diff --git a/tooling/planet-gen/gemma_naming.py b/tooling/planet-gen/gemma_naming.py
index c3b880d5e..4cbae2ab7 100755
--- a/tooling/planet-gen/gemma_naming.py
+++ b/tooling/planet-gen/gemma_naming.py
@@ -1450,21 +1450,12 @@ def name_feature(
         _commit_name(cleaned)
         return cleaned
 
-    # All attempts exhausted — deterministic palette fallback, then dedup.
-    # Fallback names draw from the palette stems and do NOT count against
-    # the stem cap (the palette is intentionally narrow and would trigger
-    # infinite rejection loops otherwise).
-    salt = _seed_for(world_seed, body_id, local_id, max_attempts) & 0xFFFFFF
-    fallback = fallback_name(corridor, feature_type, salt)
-    bump = 0
-    while _is_duplicate(fallback) and bump < 100:
-        bump += 1
-        fallback = fallback_name(corridor, feature_type, salt + bump)
-    used.add(fallback)
-    body_used.add(fallback)
+    # All attempts exhausted. Leave the name as None so the preserved
+    # path skips it on a fill round — a second pass with a fresh corpus
+    # will pick it up and try again with different dedup pressure.
     reasons = " ".join(f"{k}={v}" for k, v in rejections.items() if v > 0)
-    log(f"    fallback: {body_id}/{local_id} → '{fallback}'  [{reasons}]")
-    return fallback
+    log(f"    skipped: {body_id}/{local_id}  [{reasons}]")
+    return None
 
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -1646,10 +1637,11 @@ def process_body(
             world_seed, body_id, city.get("id") or "city_?",
             hop, log, verbose,
         )
-        city["name"] = name
-        counts["cities"] += 1
-        generated["cities"].append(name)
-        changed = True
+        if name is not None:
+            city["name"] = name
+            counts["cities"] += 1
+            generated["cities"].append(name)
+            changed = True
 
     # Rivers
     for river in markers.get("rivers") or []:
@@ -1663,10 +1655,11 @@ def process_body(
             world_seed, body_id, river.get("id") or "river_?",
             hop, log, verbose,
         )
-        river["name"] = name
-        counts["rivers"] += 1
-        generated["rivers"].append(name)
-        changed = True
+        if name is not None:
+            river["name"] = name
+            counts["rivers"] += 1
+            generated["rivers"].append(name)
+            changed = True
 
     # Oceans / seas / lakes
     for water in markers.get("oceans") or []:
@@ -1683,10 +1676,11 @@ def process_body(
             world_seed, body_id, water.get("id") or "water_?",
             hop, log, verbose,
         )
-        water["name"] = name
-        counts["oceans"] += 1
-        generated["oceans"].append(name)
-        changed = True
+        if name is not None:
+            water["name"] = name
+            counts["oceans"] += 1
+            generated["oceans"].append(name)
+            changed = True
 
     # Mountain ranges
     for rng_feat in markers.get("mountain_ranges") or []:
@@ -1702,10 +1696,11 @@ def process_body(
             world_seed, body_id, rng_feat.get("id") or "range_?",
             hop, log, verbose,
         )
-        rng_feat["name"] = name
-        counts["mountain_ranges"] += 1
-        generated["mountain_ranges"].append(name)
-        changed = True
+        if name is not None:
+            rng_feat["name"] = name
+            counts["mountain_ranges"] += 1
+            generated["mountain_ranges"].append(name)
+            changed = True
 
     # POIs
     for poi in markers.get("pois") or []:
@@ -1722,10 +1717,11 @@ def process_body(
             world_seed, body_id, poi.get("id") or "poi_?",
             hop, log, verbose,
         )
-        poi["name"] = name
-        counts["pois"] += 1
-        generated["pois"].append(name)
-        changed = True
+        if name is not None:
+            poi["name"] = name
+            counts["pois"] += 1
+            generated["pois"].append(name)
+            changed = True
 
     if changed:
         markers_path.write_text(json.dumps(markers, indent=2) + "\n")