Named in honor of the International Astronomical Union, established in 1919 as the international association of professional astronomers. Most of its activity is concentrated in some 40 commissions, each devoted to some particular area of astronomical or astrophysical research. At a competition held in July 1991 among members of Commission 20, “Positions and Motions of Minor Planets, Comets and Satellites”, for the selection of a name for the five-thousandth minor planet to be given a permanent number the name “IAU” received the largest number of votes, including that of the discoverer. (M 19342) _ _.