Unambiguous and reliable meteorite names are indispensable to anyone with an interest in meteorites - citizens, writers, scientists, and collectors alike. Official names are also required in order to publish studies of meteorites in certain journals and meeting proceedings,among them MAPS, GCA, and Earth and Planetary Science Letters, and the abstracts of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conferences, the Goldschmidt Conferences, and the annual meetings of the Meteoritical Society.
The Meteorite Nomenclature Committee (NomCom) is responsible for establishing guidelines for the naming of meteorites, for the approval of new names, for decisions regarding pairing or separation of meteorites previously named, and for dissemination of this information in the Meteoritical Bulletin and the Meteoritical Bulletin Database (MBDB). The full charter of the NomCom is described in Article 12 of the Bylaws of the Society's Constitution. Members of NomCom consist of twelve society members plus the Vice President of the Society, the Editor of the Meteoritical Bulletin, and the Editor of the MBDB.
The NomCom establishes meteorite names according to the Guidelines on Meteorite Nomenclature. For more documentation on meteorite names and naming, refer to the home page of the MBDB, and the FAQ on meteorite names.