H-star name for Consensus Layer upgrade after Glamsterdam

Magicians Primordial Soup
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Update: Heka chosen as H-Star name at All Core Devs - Consensus (ACDC) #168, October 30, 2025 🎃

A H-star name is needed for the Consensus Layer upgrade after Glamsterdam (EIP-7773: Hardfork Meta - Glamsterdam).

Assumes a cross layer upgrade combined with the Execution Layer upgrade (BogotĂĄ)

The consensus layer uses star names for upgrades whilst the execution layer uses Devcon cities.

See: Post-Merge Network Upgrade Naming Schemes

Recent upgrade names:

  • :owl: Shapella (Shanghai + Capella)
  • :blowfish: Dencun (Cancun + Deneb)
  • :giraffe: Pectra (Prague + Electra)
  • :zebra: Fusaka (Fulu + Osaka)
  • Glamsterdam (Gloas + Amsterdam)

Assuming a cross layer upgrade, any H-star name will be combined with the execution layer name BogotĂĄ in a portmanteau (Portmanteau generator), so any name choice should also consider this.

(Apologies if I am stepping on the process for selecting star upgrade names, I’m not a core dev)

H-star names

H-star Meaning
Hadar From Arabic “Hadar”, meaning “to be present,” “on the ground,” or “settled, civilized area.”
Hamal From Arabic “ras al-hamal,” meaning “head of the ram,” referring to its position in Aries.
Hassaleh Meaning unknown; name introduced by Antonin Becvar in 1951.
Hatysa Proper name Hatysa of uncertain origin; traditional name Nair al Saif, meaning “the Bright One of the Sword” in Arabic.
Heka From Arabic “Al Hakah,” meaning “a White Spot,” referring to the lunar mansion that includes this star.
Helvetios Named after the ancient Celtic tribe, the Helvetians, as part of the IAU NameExoWorlds campaign.
Heng Named after the ancient Chinese constellation Heng, approved by the IAU on March 16, 2025.
Heze Name of uncertain origin, first used in 1951 by Antonin Becvar.
Homam From Arabic “sad al-humam,” meaning “the lucky star of the hero,” located in Pegasus.

From: List of proper names of stars - Wikipedia

Poll

[For signaling purposes only]

  • Hadar
  • Hamal
  • Hassaleh
  • Hatysa
  • Heka
  • Helvetios
  • Heng
  • Heze
  • Homam
0 voters
3 Likes
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Heka stands out for me. Looks easy to remember

We should probably also evaluate how the portmanteau sounds. Something like Heka + Bogotá → Hekotá has a nice futuristic ring to it. Keeping the name short and pronounceable matters.

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Helvetios + BogotĂĄ could be HeltĂĄ

Plus Helvetios is part of the Pegasus constellation.

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Helta is good one, Easy to remember

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I would be careful with the list of names from wikipedia because star names can be different in various registries and some names are not recognized as regularly used names by IAU.

We already made this mistake in Glaos which is hard to find under this name in most registries. Let’s choose a name that’s more widely recognized like stars we did before, ideally something that might be easier to find on the night sky.

Here is a list that mostly overlaps with the wikipedia source but I would take a deeper look into context of each star, whether they are cool enough to be candidates Star Names That Start With H - Little Astronomy

Edit: Accidentally deleted my comment :slight_smile: With a quick check in Stellarium, I believe considered stars are recognized with these names, although there are some alternatives.

Also considering observability, my favorite would be Hamal, it should be visible even with a naked eye in the night sky. Helvetios is also good option but only visible with a telescope

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This one is easy Hoerikwaggo is obviously the best.
Unless you would allow Hydra and Herculis

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Homam + Bogota = Hogota

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Even though the meaning of the star name Helvetios matters, what’s more important is how well it blends with Bogotá.
I think Helvota (Helvetios + BogotĂĄ) sounds really good. It feels smooth, balanced, and easy to pronounce, keeping a touch of the original elegance of Helvetios while fitting naturally with BogotĂĄ.

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I would like to request to change the star selected for the fork after Glamsterdam. So far we have always selected name of stars that are officially listed in the Internstional Astronomers Union catalog, which is maintained by a list of scientific members from all accross the globe.

Heka is not in that list, and if we do not follow a minimum standard then we risk ending up with very weird names found in an obscure corner of the internet. Nothing against the name itself, just about the methodology.

Funny enough, all the other names proposed in the OP are in the IAU catalog, Heka is the only impostor in that list.

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It is likely too late to do that, given All Core Devs selected that name and the Meta EIP has been created.

Would appreciate your help and @taxmeifyoucan in coming up with the best list of I-stars for I-star name for Consensus Layer upgrade after Heka

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is likely too late to do that, given All Core Devs selected that name and the Meta EIP has been created.

Well, I don’t agree. :slight_smile:
I don’t want to be annoying on this, but if we are still discussing which EIPs go into Glamsterdam or not (which is the real critical part of a fork), I don’t think it is “too late” to correct the name of a hard-fork that might come in 2027.

If you don’t mind I would like to redo the poll with the same list of options, except Heka, and ask core developers to do the vote again. :slight_smile:

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@leobago you can add it to the ACDC #171 agenda to see if there is interest in choosing a different name to Heka. All Core Devs select the name, the poll is for signaling purposes.

I commented on the ACDC #170 agenda, All Core Devs - Consensus (ACDC) #170, November 27, 2025 ¡ Issue #1812 ¡ ethereum/pm ¡ GitHub but the call focus was on Glamsterdam scoping. Naming feels like a low priority at the moment.

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I will comment on it on the R&D Discord after Fusaka comes live on Mainnet.

1 Like