the mit lincoln laboratory named the asteroid 23238 ocasio-cortez after her when she was a senior in high school because she finished in second-place in the 2007 intel international science and engineering fair. she was named the 2017 national hispanic institute person of the year by ernesto nieto. in 2019, she received the adelle foley award. she was named as one of the 2019 bbc 100 women.