A star for my wife
Last updated 9 November 2026
Name a star for someone special on the Intergalactic Star Database.
After enough birthdays and anniversaries, buying for your wife gets harder. She already has the candle, the scarf and the good gin, and she has told you not to go to any trouble. A star registered under a name that only makes sense to the two of you is a small way of going to some trouble anyway.
What she actually receives
From November 2026 every star we register comes from the Hipparcos catalogue, so it is a real one, listed with its catalogue number, its exact position and its constellation. It goes into the Intergalactic Star Database under the name you choose, with its own Database Number, and no star is given to two people in our registry.
You can give it in two ways. The posted gift pack is £13.99, UK delivery included: a Certificate of Registry, a Star Area Co-ordinates Sheet, a welcome letter and a fold-out star chart, printed by us and sent in a full-colour gift envelope. The print-at-home star is £8.99: the same four documents, ready to print the moment you've paid. Both come with the star's own page on this website, where she can see it on a live sky map and print a fresh copy whenever she likes.
If the surprise matters, think about where the envelope lands. You add the delivery address at checkout, so it can go to your workplace rather than the doormat she checks first.
Names that will mean something to her
We choose the star. The name is the part you write, and it is the first thing she will read. You have up to 60 characters, and we print it exactly as you type it. Some directions to try:
- The name only you use. If she has been "Bean" to you for sixteen years, "Bean" will land harder than the name on her passport.
- Her full name. "Helen Rose Whitaker" looks handsome in a frame. Use the surname she actually goes by.
- A date. "Helen and Tom, 3 August 2013", for your wedding, or for your first meeting if she is the one who remembers it.
- A place. "The Girl on the Last Train to Leeds" tells the whole story in eight words.
- A line from your vows or your first dance. Pick the few words that matter and leave the rest of the verse behind.
Say it out loud before you pay. Something lovely in your head can look odd in print, and capitals and apostrophes are easy to get wrong late at night. Type it onto the certificate preview to see how it sits, and browse more ideas in our guide to what to call your star.
Picking the moment and handing it over
- A wedding anniversary. The certificate sits well beside a wedding photograph. Our page on stars for weddings and anniversaries has ideas year by year.
- Her birthday. A star as a birthday present works best with a name that nods to the year you are marking.
- Christmas. Order the posted pack by 18 December for UK delivery before Christmas. More on giving a star at Christmas.
- Valentine's Day. Our Valentine's page has wording for the 14th of February.
- After a hard year. You don't need a date in the diary. A star on an ordinary evening can say what a card would struggle with.
Presentation is worth ten minutes. Frame the certificate before you hand it over, or tuck the gift envelope inside a card with one handwritten sentence saying why you chose that name. That sentence will do more than anything we print. And if the day has crept up on you, the print-at-home star is ready as soon as you've paid, and its page lets you send a gift link that opens as a message from the Database, so she can read it on her phone over breakfast.
The evening after: finding it together
The best part of this present may come later. The Star Area Co-ordinates Sheet has an Altitude graph showing how high the star is at 10pm through the year, seen from the UK, and a Chart View of the stars around it. Most of our stars are just beyond what the eye can see on its own, so take a pair of ordinary binoculars, a flask and a coat, and give your eyes 15 to 20 minutes to adjust to the dark. Our step-by-step guide takes you through it.
Don't promise her a view on the night you give it. Stars have seasons, and hers may be low this month. Enter the Database Number on our star finder to see whether it is up, and if it isn't, tell her when it will be and put that evening in the diary. A date in a few months' time is part of the present.
Would she rather you had one each? Up to ten stars can go in one order, registered side by side in the same small patch of sky, each with its own Database Number and certificate. Stars that close together are too faint to see by eye, and a telescope will show them, so if a night out with binoculars is the plan, one star is the better choice.
Questions about giving your wife a star
Can I put both our names on the star?
Yes. Type both names, such as "Helen and Tom", and we print it exactly that way. It is one star and one registration, with one Database Number.
Will my wife be able to see the star?
Most of our stars are just beyond what the eye can see on its own, so she will want a pair of ordinary binoculars and a clear, dark night. The Star Area Co-ordinates Sheet shows which months the star is highest and where to look.
Do astronomers use the name I choose?
No. The name is recorded in the Intergalactic Star Database. 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. More on what a star name means.
Ordering: print it at home tonight for £8.99, or have the gift pack posted for £13.99. Type the name exactly as you'd like her to read it when you order.