brihaspati (also Guru) | Lord of prayer / teacher | Teacher of the gods; one of the nine Navagraha |
| Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese | Wood Star (木星) | “Tree planet” | Part of the five-element planet system |
| Norse | Thor | Thunder god | Sky and thunder; gives English Thursday |
| Etruscan | Tinia | Sky and thunder god | Supreme storm deity of the Etruscans |
Greek: Zeus and Phaethon
In Greek mythology, the king of the gods was Zeus, who ruled from Mount Olympus and threw thunderbolts — a very Jupiter-like god. The Romans borrowed almost all of his stories and renamed him Jupiter. But here’s the twist: in ancient Greek astronomy, Jupiter was associated with Zeus and was also known by the planet-name “Phaethon”, meaning “shining” or “radiant.” Only later did the Roman name “Jupiter” become the planet’s common name in Western astronomy.
Babylonian: Marduk
In ancient Mesopotamia — the world’s first cities, in what is now Iraq — the planet we call Jupiter was identified with Marduk, the chief god of Babylon. Marduk was a thunder god, similar to Jupiter and Zeus, and he was so important that his temple in Babylon was one of the largest buildings in the ancient world.
The Babylonians were among the very first astronomers. They kept careful records of the planets’ movements going back more than 3,000 years. The Greeks and Romans later borrowed much of their astronomy from Babylonian work.
Hindu: Brihaspati
In Hindu astronomy, the planet Jupiter is called Brihaspati (sometimes also Guru). Brihaspati is both a god and a planet — connected with wisdom and teaching, and one of the nine Navagraha (the nine heavenly bodies of Hindu astrology). The name Guru can mean teacher, and is also linked with the idea of being weighty or important — fitting for a planet so massive.
Brihaspati appears in some of the world’s oldest written texts — the Vedas, which date back more than 3,000 years. Even today, Thursday in Hindi is called Brihaspativara — Brihaspati’s day.
East Asian: the Wood Star
In China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, the five planets visible to the naked eye were each named after one of the five classical elements of East Asian philosophy: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Jupiter became 木星 (mùxīng in Mandarin) — the Wood Star.
This naming system isn’t based on mythology in the same way the Roman one is — it’s based on a beautifully simple philosophical system that linked the planets to natural elements, colours, directions, and the cycles of life.
Norse: Thor
The Norse — the seafaring peoples of Scandinavia in the early Middle Ages — had their own thunder god: Thor. When the Romans expanded their empire into northern Europe, they often equated their own Jupiter with local sky and thunder gods. Thor (Norse), Taranis (Celtic), and others were seen by Romans as “local versions of Jupiter,” even though they came from different cultures and languages.
Important note: Zeus and Jupiter share an old Indo-European “sky-father” root. Thor is a different Germanic thunder god — the name Thor doesn’t come from the same “sky-father” root. Thor got linked with Jupiter through comparison (similar role: thunder, sky) and through the naming of the weekday Thursday.
That is why Thursday in English comes from “Thor’s day” (Old English Þunresdæg), while in Romance languages (French, Italian, Spanish) the same day is named after Jupiter — Jeudi, Giovedì, Jueves.
Thursday is linked to Jupiter, Thor, or the Wood Star in many languages:
• English: Thursday — from “Thor’s day”
• French: Jeudi — from “Jovis dies” (Jupiter’s day)
• Italian: Giovedì — from “Jovis dies”
• Spanish: Jueves — from “Jovis dies”
• Hindi: Brihaspativara — Brihaspati’s day
• Japanese: 木曜日 (Mokuyobi) — “wood day,” from the Wood Star
The moons follow Jupiter’s mythology
Jupiter’s moons are named after mythological figures connected to Jupiter or Zeus — especially lovers, favourites, companions, and descendants. Most of these names come from ancient Greek and Roman myths:
- Io — a princess loved by Zeus, who turned her into a cow to protect her from his jealous wife. Read about Io →
- Europa — a princess Zeus carried away while disguised as a bull. The continent of Europe is named after her. Read about Europa →
- Ganymede — a young man Zeus carried up to Olympus to be the cup-bearer of the gods. Read about Ganymede →
- Callisto — a hunter-companion of the goddess Artemis, loved by Zeus, who later turned her into a bear. Read about Callisto →
The smaller moons of Jupiter follow the same tradition — names like Amalthea (the goat who nursed baby Zeus), Thebe, Adrastea, Metis, and many more — all from Greek and Roman myths about Jupiter’s extended family. As scientists discover new moons (Jupiter has more than 100 confirmed!), they keep using the same mythological theme.
ASTRONOMICAL NAMING TRADITION — astronomers follow careful rules about naming things in space. For Jupiter’s moons, the rule is: new Jovian moons are named after mythological figures connected to Zeus or Jupiter — especially lovers, favourites, or descendants. Other planets follow similar themes — Saturn’s moons are named for Titans, Uranus’s moons after Shakespeare and Pope characters. The official rules are managed by an organisation called the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Jupiter in language today
Jupiter’s ancient name didn’t just stay on the planet — it leaked into the words we use every day:
- Jovial — from “Jove,” another name for Jupiter. It means cheerful, friendly, and full of fun. People born under Jupiter’s sign were thought to have these qualities.
- Thursday — the day named after Jupiter (or Thor) in many languages around the world.
- “By Jove!” — an old-fashioned English exclamation. Pious Christians used “Jove” instead of taking the name of their own god in vain.
- Jurisdiction, jury, just, justice — some scholars connect these Latin words to the root “Iu-” or “Iov-” in Iuppiter, because Jupiter was the god of laws and justice. (Other scholars disagree — word origins can be tricky.)
Imagine a Roman child, 2,000 years ago, looking up at Jupiter from the city of Rome. They knew no telescopes. They didn’t know Jupiter was a giant ball of gas. But they did know the name — the same name we use today. When you look up at Jupiter tonight, you are looking at the same planet they were looking at, by the same name. 2,000 years of shared sky.
Jupiter mythology is a great way to link science class with history class. Have students choose one culture from the table and research their Jupiter god (Marduk, Brihaspati, Thor, etc.). Compare: what powers did each god have? What animals? What symbols? Were they all connected to thunder? (Most were!) This is comparative mythology — the same tools historians use, applied to a planet kids can also see in the night sky.
Why did so many cultures see a thunder god?
Look back at the table — do you notice a pattern? Jupiter, Zeus, Marduk, Thor, Tinia — almost all of them are gods of thunder and storms. Why?
Some of it is shared ancestry — many of these cultures came from the same ancient roots. The Romans, Greeks, Hindus, Norse, and others all page languages that came from a common ancestor called Proto-Indo-European, and the “sky-father” god seems to have travelled with the language.
Some of it is also just how impressive Jupiter looks. A bright, slow-moving, never-twinkling “star” that ruled the night sky — lots of ancient peoples reached for the same idea independently: this must belong to a powerful sky god. Different cultures, similar feeling, different names.
The Greeks called the planet “Zeus.”
In Greek mythology, the king of the gods was Zeus — but in ancient Greek astronomy, the planet was also known as Phaethon (“shining” or “radiant”). The name we use today, Jupiter, came from the Romans — and it stuck even when modern astronomy carried on the tradition.
Frequently asked questions about Jupiter mythology
Why is the planet called Jupiter?
The Romans named it after Jupiter, the king of their gods. Jupiter was the most powerful god they knew, and the planet was one of the brightest “stars” in the night sky after Venus and the Moon — so the Romans gave it the most powerful name they had. (Today we also know Jupiter is the biggest planet, but the Romans didn’t know that.)
Did the Romans know Jupiter was the biggest planet?
No. The Romans could see Jupiter as a bright wandering light in the night sky, but they did not know it was the biggest planet — or what a planet really was. That was discovered much later through telescopes, mathematics, and spacecraft science. The Romans gave Jupiter the most important name they had because of how bright and impressive it looked, not because of its size.
Are Jupiter and Zeus the same god?
Not exactly. Jupiter was Roman and Zeus was Greek. The Romans identified their Jupiter with the Greek Zeus and borrowed many of Zeus’s stories, but the two gods came from different cultures with different histories. They share similarities (both kings of the gods, both throwing thunderbolts) and an old common root, but they are not the same.
Are these stories science?
No. Mythology is not science. These stories show how ancient people explained the sky before modern astronomy. Today, science explains what Jupiter really is — a giant gas planet with moons, rings, storms, and a magnetic field. Mythology explains how people named and imagined it. Both are interesting; they just tell us different things.
What does the name Jupiter mean?
It comes from the Latin Iuppiter, which means “Sky-father.” The name combines an old Proto-Indo-European word for “sky” with the word for “father.” The same root word also gave us “Zeus” in Greek.
Did all ancient cultures call Jupiter “Jupiter”?
No. Many cultures had their own names: the Greeks called the planet Phaethon (“shining”), the Babylonians called it Marduk, the Hindus called it Brihaspati, and people in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam called it the Wood Star (木星). The Roman name “Jupiter” became the most common name in Western astronomy.
Who is Brihaspati?
Brihaspati is the Hindu name for both the planet Jupiter and the god associated with it. Brihaspati is the teacher of the gods, and one of the nine Navagraha (the nine heavenly bodies of Hindu astrology). His name appears in the Vedas, ancient texts more than 3,000 years old. Thursday in Hindi — Brihaspativara — is named after him.
Who is Marduk?
Marduk was the chief god of the city of Babylon, in ancient Mesopotamia. He was a thunder god, similar to Jupiter and Zeus. The Babylonians were among the world’s first careful astronomers, and they identified the bright slow-moving “star” we now call Jupiter with Marduk more than 3,000 years ago.
Why do so many cultures associate Jupiter with thunder?
Partly because many of these cultures shared an ancient ancestor language (Proto-Indo-European), which carried a “sky-father” god across many regions. Partly also because Jupiter is so impressively bright and steady in the night sky that lots of different cultures independently saw it as belonging to a powerful sky god — and powerful sky gods are usually thunder gods.
Why is Thursday named after Jupiter?
Because in ancient Rome, the days of the week were named after the Sun, Moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye — each linked to a god. Thursday was Iovis dies, “Jupiter’s day,” which became Jeudi in French, Giovedì in Italian, and Jueves in Spanish. English uses “Thor’s day” instead, because the early English speakers had their own thunder god, but it’s the same idea.
Why are Jupiter’s moons named after Greek mythology?
Because the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided that Jupiter’s moons should follow a mythological theme: anyone or anything connected to Jupiter or his Greek equivalent Zeus. So most moons are named after Jupiter’s many lovers, companions, and family members from ancient Greek and Roman myths.
What does “Jovial” mean and where does it come from?
Jovial means cheerful, friendly, and warm-hearted. It comes from “Jove,” another name for Jupiter. Ancient astrologers believed people born under Jupiter’s influence had a happy, generous temperament — and the word stuck.
Did Galileo know any of this when he studied Jupiter?
Yes, completely. Galileo lived in 17th-century Italy and grew up learning Roman and Greek mythology. When he discovered Jupiter’s four big moons in January 1610, he originally tried to name them after his patron, the Medici family — calling them the “Medicean Stars.” That name didn’t stick. Eventually they were renamed Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — the names from Greek mythology we still use today.
Quick recap
- Jupiter is named after the Roman king of the gods — Latin: Iuppiter, “sky-father”
- The Romans gave the brightest steady “star” in the night sky their most powerful god’s name
- The Greeks called the god Zeus but the planet itself Phaethon (“shining”)
- Other cultures had their own names: Marduk (Babylonian), Brihaspati (Hindu), the Wood Star (Chinese), Thor (Norse), Tinia (Etruscan)
- Jupiter’s moons are still named after his Greek and Roman mythological family
- Thursday is Jupiter’s day in many languages around the world
- Many ancient cultures saw Jupiter as a thunder god — partly shared ancestry, partly because the planet looked so impressively bright and powerful
Want to meet the mythological figures behind Jupiter’s moons? Visit the Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto), or learn the science of Jupiter itself, or how to see it in the night sky.