Why has the star sign cancer got such a horrible name?

Answer 1

Cancer is not a "horrible name"; it's simply the Latin word for "crab" (as in "snow crab," "blue crab," etc.) because that name is both vaguely descriptive and shorter than "that boring patch in the zodiac between Leo and Gemini that doesn't have any bright stars". The medical term came about because of the crablike appearance of certain tumors. To get away from the negative connotations the word has today, in the 1970s (and possibly still today, as far as I know) some people called Cancer (the astrological sign) "Moonchild" since the ruling "planet" for the sign is the Moon. I don't believe anyone ever referred to the constellation itself in that way, but I may be mistaken.