"β Lyrae" (Latinised to "Beta Lyrae") is the system's Bayer designation, established by Johann Bayer in his "Uranometria" of 1603, and denotes that it is the second brightest star in the Lyra constellation. WDS J18501+3322 is a designation in the Washington Double Star Catalog. The designations of the constituents as "Beta Lyrae A", "B" and "C", or alternatively "WDS J18501+3322A", "B" and "C", and additionally "WDS J18501+3322D", "E" and "F", and those of "A's" components - "Beta Lyrae Aa", "Aa1", "Aa2" and "Ab" - derive from the convention used by the Washington Multiplicity Catalog (WMC) for multiple star systems, and adopted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).