Upon launch the spacecraft were named GRAIL A and GRAIL B and a contest was opened to school children to select names. Nearly 900 classrooms from 45 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, participated in the contest.
When the spacecraft were first put into orbit, they were given the names GRAIL A and GRAIL B, and a nationwide contest was held for students to pick out names. Over nine hundred classrooms from forty-five states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. took part in the competition.