Did people find the name “Uranus” funny from day one?
No to both. Uranus was one of the original Greek Gods. He was basically the male equivalent of Adam–he usually has no father in Greek mythology, and he’s Zeus’ grandfather, so he’s a step above even the Titans. Basically, he was the Sky, and a primordial father. As for naming the planets, I don’t remember who named Uranus, but they gave all the planets the names of Gods. I am pretty sure that Uranus wasn’t discovered until about 300 years ago (I know it was during the modern age, anyway), so the man who discovered it would have simply stuck with the tradition of naming the planets for Gods from antiquity. **EDIT** I cannot remember the Greek transliteration for the name Uranus, but I know it was spelled slightly differently. What we ended up with is the Anglicized version of a Greek name. There was no joke intended, though it has proven to be a great source of amusement for 13-year-old boys all over the world.
