In A New Hope, the Death Star is only referred to as such (in dialogue) on four separate occasions; three of which are the intercom at the rebel base on Massassi, so I'm not sure they count as truly separate. It does appear in writing in the opening crawl and, likewise, in The Empire Strikes Back (where it is obviously not verbally mentioned at all). In Return of the Jedi, it appears again in the crawl and in dialogue -- to my count -- five times (more, but not by much given the plot). I haven't had a look through the scripts of the prequels; however, I would assume it's hardly mentioned, as it's still in the planning phase.
Anyway, it seems the only time it is referred to as the "Death Star" by an agent of the Empire is that one non-intercom-time in A New Hope and again by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. Was the "Death Star" therefore an informal name used by the Rebellion -- albeit sparingly -- that caught on with the Empire as time went on and, if so, did it have an official designation?
Answer
Palpatine himself refers to it as a Battle Station
The Emperor: [In the throne room, Luke is watching the Imperial fleet attack the Rebels from the huge throne room window] As you can see, my young apprentice, your friends have failed. Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!
Source
General Tagge:
General Tagge: What of the Rebellion? If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical reading of this station1, it is possible, however unlikely, they might find a weakness and exploit it.
Source
Would this thing even need a number
I'm tending to dismiss Wika on this one, they are using the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition, I'm not convinced that's canon
1 Emphasis mine
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