It was first found by Harold J. Reitsema, William B. Hubbard, Larry A. Lebofsky and David J. Tholen based on ground-based stellar occultation observations on May 24, 1981, and given the designation S/1981 N 1 and said on 29 May 1981. The moon was refound and confirmed to be the only object in its orbit during the "Voyager 2" flyby in 1989 after which it received another designation S/1989 N 2 on August 2, 1989.