Street Names: Where Do They Come From?

Frank Lloyd Wright Globe Collection

In the United States and all over the rest of world, streets are given names for a variety of reasons. The first reason is so that the street can be identified from every other street. Another reason is so that addresses can be created so that businesses and homes can be found. People tend to understand why streets have names, but what they do not always know is where the name came from.

Significance in Street Names

In the United States, street names have some significance. In many downtown areas, the name Main Street is quite common. The reason is because this street was the main street in the town where most businesses were located. If streets have directional names like North Street or West Street, it is probably because that street was the farthest boundary of the city in that direction. Some streets are named for their destination, like Lake Street might end at the nearest lake.

Determining the Layout of the City

If you live on a road, street, or avenue might depend on how the planners of your city laid out the roads. In many cities, streets might go east and west and avenues might go north and south. Roads might be diagonal. It all depends on how your city was created. Some towns have no special designation and the choice of calling a street a street, road, or avenue was up to the people who created the neighborhood.

Downtown and First Dibs

Since downtown areas were usually the first to be developed in cities, those street names were made after famous people, either in the city, state, or country. This is why many downtowns have streets named after presidents, like Lincoln, Madison, and Washington. When cities began to expand, developers tried to get more creative with their names. Many of the first neighborhood streets were named after flowers, trees, or other common objects.

Creative Names, but Not So, Now

Once city dwellers got tired of calling every street a street, they began to get creative with the titles. If someone lived on a boulevard or a terrace, it sounded more high class than living on a road. In the 1900s, street names became even more unusual. It was very common for people to add words like wood, stone, hill, or other geographic and geological words to street names. It is not uncommon to find streets named Stonehill, Woodside, or Woodstone in neighborhoods with winding, tree-lined streets.

Fresh and Modern?

To keep the newer streets of today feeling fresh and modern, developers have been using more and more unusual choices. They might make up words by combining pieces of their friends names and last names. They might name streets after their children. They might even name streets after their favorite cars. It is not uncommon to see someone living on Corvette Drive or Firebird Lane.

Some developers have even been able to use the type of street as a part of the name. So, if you live on Basketball Court, Golden Terrace, or Penny Lane, consider yourself lucky because your street name will be easy for people to remember.