 The body's observation arc begins with its official discovery observation at Heidelberg Observatory on 31 May 1918.In the Tholen classification, "Leopoldina"s asteroid spectral type is closest to that of an X-type, and somewhat similar to that of a dark F-type asteroid (XF), while in both the Tholen- and SMASS-like taxonomy of the Small Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey (S3OS2), it is a common carbonaceous C-type asteroid.This minor planet was named for Germany's national academy, the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina () in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt.