Named in honor of Abai Kunanbaev (1845–1904), Kazakh poet, philosopher and enlightener, founder of Kazakh literature, and translator of the works of I. A. Krylov, A. S. Pushkin {see planet (2208)} and M. Yu. Lermontov {see planet (2222)}. (M 23352) _ _.
Discovered on 23-9-1971 in Nauchnyj by Crimean Astrophysical Observatory