Names
Raudalu (Raudalu)
No street, Sub-district only. In the early 19th C, there was a street called, indiscriminately, Raudalsche Straße, Raudarrosche Straße and Rappelsche Straße. While you can discern the original destination in the last German name, in Estonian it stands out loud and clear: Rapla. The contemporary Estonian counterparts Raudalu and Raudaru were after a local inn called Raudaru Kõrts (from raud: iron + aru: meadow, see Raua and Aru, but why?), aka Uerist (1798, but why’er? It sorta sounds like a mispronunication... although it could also come from ‑vere, see Aedvere), or Raud Arro (1725) in German and Raudorakrog, etc. (1697) in Swedish. Confusion was a no-brainer. Name changed in 1949 to Viljandi to which it also leads, if you have the time. Last word?... Arro is and was a common-enough surname and the original name may well have been based on ‘Arro’s smithy’.
Raudsüdame (Raudsüda)
Lit. Ironheart. The geological name of an approx. 20-cm-thick Estonian limestone bed from the Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician), dating back to 462.6 to 463 Ma, known locally as the Lasnamägi Lade (Lasnamägi Stage). New street in Uuslinn, named for the limestone mined in the former Lõunamurd quarry (lit. south quarry) south of Laagna tee. See also its geologically younger counterpart Muldvalge.
