Named in honor of Eijiro Hiei (b. 1931), professor at Meisei University and professor emeritus of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. A solar physicist best known for his research on white-light flares, Hiei was the fourth director (1982-1992) of the Norikura Solar Observatory, where he conducted coronagraphic studies. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by T. Sakurai.