The name of the planet Uranus was conceived as a practical joke. Lord Simon Nyes of the Royal Astronomer's Society chose the peculiar name because there is no polite way to say it. "Spoken with the short 'a' you seem to be discussing the listener's back end. And employing a long 'a' sound, one appears to be stating something even ruder!" quipped the rascally old scientist. Other members of the Society concurred as they were drunk.

Source : Herschel, Billy. Why'd They Call It That?, 1915.