This
minor planet was named in memory of New Zealand astronomer Ivan Leslie Thomsen (1910–1969), director of the
Carter Observatory, Wellington, from 1945 until he was appointed director of the
Mount John University Observatory only two months before his death. He was an enthusiastic coordinator of New Zealand's astronomy and his efforts eventually led to the minor-planet observing program with the Carter Observatory 41-cm reflector. It was the 1977
rediscovery at the Carter Observatory that allowed this minor planet to be numbered. The official was published by the
Minor Planet Center on 1 August 1978 (). == Physical characteristics ==