The names aren't really important. It feels like we're experiencing a bit of jingoism in this thread. What is important is that there is some development going on. As Unselie suggested, a stepped approach to colonising the systems would be great. But there have to be some planets or resources within the systems for this to realistically happen.
Deveopments like Newcastle are a great idea, but Newcastle is just tooooooooooooo BIG! :shok: I have found reasons to be there, it's just the time it takes to get from A to B can be monumental!
Keep the scale down, inject NPCs into the mix, a couple of viable trade routes, some wrecks (:secret:) and a few lawful and unlawful outposts, and suddenly there'll be more reasons for people to be there.
At the moment there are a lot of sad, empty spaces :( that need to start getting filled.