Regulus

Regulus is the name of the second brightest star in the night sky.

There is an ongoing confusion regarding the names Regulus and Regula. Regulus is the diminutive form of rex, king, and therefore means "little king", hence the name for the bright star in the constellation Leo. The stars Regulus, Arcturus, and Spica form the "spring triangle". Regula sounds like the female variant of Regulus, but is not. It means rule (or ruler) and is the name of a rather unknown early medieval saint (at least unknown outside Zurich, Chur, and Andermatt – all places in Switzerland). In fact: could you imagine an early medieval martyrized christian saint who is called "little queen"? Rule (as in "regula sancti Benedicti" / the rule of St Benedict) is clearly more fitting. Brief: even if Regulus and Regula do sound like the two sides of the same coin, they are not. [noted -ed]

Regulus is also Latin for "basilisk".