What is earth named after?

The name Earth originates from the 8th century Anglo-Saxon word erda, which means ground or soil. In Old English the word became eorthe, then erthe in Middle English. Earth was first used as the name of the planet around 1400. It is the only planet whose name in English is not derived from Greco-Roman mythology.

I feel the name earth comes from the description of the soil itself-soils are earth and since soil is found everywhere on planet earth, I think the nomenclature earth has more to do with soils! This is just my view Mahesh2008

I dont really know. But I have read that the word earth came from middle english erthe. Middle english is what Beowulf was written in. That is all I know.

in terms of etymology this is where the word Earth is derived from: old english eorðe "ground, soil, dry land," also used (along with middangeard) for "the (material) world" (as opposed to the heavens or the underworld), from P.Gmc. *ertho (cf. O.N. jörð, M.Du. eerde, O.H.G. erda, Goth. airþa), from PIE base *er-. Surprisingly the earth considered as a planet wasn't so called until around 1400. I'd be curious to know what it was called previously.

If I recall correctly, earth also has a Greco-Roman god(des) name assigned to it. It was Gaia (I think). Correct me if I'm wrong, though...