It bore the traditional name "Asellus Australis" which is Latin for "southern donkey colt". In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN decided to attribute proper names to individual stars rather than entire multiple systems. It approved the name "Asellus Australis" for the component Delta Cancri Aa on 6 November 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names. Together with Gamma Cancri, it formed the "Aselli", flanking Praesepe.