I'm writing a science fiction story and it's based in another galaxy, colonised by humans originally on a geographically equivalent "Earth".
My current usage refers to it as "Earth" and provides a short description of why. Specifically:
The sun was shining high in the sky, not quite as warm as a summer on Earth but the temperature was inviting none the less. Earth of course, referred to the geographical equivalent planet colonised in the Sicilian galaxy, originally known as Messier 33. The planet was initially titled New Earth however the prefix was dropped in the fourth century following a public vote as many believed it was clear that with two and a half million light years distance between them, it was hard to confuse the two, not to mention that many people called it "Earth" by default.
Earth in the Sicilian galaxy was only two percent larger than Earth in the Milky Way and was mostly equivalent in geography, flora and fauna, affording the settlers an unexpected sense of familiarity when they first arrived.
(bear in mind I haven't revised anything yet, this is first draft material)
My question is, do you think in this and possibly other circumstances, it could be confusing to call it "Earth", despite the reason why?
UPDATE: I ended up revising the names, both to latin words which have something to do with them at least. Not only that, but I've removed the info dump in favour of a briefer, more character sensitive passage of information.
The sun was shining high in the sky, not quite as warm as a summer on the home world of Solum however the temperature was inviting none the less. Pexus, literally name after the Latin word for “new”, was smaller and lighter than Solum, about eighty five percent of its mass. This made all the difference when it came to the size of the flora and fauna on the planet. Trees grew metres taller than similar trees on Solum and leaves were significantly larger, attributed to the relatively cooler climate. The few animal species that had been studied were sizable compared to that of Solum. It was like he’d stepped out into a different era.
I've also revised my idea of the relation to original Earth. The issues facing Earth (that we currently observe... and debate) have been overcome through some means, and at the present time, it has become the intergalactic capital. Being both the original human world and the capital of Mankind, it's reverred. As such, when colonisers settled "New Earth", they decided to use the Latin word for "earth", both to distinguish it but also to pay homage to our Earth, given it was essentially the "homeworld" of this new galaxy, not to mention being very similar to Earth (within 95% of it's geography and ecosystem).
Answer
Just from the information you've provided, it seems you're creating a convoluted and potentially confusing situation for no good reason. If, however, this is important to the story, you can always refer to "Earth" (formerly "New Earth") and to "Old Earth".
Using a slightly different version of the word would work, but I believe that's already been done: Gene Wolfe's "Urth", and possibly elsewhere. I'd rename the new planet to something else if possible.
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