Millettism was the original appellation associated with Astronism and was the main appellation for the first five years of the religion's founding by Cometan. The term was derived from the Millettarian cultural sphere that had begun to develop during the creation of the Jesse Millette franchise and was originally intended to be an associated philosophy to the franchise.

During The Year of Prolifics, Cometan decided to gradually fade out the appellation of Millettism in favour for Astronism, yet Millettism in the form of the appellation of The Philosophy of Millettism would still be considered the official name for the religion and would continue to be used in the name for The Institution.

There were multiple issues with the appellation of Millettism, the full extent of which only came to light once the Astronic culture began to take on its own identity separate from the Jesse Millette franchise. The first of such issues was that the appellation of Millettism did not sufficiently reflect the astronomically-themed beliefs and ideas what would become to be known as Astronism. For people without knowledge of the history of the appellation of Millettism, they would not immediately see the connection between the appellation and the beliefs within Astronism.

The second issue was the inaptryonmous nature of Millettism and its close association with the terms of millerism, millenarianism, and militarism. Such words were uncomfortably close to that of Millettism itself, especially due to the fact that they represented ideas and beliefs that were not supported in Millettism.

Others reason for the change in appellation to Astronism was that Cometan did not want people to immediately associate the religion with idolising a fictional character, nor was Millettism a sufficient term in relation to the simplicity of its spelling, pronunciation, and understanding. These, in addition to the fact that Astronic culture had developed its own cultural sphere from Millettic culture by The Year of Completion meant that the connection between the appellation of Millettism and the beliefs and ideas forming the system was further strained.

This ultimately lead to the change of religion's appellation to Astronism which was a process that took place throughout the final years of The Founding of Astronism as the identity and core beliefs of the religion became to materialise and strengthen.

Eytmology of Millettism

As aforementioned, the original name for Astronism was Millettism as derived from the Millettarian culture that Cometan had been developing since he was fifteen years old. The etymology of Millettism derives from the prefix Milletto- which itself derives from the surname of Millette, the definitions of which are greatly expanded upon in the context of Millettarian Philosophy and in other forms of Millettarian Culture, an example of which is the redefinition of Millette into both a verb and an adjective.

Millette as a surname is used for the main character of The Five Millettarian Characters known as Jesse Millette, the central protagonist of The Original Jesse Millette Series, as well as in wider Millettarian Literature and Millettarian Culture. It is important to note that Millettism as a term is not derived from the character of Jesse Millette directly, but more so from the surname of Millette and its own etymology so as to distinguish between Millettism and Jesse Millette.

The surname of Millette is an alternative spelling for the French name Millet where the name was first founded in Burgundy and has been traced there from ancient times. It is likely that the name formed from a metonymic occupational name for one who grew or sold Millet or panic grass, a millet-like grain for animal feed. The Millette surname spelling is most commonly found in the English counties of Lancashire and Cheshire, hence the connection between Brandon Taylorian and his choosing of this surname for the Jesse Millette character due to his birthplace and residence in the county of Lancashire.

The particular word of Millette was chosen for the surname of the protagonist due to its derivation from the Slavic element of the name 'mil' meaning mercy, as is transferred into a philosophical context to mean the mercy of mind, of spirit, of body, of cosmos, and of one's ability to free both oneself and others through one's practice of mercy for the achievement of freedom. Therefore, the etymology of Millettism can be primarily summed as "mercy for freedom".

The etymology of Millettism and its fundamental origins therefore play a large role in describing the essence of what it means to be both Millettarian in character, but also what it means to follow Millettism, as well as the principles that Millettism itself expounds. The association between Millettism and the concept and practice of "mercy for freedom" is one that is expected to ignite debate over the essence of the Millettarian philosophical tradition, especially regarding the application of mercy in this context. Mercy is addressed in The Omnidoxy within the discourse of The Role of Mercy in Millettism as part of the discipline of study of prerology due to mercy's meaning of freedom within a Millettarian context.