This asteroid was found by Annibale de Gasparis on March 17, 1852 from Naples and named after the Greek nymph Psyche. The first fifteen asteroids to be found were given symbols by astronomers as a type of short-hand notation. In 1851, however, J. F. Encke suggested using a circled number. 16 Psyche was the first new asteroid to be found that was designated with this scheme (in 1852 by J. Ferguson).