In January 2001, Varuna was assigned the minor planet number 20000 by the Minor Planet Center as its orbit was well determined from precovery images and subsequent observations. The minor planet number 20000 was particularly chosen to commemorate Varuna's large size, being the largest classical Kuiper belt object known at that time and was believed to be as large as Ceres. The number 20000 was also chosen to commemorate the coincidental 200th anniversary of the discovery of Ceres, which occurred in the same month as the numbering of Varuna.