Star names & designations
Also called: Bayer designation, Flamsteed number, Greek letter, proper name.
How stars are named: proper names (Vega), Greek letters by brightness (α Lyrae), or numbers (61 Cygni).
Bright stars have traditional names, mostly Arabic in origin: Vega, Altair, Betelgeuse. In 1603 Johann Bayer gave the stars of each constellation Greek letters, roughly by brightness: α Lyrae is Vega, β Cygni is Albireo. John Flamsteed numbered them from west to east: 61 Cygni. Catalogs like the washington double star catalog add their own codes for double stars.