1972 RS2. Discovered 1972 Sept. 4 by L. V. Zhuravleva at Nauchnyj.

Named in honor of Sophie Kovalevskaya (1850–1891), the first Russian woman mathematician, associate member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, widely known for her researches on differential equations, Abelian integrals and the rotational motion of solid bodies. (M 3826)

Kovalevskaya is also honored by a lunar crater.