It bore the traditional name of "Scheat", a name that had also been used for Delta Aquarii. The name was derived from the Arabic "Al Sā'id" "the upper arm", or from "Sa'd". In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organised a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardise proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included "Scheat" for this star (the name "Skat" was later approved for Delta Aquarii).