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Street name

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A street name or odonym is an identifying name given to a street. The street name usually forms part of the address. Buildings are often given numbers along the street to further help identify them.

Names are often given in a two-part form: an individual name known as the specific, and an indicator of the type of street, known as the generic. Examples include "Main Road", "Fleet Street" and "Park Avenue".

Names can also include a direction, especially in cities with a grid-numbering system. Examples: cardinal points (east, west, north, south), quadrants (NW, NE, SW, SE).

They can also include another qualifier to differentiate two sections of a street. Examples: upper/lower, old/new, or adding "extension".

The type of street stated, however, can sometimes be misleading.

Main Street and High Street are common names for the major road in the middle of a shopping area in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.

Contents

Etymologies

The etymology of a street name is sometimes very obvious, but at other times it might be obscure or even forgotten.

In the United States, most streets are named after numbers, landscapes, trees (a combination of landscapes and trees such as Oakhill is used often in residential areas), or the surname of an important individual (in some instances, it is just a commonly held surname such as Smith).

Some streets are given a name without a street type designation. The Mall, for example, is the name of various famous streets around the world. The Shambles, derived from the Anglo-Saxon term "fleshammels" ("the street of the butchers"), is a historical street name which still exists in various cities and towns around England. The most well-known example is to be found in York[#endnote_BritainExpress].

The unusual etymologies of quite a few street names in the United Kingdom are documented in Rude Britain, complete with photographs of local signage.

Type of commerce or industry

Many streets were named for the type of commerce or industry that was along them. This practice rarely happens in modern times, but many of those named years ago are still common. Examples include London's Haymarket or Barcelona's Carrer de Moles, "millstone street", where the stonecutters used to have their shops.

Landmarks

Some streets are name for landmarks that were present along the street when it was constructed. These have often disappeared but the name is retained.

Barcelona's La Rambla is officially a series of streets. The Rambla de Canaletes is named after a fountain that still stands, but the Rambla dels Estudis is named after the Estudis Generals, a university building demolished in 1843, and the Rambla de Sant Josep, the Rambla dels Caputxins, and the Rambla de Santa Monica are each named after former convents. Only the convent of Santa Monica survives as a building, and it is now converted to a museum.

Sometimes a street is named after a landmark that was torn down to build that very street. For example, New York's Canal Street takes its name from a canal that was filled in to build it.

Destination

Many roads, particularly in England and in New England and other Atlantic parts of the US, are given the name of the town to which they lead. However, there are also many examples of streets named after a city that is many miles away and has no obvious link to the street. When the roads do still make it to their stated destination, the names are often changed when they cross the border. ("Lexington St." in Waltham, Massachusetts becomes "Waltham St." in Lexington, Massachusetts, for example.) Some streets are named after the areas that the street connects. An example in Orlando is Clarcona Ocoee Road, a road linking the communities of Clarcona and Ocoee.

Distinguished or famous individuals

Some streets are named after famous individuals or those that are distinguished for some reason. Sometimes people are honoured by having a street named after them while they are alive, though it more commonly happens for historical figures. Many jurisdictions only allow naming for persons after their death, sometimes even demanding a ten-year waiting period. Naming a street for a person is very common in many countries, often in the honoree's birthplace. However, it is also the most controversial type of naming, especially in cases of renaming. It is often the main reason for renaming: And, conversely, it leads to eliminating a name that proves too controversial, for example, after a political change.

In a variant on this, Şoseaua Kiseleff (Kiseleff Road) in Bucharest is named after the Russian military officer and reformer Pavel Kiselyov who was responsible for its construction.

Themes

Groups of streets in one area are sometimes named using a particular theme. A well-known example is in Philadelphia, where the major east-west streets in William Penn's original plan for the city carry the names of trees: from north to south, these are Vine, Race (originally Sassafras), Arch (originally Mulberry), Market (not a tree), Chestnut, Walnut, Locust, Spruce, Pine.

Other examples of themed streets:

Grid-based naming systems

In many cities laid out on a grid plan, the streets are named to indicate their location on a Cartesian coordinate plane. For example, the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 for Manhattan provided for numbered streets running parallel to the minor axis of the island and numbered and lettered avenues running parallel to the long axis of the island, although many of the avenues have since been assigned names for at least part of their courses. In the city plan for Washington, D.C., north-south streets were numbered away from the United States Capitol in both directions, while east-west streets were lettered away from the Capitol in both directions and diagonal streets were named after various States of the Union. As the city grew, east-west streets past W Street were given two-syllable names in alphabetical order, then three-syllable names in alphabetical order, and finally names relating to flowers and shrubs in alphabetical order. Even in communities not laid out on a grid, such as Arlington County, Virginia, a grid-based naming system is still sometimes used to give a semblance of order.

Often, the numbered streets run east-west and the numbered avenues north-south, following the style adopted in Manhattan, although this is not always observed. In some cases, streets in "half-blocks" in between two consecutive numbered streets have a different designator, such as Court or Terrace, often in an organized system where courts are always between streets and terraces between avenues. Sometimes yet another designator (such as "Way" or "Circle") is used for streets which go at a diagonal or curve around, and hence don't fit easily in the grid.

In many cases, the block numbers correspond to the numbered cross streets; for instance, an address of 1600 may be near 16th Street or 16th Avenue. In a city with both lettered and numbered streets, such as Washington, D.C., the 400 block may be between 4th and 5th streets or between D and E streets, depending on the direction in which the street in question runs. However, addresses in Manhattan have no obvious relationship to cross streets or avenues, although various tables and formulas are often found on maps and travel guides to assist in finding addresses.

Street renaming

Street names can usually be changed relatively easily by municipal authorities for various reasons. Sometimes streets can be renamed to reflect a changing or previously unrecognized ethnic community or to honour politicians or local heroes. A changed political regime can trigger widespread changes in street names – many place names in Zimbabwe changed following their independence in 1980 with streets named after British colonists being changed to those of Zimbabwean nationalist leaders. Some international cause célèbres can attract cities around the world to rename streets in solidarity; for example a number of streets with South African embassies were renamed honouring Nelson Mandela during the period of his imprisonment. Street names can also be changed to avoid negative associations, like Malbone Street in Brooklyn, New York City, renamed Empire Boulevard after the deadly Malbone Street Wreck, Cadieux Street in Montreal renamed De Bullion because the original name became infamous by the former presence of many bordellos, and several streets in the German Village area of Columbus, Ohio which were renamed with more "American" sounding names around World War I due to popular anti-German sentiments. Similarly, Hamburg Avenue in Brooklyn was renamed Wilson Avenue during World War I.

Street names also can change due to a change in official language. After the death of Francisco Franco, the Spanish transition to democracy gave Catalonia the status of an autonomous community, with Catalan as a co-official language. While some street names in Catalonia were changed entirely, most were merely given the Catalan translations of their previous Spanish-language names. In some cases, this was a reversion to Catalan-language names from decades earlier.

Sometimes, when communities are consolidated, the streets are renamed according to a uniform system. For example, when the community of Georgetown ceased to have even a nominal existence independent of Washington, D.C., the streets in Georgetown were renamed as an extension of Washington's street-naming convention. Also, when leaders of Arlington County, Virginia, asked the United States Postal Service to place the entire county in the "Arlington, Virginia" postal area, the USPS refused to do so until the county adopted a uniform addressing and street-naming system, which the county did in 1932.

Sometimes street renaming can be controversial, because of antipathy toward the new name, the overturning of a respected traditional name, or confusion from the altering of a familiar name useful in navigation. A proposal in 2005 to rename 16th Street, N.W., in Washington, D.C., "Ronald Reagan Boulevard" exemplified all three. Issues of familiarity and confusion can be addressed by the street sign showing the current name and, in smaller writing, the old name. One compromise when the issue is more political can be "co-naming", when the old name is fully retained but the street is also given a second subsidiary name, which may be indicated by a smaller sign underneath the 'main' name.

It is also controversial because it is seen by many as a way to rewrite history, even if the original name is not well-liked but nevertheless traditional or convenient. It can be used to erase the presence of a cultural group or previous political regime, whether positive or negative, and to show the supremacy of a new cultural group or political regime.

Multiple names for a single street

While it is very common for what is effectively a single street to have different names for different portions of the street, it is less common for the a portion of a street to have two equally acceptable legal names. There are several cases of the latter in New York City: Sixth Avenue in Manhattan was renamed as Avenue of the Americas in 1945, but the name never really stuck, and the city now considers both names equally acceptable, and both appear on street signs. Manhattan street signs now also designate a portion of Seventh Avenue as Fashion Avenue, and Avenue C is also Loisaida Avenue, a Spanglish name deriving from the English Lower East Side.

Cairo's, Muizz Li-Din Allah Street changes its name as one walks through. It may variously be referred to by locals as Souq Al-Nahhasin ("Coppersmith Bazaar") or Souq Al-Attarin ("Spices Bazaar") or Souq Al-Sagha ("Goldsmith and Jeweler Bazaar"), according to historical uses, as in "Type of commerce or industry" above. (For a tourist, that might be misleading as in[#endnote_Cairo]). These names identify both a "segment" within the Street, and "sub-Areas" in the City.

Nicknames

Some streets are known equally or better by a name other than their official name.

Seattle's University Way NE is almost universally known to locals as "The Ave".[#endnote_TheAve] Buffalo, New York's Delaware Avenue acquired the nickname of "Presidents Avenue", being where Millard Fillmore lived, William McKinley died, and Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president.[#endnote_Presidents]

It is also common in some places to shorten the name of streets which have long names. For example, many streets named Massachusetts Avenue are often referred to as "Mass. Ave."; Boston's Commonwealth Avenue is often called "Comm. Ave."; Manhattan's Lexington Avenue is often simply called "Lex"; Charlottesville, VA's Jefferson Park Avenue is simply "JPA."

In Paris, Boulevard Saint-Michel is affectionately known as "Boul'Mich".

Symbolism

Some street names in large cities can become metonyms, and stand for whole types of businesses or ways of life. "Fleet Street" in London still represents the British press, and "Wall Street" in New York City American finance, though neither street actually serves these industries anymore. In London, a top surgeon with a private practice is liable to be referred to as a Harley Street surgeon even if he does not actually maintain an office in Harley Street. The cachet of streets like Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue can prove effective branding, as for the Buick Park Avenue luxury car, and Sak's Department Store being always known as "Sak's Fifth Avenue". In the opposite way, 42nd Street still symbolizes a street of pleasure, but also sin and decadence.

Another type of symbolism is an association to a name. The late American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an African American, has had many streets named after him in predominately African American areas. Streets named "Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd" have come to symbolize an African American community.

Much as streets are often named after the neighborhoods they run through, the reverse process also takes place, with a neighborhood taking its name from a street or an intersection: for example, the aforementioned Wall Street in Manhattan, Knightsbridge in London, or Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco.

Street type designations

Streets can be divided into various types, each with their own general style of construction and purpose. However, the difference between streets, roads, avenues and the like is often blurred and is not a good indicator of the size, design or content of the area. For example, London's Abbey Road serves all the vital functions of a street, despite its name, and locals are more apt to refer to the "street" outside than the "road". A desolate road in rural Montana, on the other hand, may bear a sign proclaiming it "Davidson Street", but this does not make it a "street".

In the United Kingdom many towns will refer to their main thoroughfare as the High Street, and many of the ways leading off it will be named "Road" despite the urban setting. Thus the town's so-called "Roads" will actually be more streetlike than a road.

In some other English-speaking countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, cities are often divided by a main "Road", with "Streets" leading from this "Road", or are divided by thoroughfares known as "Streets" or "Roads" with no apparent differentiation between the two. In Auckland, for example, the main shopping precinct is around Queen Street and Karangahape Road, and the main urban thoroughfare connecting the south of the city to the city centre is Dominion Road.

In Manhattan and Seattle, East-West streets are "Streets" whereas North-South streets are "Avenues". In Ontario, numbered concession roads are East-West whereas "lines" are North-South routes. Yet in St. Petersburg, Florida, all of the East-West streets are "Avenues" and the North-South streets are "Streets". And in San Francisco, some East-West streets are alphabetically ordered.

In Montreal, "Avenue" (used for major streets in other cities) generally indicates a small, tree-lined, low-traffic residential street. Exceptions exist, such as Park Avenue and Pine Avenue. Both are major thoroughfares in the city.

Street type designations include:

Numbering

Some major roads, particularly motorways and freeways, are given road numbers rather than, or in addition to, names. Examples include the M1 and Interstate 5. Many streets in Britain are given both a number and a name as part of the Great Britain road numbering scheme. The same is also common in the United States; for example, in Washington, D.C., much of New York Avenue is U.S. Highway 50.

Signage

Most streets have a traffic sign at each intersection to indicate the name of the road. The design and style of the sign is usually common to the district in which it appears. The sign has the street name and sometimes other information, such as the block number or the name of the London borough in which the street is located. Such signs are often the target of simple vandalism, and signs on unusually or famously named streets are especially liable to street sign theft.

Often, such signs are nothing more than white on a green background. However, in some cases, the colour of a sign can provide information, as well. One example can be found in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Within city limits, all major arterial roads use a blue sign, north-south roads use a green sign, and east-west roads use a brown sign.

Statistics

The most common street names in the United States, as of 1993, are:http://www.nlc.org/about_cities/cities_101/184.cfm, which cites: Census and You. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Geography Division. February 1993.

  1. Second (10,866)
  2. Third (10,131)
  3. First (9,898)
  4. Fourth (9,190)
  5. Park (8,926)
  6. Fifth (8,186)
  7. Main (7,644)
  8. Sixth (7,283)
  9. Oak (6,946)
  10. Seventh (6,377)
  11. Pine (6,170)
  12. Maple (6,103)
  13. Cedar (5,644)
  14. Eighth (5,524)
  15. Elm (5,233)
  16. View (5,202)
  17. Washington (4,974)
  18. Ninth (4,908)
  19. Lake (4,901)
  20. Hill (4,877)
The perhaps surprising order of the top three US street names (Second and Third, followed by First) is due to the tendency of some towns with numbered streets to have no "First Street". Instead, what might otherwise be designated First Street in such a town is often called "Main Street".

References

  1. ↑  "[The Shambles]" at Britain Express. Accessed 27 August 2005.
  2. [#endnote_Cairo] Daniel Lanier, [Bazaar of the Tentmakers], Shopping around Egypt, accessed 12 March 2006.
  3. ↑  Paul Dorpat, "[Seattle Neighborhoods: University District -- Thumbnail History]", HistoryLink, June 18, 2001 (updated May 2002), accessed 12 March 2006.
  4. ↑  [Buffalo Local History] on Travel-Library.com. Accessed 12 March 2006.

External links

 

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