A star for Mother's Day

Name a star for someone special on the Intergalactic Star Database.

Mother's Day in the UK falls on Sunday 7 March in 2027. Flowers will be everywhere that week and mostly gone by the next one. A star named after your mum, by you, is a present she can keep on the wall and go out and look for.

What to call a star for your mum

Mothers tend to prefer being thought about to being spent on, and the name is where the thought goes. You have up to 60 characters, and we print them exactly as you type them.

• What you actually call her. "Mum", "Mam", "Mummy", "Ma" or "Mutti". If your family has its own word, use that one.
• Her name in full. "Patricia Anne Morgan" is rather lovely for someone who is usually only called by her job title at home.
• What she keeps saying. "Text Me When You Get There" will make her laugh and possibly cry.
• From a whole brood. "Mum, from Your Four Favourite Mistakes".
• From small children. Ask them. Whatever a five-year-old calls the star, it will beat anything you come up with.
• For a new mum. "Mummy to Isla", for a first Mother's Day. Our newborn page has more for that time of life.

Mother's Day is not only for mothers in the strict sense. A star works just as well for a stepmum, a mother-in-law, a foster mum, a godmother, or the aunt who did the job. If it's a nan you're buying for, see our page on a star for a grandparent. Try the name on the certificate before you order.

When to order for 7 March

• Posted gift pack (£13.99, UK delivery included). Usually sent within 24 hours by Royal Mail, but allow a few working days. Orders placed on a Friday evening or at the weekend go out on the next working day, so the weekend before Mother's Day is a sensible point to have ordered by. Delivery times in full.
• Print at home (£8.99). Ready the moment you've paid, right up to the morning itself. Ordinary A4 paper works, and thicker card makes a nicer certificate. If you are still in your dressing gown at nine o'clock, this is your option.
• Sending it straight to her. If you don't live nearby, put her address as the delivery address at checkout. It reaches her in a full-colour gift envelope. It may be worth telling her that something is coming, in case it gets put aside with the bills.
• Far away on the day? Every star has a page on this website, and you can send her a gift link from it. It opens as a message from the Database, and then shows her the star.

How to give it so it counts

The pack contains a Certificate of Registry, a Star Area Co-ordinates Sheet, a welcome letter and a fold-out star chart. It doesn't need much added to it, but a few touches help.

• Put the certificate in a frame before she sees it. It will be on the wall by lunchtime instead of in a drawer.
• Have the children draw the star on the card, with the name written underneath in their best handwriting.
• If a few of you are buying together, have each person write one line about why that name was chosen.
• Tell her the story of the name out loud, even if she has already guessed it.

In early March the evenings still get dark at a civilised hour, which makes it a good time of year for a mum who would rather not be up at midnight. Stars do have their seasons, though, so check hers first. Enter the Database Number on our star finder to see whether it is up that evening, how high it will be and which way to face. Most of our stars are just beyond what the eye can see on its own, so you will want a pair of binoculars and our guide to finding a star. If the weather won't play along, the star's page has a live sky map you can look at together at the kitchen table.

If Mother's Day is a hard day

For some people, this day means remembering. If your mum has died, a star can give you somewhere to look. Some families choose her full name, others something only they would know, such as "Mum, Still Telling Us to Wear a Coat". You don't have to explain it to anyone. Our page on remembering someone with a star talks through the wording and what to do with it, and you are welcome to contact us if you would like help.

And in fairness to your mum, who may well ask: your chosen name is recorded in the Intergalactic Star Database, where it stays under its own Database Number. Official star names are decided by the International Astronomical Union, which doesn't recognise names from any commercial registry, so it won't appear in scientific catalogues. Every star we register is a real one, and from November 2026 each new star comes from the Hipparcos catalogue. Our page on a star to thank Mum or Dad has ideas for any other time of year.

Questions about Mother's Day stars