Celestial Names: Star and Planet Names

The name of a cluster of stars in the constellation Vela, also known as Delta Velorum.

Adventurous parents are venturing deeper into the garden in search of fresh names, but remember that this also makes for an alcoholic brunch.

Soaring astral name has a great gender-free feel. It also has a pleasing christmas connotation, courtesy of the reindeer listed in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Possible middle name for devotees of detective Sherlock.

A star in the constellation Triangulum Australe, also the name of a publishing imprint and an assisted living corporation, probably because it has that streamlined corporate I-could-be-a-car-name feel. Atria is the plural of the more familiar term for an entry hall or foyer, atrium.

The first letter of the Greek alphabet ande the brightest star in every constellation, this would make an interesting choice for a first daughter, though it does give off some spectral sci-fi reverberations--and references to the term "alpha male.".

Any boy with this name, a synonym for power via the Greek mythology figure, better be strong of body, and of psyche.

The Halley version of this popular name family hit the Top 1000 only once, in 1986, inspired by Halley's Comet, named for astronomer Edmund Halley.

Hydra is the largest of the 88 constellations, whose name was inspired by Hydra of Lerna, a serpentine, multi-headed monster of Greek mythology who resided in Lake Lerna.

His nickname would inevitably be Bull.

Donati is a distinguished Italian surname that can easily work as a first. The last name Donati is a patronymic from an ancestral Donato or may be a plural of Donato.

Capella, the eleventh brightest star in the sky, carries much mythological and astrological significance. In Roman mythology, Capella represented the goat that suckled Jupiter, whose horn became the Cornucopia or horn of plenty. In Hindu mythology, Capella is called the heart of Brahma, while English legend calls it the shepherd's star. Australian Aboriginal myth calls it the kangaroo, while in Persian mythology it's a metaphor for both great distance and the color light red. Astrologically, Capella symbolizes wealth and military honor. As if that wasn't enough, CapPella (two p's) also has a musical reference to a cappella singing.

This big cat name is especially striking with its X ending.

Appropriate for a girl born between late September and late October, Libra suggests both balance and freedom.

Astrological sign with enough rhythm to make a plausible astral name.

Thebe is the name of more than one daughter of Zeus, according to some myths, and is also the name of a moon of Jupiter. Thebe rhymes with Phoebe and may appeal to lovers of that name.

Also a city near Tel Aviv, Hadar is a name found primarily in Israel. There is also a citrus fruit associated with the holiday of Sukkat the Torah calls the "hadar fruit".

Starr today is more fashionably the plain-spoken Star or the more obscured Stella, Esther, or Estella.

61 Cygni is a star in the constellation Cygnus. It's pronounced similarly to the Scandinavian name Signe/Signy.

Star name that could also be another spelling of Asia or Aja.