What do you call hypothetical inhabitants living on the Moon? [closed]

I'm writing a fiction where inhabitants live on the Moon, so I want a name for them. I know that 'venusian' means 'of or relating to the planet Venus', 'martian' means 'of or relating to the planet Mars or its hypothetical inhabitants' and so on.

But, after having observed that 'moonian' is not a word, I wonder as to whether there is a term meaning 'of or relating to the Moon or its hypothetical inhabitants'.


My choice would be Lunarian—employing the same Latin roots as Martian and Venerian, using the same way to build the word.

It is actually already existing term as per Marriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lunarian).


H.G.Wells, in The First Men In The Moon, referred to the inhabitants of the moon as selenites, but the name doesn't seem to have caught on. The only definition I can find for the word in a dictionary refers to a kind of gypsum.


via the Latin Luna, I suggest Lunans

Lunans (Luna: Earth II)

Loonies (from the book The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein) - however being loony is considered a little crazy

Lunar is the adjective: "The Lunar inhabitants", but lunatic is an informal term referring to the mentally ill

Lunan will be more readily understandable by anyone not Greek than their Selenite and rolls off the tongue better than Lunarian](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lunarian) in my opinion :)

Moonies is a pejorative used for the followers of the Unification Church


Honestly if I were writing about a fictional people that lived on the moon I would take a different approach. What would they call their home? What would they think of the blue giant "moon" hanging in the sky above their planet? If they did not come from the earth then surely they would not call their home planet the moon... Will they have water and grow plants? Technology enough to see the lush planet they cannot reach? I would think they would be green with envy and it would be the focus of their religion and most of their stories. They might speculate about the man in the moon just as we do, and strive for ways to get there. It would likely be considered a utopian planet that could save them from their desolation. Their heaven perhaps. I would choose a name for my home planet in that context I think. Not an answer - just a suggestion. Be creative and make it your own.