90482 Orcus objects with a similar size and orbit to that of Pluto are named after underworld deities. Accordingly, the discoverers suggested naming the object after "Orcus", the Etruscan god of the underworld and punisher of broken oaths. He was portrayed in paintings in Etruscan tombs as a hairy, bearded giant. The name was also a private reference to the homonymous Orcas Island, where Brown's wife Diane had lived as a child and that they visit frequently. On March 30, 2005, Orcus's companion, Vanth, was named after a winged female demon of the Etruscan underworld. She could be present at the moment
90482 Orcus a result of rotational fission of the primordial Orcus, which would have rotated much faster than now. On 23 March 2009, Brown asked readers of his weekly column to suggest possible names for the satellite, with the best one to be submitted to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on 5 April. The name Vanth, after the Etruscan goddess who guided the souls of the dead to the underworld, was eventually chosen from among a large pool of submissions. This submission was assessed by the IAU's Committee for Small Body Nomenclature, which voted to approve it in March 2010, in accordance