In article ,
William C. Keel wrote:
Sep 06 - Asteroid 2991 Bilbo Closest Approach To Earth (1.000 AU)
Bagginses agains. Pfui.

Clear favoritism. Quick perusal of thee asteroid name list turns up
not a single Frodo, Samwise, Gollum, Aragorn, or Gimli...

Check the derivation of the name before jumping to conclusions. It may
not be from the Tolkien character. If memory serves, "Bilbo" and variants
on it are sometimes seen as Italian surnames.

...Now. if one of the ones I
occasionally come across were still unnamed... I don't know of
any rules requiring that the mythological names be of actually ancient
origin.

Asteroid names don't have to be mythological at all. There's one named
after Frank Zappa, for example. Subject to a few restrictions -- I
believe you can't name them after living people, in particular -- and
confirmation by the IAU, an asteroid's name is chosen by its discoverer.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |