How Did Mars’ Moons Get Their Names?

How did the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos get their names?

The two Martian moons Phobos and Deimos are named after the horses in Roman mythology who pulled Mars’ (the Roman God of War) chariot.

With the exceptions of Earth and Uranus, all the planets in our solar system are named after Roman Gods and Goddesses.

The moon of each planet then generally gets named after Roman mythological figures linked to that particular God.

Uranus is named after the Greek God of the Sky while Earth simply is the English word relating to soil or the ground.

Likewise, the word terrestrial comes from the Latin word Terra meaning Earth or land.