The planet Venus, which is the brightest celestial body in the sky after the Moon, takes its astronomical name from the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility. It is known in Turkic as Yaruk Yulduzı ‘light star’, Akşam Yıldızı ‘Evening Star’, Sabah Yıldızı ‘Morning Star’, Tan Yıldızı ‘Dawn Star’, Seher Yıldızı id., Kervan Yıldızı ‘Caravan Star’, Kervankıran ‘Caravan-perishing’, Zühre (< Arabic ةرهز), Čolpan and Čoban Yıldızı ‘Shepherd’s Star’. This paper will discuss whether the word Čolpan is etymologically connected with the Proto-Bulgarian title čoban and the Slavic title župan.
