What traditional nickname is associated with the Perseid meteor shower around Saint Lawrence’s feast day?

The traditional nickname associated with the Perseid meteor shower around Saint Lawrence’s feast day is “Tears of Saint Lawrence.”

The Perseids appear in August, close to August 10, the canonical date associated with Saint Lawrence’s martyrdom in 258 AD. In parts of the Catholic Mediterranean world, the annual meteors became linked with the saint and were poetically described as his tears.

This is a cultural interpretation, not the scientific origin of the shower. Modern astronomy explains the Perseids as dust and debris from Comet Swift–Tuttle entering Earth’s atmosphere and glowing as meteors.

The nickname illustrates how recurring sky events acquire local names and stories. It should not be confused with the shower’s astronomical name, Perseids, which comes from Perseus and its apparent radiant direction. Both names refer to the same annual meteor display.