Fictional Places

The earliest name-nerd-ish experience I can recall is being charmed by a little Lorien. I'm sure she said "No, not Lauren, Lorien. It's from The Lord of the Rings." quite a bit, but half a lifetime later, I still remember her name.
I've seen Avalon & Avonlea bounced around quite a bit--probably prompted by the popularity of Ava & similar names, just like Lorien was made more usable by the popularity of Lauren/Laura--and it's got me thinking. I know I generally dislike place-names as given names, but for some reason, mythological & literary place-names seem so much more usable. Does that make me a snob? :p

• Aaru (AH-roo)--Egyptian mythology. Alternate transliterations include Yaaru & Aalu.
• Arda (AHR-dah)--Lord of the Rings 
• Brocéliande (broh-say-lee-AHND)--Arthurian mythology
• Elysia (eh-LEE-see-ah, eh-LOO-see-ah)--Greek mythology [Elysian/Elysium Fields]
• Lyonesse (lee-oh-NES)--Arthurian mythology
• Magrathea (mag-rah-THEE-ah)--Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Nysa (NEE-sah, NOO-sah)--Greek mythology
• Paravel (pehr-ah-VEL)--Chronicles of Narnia [Cair Paravel, technically]
• Terabithia (tehr-ah-BITH-ee-ah)--Bridge to Terebithia
• Tirith (TEER-ith)--Lord of the Rings [Minas Tirith, to be exact]
• Valinor (VAH-lin-ohr)--Lord of the Rings 

You're a Star (Pt 2)

A while back I did a post on names of stars, but I was recently struck on how nice names that mean "star" are--Stella, Estelle/Estella, Seren, Esther, and the like. And so, I just had to go looking for more, and of course, to see if the word 'star' in other languages has name-potential in the US. ;)

Established names (feminine unless otherwise indicated):

• Astraea (as-TRAY-ah, [Ancient] Greek)
• Citlalli (seet-LAH-lee, Nahuatl)--also spelled Citlali.
• Csilla (CHEE-lah, Hungarian)
• Dara (DAH-rah, Khmer) [masculine/unisex in other languages/origins]
• Dzvezda (ZVEZ-dah, Macedonian)
• Hoku (hoh-koo, Hawaiian) [unisex]
• Hoshi (hoh-shee, Japanese) 
• Izar (ee-sahr, Basque)
• Nthanda (nTAHN-dah, Tumbuka) [unisex]
• Nyota (NYOH-tah, Swahili)
• Setareh (seh-tah-RAY, Persian)--also spelled Setare.
• Sitara (sit-AH-rah, Hindi)
• Steluţă (steh-LOO-tsah, Romanian)
• Sterre (STEH-reh, Dutch)
• Tähti (TA [like in 'cat']-htee, Finnish)
• Tara (TAH-rah, Hindi)
• Twila (TWYE-lah, English)--from Cajun French étoile. Also spelled Twyla. [may also be derived from 'twilight']
• Whetu (FEH-too, Maori) [unisex]
• Yıldız (yil-diz, Turkish)
• Ylli (OO-lee, Albanian) [masculine]. Feminine is Yllka (OOL-kah). 
• Zvezdana (zvez-DAH-nah, Serbian)
• Zvjezdana (ZVYEZ-dah-nah, Croatian) 

Possibilities?

• Byeol (byohl, Korean)--also transliterated as Pyol (pyohl)
• Najm (NAH-jm, Arabic)--Masculine. Feminine is Najma. [also means "movie star"]
• Réalta (RAYL-tah, Irish)
• Reul (REE-ul, Scottish)
• Rionnag (RYOO-nahk, Scottish)--Feminine
• Tala (TAH-lah, Tagalog)
• Zírka (ZEER-kah, Ukrainian)--Feminine

Usual Nickname, Unexpected Name--Rose

Rose, of course, is perfectly fine on its own. But, as Rosalie regains popularity, it may pave the way for other Rose-names. Everyone knows the usual English picks--Rosalind/Rosalyn, Rosamund, Rosemary--but there's so much more!

• Rocío (roh-SEE-oh, Spanish)--"dew"
• Rosabel (ROHZ-ah-bel, English)--Italian is Rosabella.
• Rosalba (roh-ZAHL-bah, Italian)--"white rose"
• Rosalia (roh-zah-LEE-ah, Italian, Spanish)--Other forms include Rosália (roh-SAHL-yah, Portuguese) & Rozalia (roh-zah-LEE-ah, German; roh-ZAHL-yah, Polish)
• Rosaria (roh-ZAHR-yah, Italian)--"rosary". Other forms include Rosario (Spanish) & Rosaire (French).
• Rosaura (roh-SOW-rah, Spanish)--from Latin, "golden rose" 
• Rosella (roh-ZEL-lah, Italian)--French form is Roselle.
• Roselore (roh-zeh-LOH-reh, German)--combination of Rosa & Eleonore.
• Rosenda (roh-SEN-dah, Spanish)--from Germanic, "famous path"
• Rosette (roh-ZET, French)--Italian is Rosetta.
• Rosilda (roh-ZEEL-dah, Italian)
• Rósinkara (ROH-seen-kah-rah, Icelandic)
• Rositsa (roh-SEETZ-ah, Bulgarian)--"little rose". Also spelled Rosica. 
• Rosine (roh-ZEEN, French)--Italian form is Rosina. 
• Rósný (ROHS-nee, Icelandic)--"new rose"
• Rossana (rohs-SAH-nah, Italian)--form of Roxana.
• Roswitha (rohs-VEE-tah, German, Dutch)--from Germanic, "famous strength". Also spelled Roswita. 
• Rozenn (ROH-zen, Breton)