Named in memory of Shigeki Okabayashi (1913-1944), a self-taught Japanese astronomer. The first in Japan to discover more than one kind of new celestial object, he discovered Nova V630 Sgr in 1936 and comet C/1940 S1 (Okabayashi-Honda), and also independently discovered C/1939 H1 and C/1939 V1. He was employed by Kurashiki Observatory from 1939 to 1941. Tragically, he was killed on his way home from a geological survey in Sumatra when his hospital ship was torpedoed. Name proposed by the discoverers following a suggestion by T. Sato and A. Fujii.