Name
Sigma Draconis, the Bayer designation for this star, was established in 1603 as part of the Uranometria, a star catalogue produced by German celestial cartographer Johann Bayer. The proper name Alsafi was derived from Arabic Athāfi, erroneously transcribed from the Arabic plurarl Athāfiyy, by which the nomads designated the tripods of their open-air kitchens. It was the name of an association of this star, τ Dra and υ Dra. According to the catalogue of stars in the Technical Memorandum 33-507 - A Reduced Star Catalog Containing 537 Named Stars, Athāfi or Alsafi were the title for three stars: σ Dra as Alsafi, τ Dra as Athāfi I and υ Dra as Athāfi II.
In Chinese, 天廚 (Tiān Chú), meaning Celestial Kitchen, refers to an asterism consisting of σ Draconis, δ Draconis, ε Draconis, ρ Draconis, 64 Draconis and π Draconis. Consequently, σ Draconis itself is known as 天廚二 (Tiān Chú èr, English: the Second Star of Celestial Kitchen.)
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