Rare Place Names

Some parents are turning to rivers and other bodies of water in the search for undiscovered place-names, and this has the feel of a Viennese waltz.

The name of an island in the English Channel that might make an attractive first name, but would work better for a boy.

Pronounced my-ORK-a, the name of this lovely Balearic Island, located in the Mediterranean, is one of the prettiest and most feminine of place names. The Spanish spelling is MALLORCA.

A perfect example of what a difference a single letter can make. Add an 'a' to the ho-hum CATHY and you have the old name for China, often used by such poets as Edna St. Vincent Millay and Ezra Pound.

Unlikely to make it onto the name map.