最亮星星,14世紀後期,來自拉丁文《Sirius》“狗星”,源自希臘語 Seirios,字面意思是“灼熱”或“灼燒者”。但其他相關的希臘單詞似乎源自這個用法,這個名字可能是從其他語言借用並進行了民間詞源學的創造。它的埃及名字是 Sothis。Beekes 認爲,如果該星星名字的最初含義是“閃耀的,閃爍的”,則它可能來自於 PIE 詞根 *twei- “激動,抖動,拋擲; 刺激; 閃耀”。
這顆星星與灼熱的熱量的聯繫源於它在夏至時古老的日出時刻(見 dog days)。相關的: Sirian(1590年代)。大犬座看起來起源於這顆星星。
Homer made much of it as [Kyōn], but his Dog doubtless was limited to the star Sirius, as among the ancients generally till, at some unknown date, the constellation was formed as we have it, — indeed till long afterwards, for we find many allusions to the Dog in which we are uncertain whether the constellation or its lucida is referred to. [Richard Hinckley Allen, Canis Major in "Star Names and Their Meanings," London: 1899]
荷馬大量運用到它作爲[ Kyōn ],但他的狗無疑僅限於狗星,因爲在古代,直到某個未知的日期,該星座才形成了我們所看到的形式,- 實際上直到很久以後,因爲我們發現許多提到“狗”的引用,我們不確定是指星座還是其 lucida。 [Richard Hinckley Allen, Canis Major in "Star Names and Their Meanings," London: 1899]