What do the names of roads say about your area?

Northern Delaware had a strong milling industry back when water power was vital, and that is reflected in the names of roads in the Wilmington and Newark area:

Paper Mill Road
Curtis Mill Road
Powder Mill Road
Red Mill Road
Barley Mill Road
Snuff Mill Road
Snuff Mill Lane
Upper Snuff Mill Row
Center Mill Road
Burnt Mill Road
Auburn Mill Road
Hillside Mill Road
Rolling Mill Road
Mendenhall Mill Road
Smith Mill Road

Also, turnpikes were important roads back in colonial days, and these toll roads connected cities and towns. Many of these roads exist in modern form, and still bear a name similar to what they used to have. The "Pike" suffix is prevalent on these old turnpikes. The names of the roads usually indicate where they went to. Some in the Wilmington/Newark area and where they lead to:

Lancaster Pike
Kennett Pike
Philadelphia Pike
Baltimore Pike
Concord Pike (called Wilmington Pike in Pennsylvania)
Newport Gap Pike (Newport, DE and Gap, PA were the termini of the road; the road is called Gap Newport Pike in Pennsylvania)

I like when motorways have names.

Like:

Autoroute du Soleil
La Languedocienne
Linksrheinische Autobahn
Rechtsrheinische Autobahn
Golden State Freeway
Garden State Parkway
Autostrada del Sol

etc.

The Netherlands doesn't have these kind of names.

Singapore has road names in various languages

Like....

Orchard Road (English)
Jalan Besar [ "Big Road" ] (Malay)
Kadayanallur Street [ place name in India ] (Tamil)
Chin Chew Street [ "Pearl" ] (Hokkien dialect)
Bishan Road [ old village name ](Mandarin)

Reflects our British colonial history, Malay native heritage and the various ethnic groups which immigrated here in colonial times.

In Washington State, and many other western states, Indian names are everywhere. City names, county names, road names, mountain pass names.

The most recognizable are: Yakima, Wenatchee, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Nisqually, Snohomish, Chehalis, Skagit, Duwamish.

Always amusing when someone new arrives on the media scene and has trouble with the pronounciation.

In Washington State, and many other western states, Indian names are everywhere. City names, county names, road names, mountain pass names.

The most recognizable are: Yakima, Wenatchee, Snoqualmie, Puyallup, Nisqually, Snohomish, Chehalis, Skagit, Duwamish.

Always amusing when someone new arrives on the media scene and has trouble with the pronounciation.

Note Indian = Native American

Anyway, highways here are frequently named after some person that died, and may also have a proper name. In the Bay Area though, everybody just calls the highway by its number.

Streets around my city are named for many random things (birds, explorers, etc.) which reflect the marine/coastal setting, I suppose. There are things like "Port Royal" and "Edgewater" but also "Vasco da Gama" and "Gull"

I'm not sure what your point is about "Indian names = native american". If you are trying to educate those from around the world, fine. But, the truth is, to those who live in the area, they are "Indian" reservations, "Indian" casinos, and "Indian" names. This is the common language used in the Pacific Northwest.

In Calgary, a lot of the highways are called "trails" and some of them are native names i.e. Deerfoot and Crowchild and Blackfoot.

To keep it more localised in my city, downtown Vancouver streets are entirely names from British Isles origin and Spanish, and perhaps just one Aboriginal street name.

I love history so I'll expand on a few if you don't mind -

Quite a few street names come from Royal Navy & Spanish Navy origin-

Haro Street. - after Gonzales Lopez de Haro, first mate of the sloop Princesa Real, the seized British merchantman "Princess Royal" in which Spanish naval officer Manuel Quimper was exploring the area south of Vancouver Island.

Georgia St - Named for His Majesty King George III in turn was named from the Straight(Gulf originally) of Georgia in 1792 by Captain Vancouver RN. Formerly the Grand Canal de Nuestra Senora del Rosario la Marinera.

Thurlow St - after Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.

Denman St - named after British Admiral Joseph Denman. 1864 Commander-in-chief, Pacific. Admiral Denman was involved in the suppression of the slave trade whilst serving as a lieutenant on the HMS Curlew in 1834. He has been described as one of the most successful and passionate officers to serve on the West Africa squadron.

Cordova St - After Puerta de Cordova, the original name of the port in Esquimalt near Victoria.

Harwood St - after Dr. Edward Harwood, Royal Navy surgeon.

Bidwell St - Lieutenant Commander Frederick Bedwell (1796–1853) was a sailor in the Royal Navy. He participated in the Peninsular War, War of 1812, and was a member of the guard that took Napoleon I of France to banishment on Saint Helena.

Cardero St - after Josef Cordero, draughtsman (Dibujante or Dibuxante) of the Spanish ships Sutil and Mexicana, 1792.

Burrard St - after Captain Sir Harry Burrard, R.N. Lord of the Admiralty between 1804 and 1807.

Howe St - after Admiral Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe. One of Royal Navy's greatest sailors.

Broughton St - after LCDR William Broughton RN, commanded HMS Chatham as part of the voyage of exploration through the Pacific Ocean led by Captain George Vancouver in the early 1790s.

Bute St - after John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. Prime Minister under George III. His botanical work culminated in the publication of Botanical Tables Containing the Families of British Plants in 1785.

Suzhou Alley - after the Chinese city.

Shanghai Alley - after the Chinese city.

Hastings St - Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Navy, Rear Admiral George Fowler Hastings from 1866–1869.

Alberni St - named for Captain Don Pedro de Alberni, a Spanish officer, who commanded the fort at Nootka on Vancouver Island's west coast.

French motorways (Autoroutes) have nice names.

here's a list:

A1 Autoroute du Nord (Motorway to the North)
A4 Autorute de l'Est (Motorway to the East)
A6 Autoroute du Soleil (Motorway to the sun)
A7 Autoroute dus Soleil (motorway to the sun)
A8 La Provençale (Motorway of the Provence region)
A9 La Languedocienne (Motorway of the Languedoc region)
A9 La Catalane (Motorway to Catalonia)
A10 l'Aquitaine (Motorway of the Aquitaine region)
A11 l'Océane (Motorway to the Ocean)
A13 Autoroute du Normandie (Motorway to Normandy)
A16 Autoroute du Littoral (Motorway to the Coast)
A20 l'Occitane (Motorway to the Occitane region)
A26 Autorute des Anglais (Motorway to England)
A36 La Comtoise (Motorway through Franche-comte)
A39 Autoroute Verte (Green Motorway (because of the green landscape))
A40 Autoroute des Titans (Motorway of the titans (because of the Alps mountains)
A40 Autorute Blanche (White Motorway (because of the winter resorts in the Alps)
A43 Autoroute de la Maurienne (Motorway of the Maurienne region)
A51 Autoroute du val de Durance (Motorway of the Durance river valley)
A61 Autoroute des Deux Mers (Motorway of the two seas (Atlantic/Mediterranean)
A64 La Pyrénéenne (Motorway of the Pyrenees mountains)
A75 la Méridienne (The Mediterranean motorway)
A77 Autoroute de l'Arbre (Motorways of the trees)
A104 la Francilienne (Motorway around the Ile de Franche, island of France, Paris region)

In Brief, there're three periods for the Street names in Hong Kong. :|

1841-1950s, many of them were a mixture of Lingnan (Guangdong) and British Culture. Such as Chung Ching St and Queen's Road Central on Hong Kong Island. There're also some streets reflecting HK was an entrepot, such as Shanghai St, Canton Rd in Kowloon Peninsula.

1950s-1970s, different combinations. You may refer HK Place (http://hk-place.com/view.php?id=308).

Since 1970s, usually a set of ONE Chinese Character within the new towns in the New Teritorries, such as On Chee Rd, On Po Rd in Tai Po (Using the Character of [i]On[i] "安 ", meaning "Safe"); And Tin Yiu Rd, Tin Shing Rd in Tin Shui Wai.

^ There are also a number of theme street names, such as Vietnamese cities, Chinese cities, and even trees.

A1 Autoroute du Nord (Motorway to the North)
A4 Autorute de l'Est (Motorway to the East)
A6 Autoroute du Soleil (Motorway to the sun)
A7 Autoroute dus Soleil (motorway to the sun)
A8 La Provençale (Motorway of the Provence region)
A9 La Languedocienne (Motorway of the Languedoc region)
A9 La Catalane (Motorway to Catalonia)
A10 l'Aquitaine (Motorway of the Aquitaine region)
A11 l'Océane (Motorway to the Ocean)
A13 Autoroute du Normandie (Motorway to Normandy)
A16 Autoroute du Littoral (Motorway to the Coast)
A20 l'Occitane (Motorway to the Occitanie region)
A26 Autorute des Anglais (Motorway to England)
A36 La Comtoise (Motorway through Franche-comte)
A39 Autoroute Verte (Green Motorway (because of the green landscape))
A40 Autoroute des Titans (Motorway of the titans (because of the Alps mountains)
A40 Autorute Blanche (White Motorway (because of the winter resorts in the Alps)
A43 Autoroute de la Maurienne (Motorway of the Maurienne region)
A51 Autoroute du val de Durance (Motorway of the Durance river valley)
A61 Autoroute des Deux Mers (Motorway of the two seas (Atlantic/Mediterranean)
A64 La Pyrénéenne (Motorway of the Pyrenees mountains)
A75 la Méridienne (The Mediterranean motorway)
A77 Autoroute de l'Arbre (Motorways of the trees)
A104 la Francilienne (Motorway around the Ile de Franche, island of France, Paris region)

Actually, the right translation is rather:
A1 Autoroute du Nord (Northern Highway)
A4 Autorute de l'Est (Eastern Highway)
A6 Autoroute du Sud/Autoroute du Soleil (Southern Highway/The Sun Highway)
A7 Autoroute du Soleil (The Sun Highway)
A8 La Provençale (Highway of the Provence region)
A9 La Languedocienne (Highway of the Languedoc region)
A9 La Catalane (Highway of the Catalonia region)
A10 l'Aquitaine (Highway of the Aquitaine region)
A11 l'Océane (Highway of the Ocean)
A13 Autoroute de Normandie (Normandy's Highway)
A16 Autoroute du Littoral (The Coast Highway)
A20 l'Occitane (Highway of the Occitania region)
A26 Autorute des Anglais (The English Highway)
A28 Autorute des Estuaires (The Estuaries Highway)
A35 Autoroute des cigognes (The Storks Highway)
A36 La Comtoise (Highway of the Franche-comte region)
A39 Autoroute Verte (Green Highway (because of the green landscape))
A40 Autoroute des Titans (Highway of the titans (because of the viaducts/tunnels)
A40 Autorute Blanche (White Highway (because of the Mont Blanc valley)
A43 Autoroute de la Maurienne (Highway of the Maurienne region)
A51 Autoroute du val de Durance (Highway of the Durance river valley)
A61 Autoroute des Deux Mers (Highway of the two seas (Atlantic/Mediterranean)
A64 La Pyrénéenne (Highway of the Pyrenees mountains)
A71 l’Arverne (Highway of the Arverni tribe region)
A75 la Méridienne (The Meridian Highway (because of the Paris Meridian)
A77 Autoroute de l'Arbre (Highway of the Tree)
A104 la Francilienne (Highway around the Ile de France, island of France, Paris region)

;)



A40 Autoroute des Titans
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Autoroute_A40_02.jpg/800px-Autoroute_A40_02.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Autoroute_A40_01.jpg/800px-Autoroute_A40_01.jpg

In Canberra, roads can either be named after:

Famous Australians
Australian Icons
References to English Monarchy
Aboriginal Words


The way that most streets in surburbs are named in in reference to the name of the surburb.

For example, the surburb of Melba is named after a great Australian opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba and all the streets are named after famous musicians.

Another is the surburb of Florey, named after Australian scientist Howard Walter Florey who won the Nobel Prize for his work on Penicillin research, hence all the streets are named after scientists.

I like Australian long distance-highway names such as

Great Northern Highway
North West Coastal Highway
Stuart Highway
Buchanan Highway
Great Eastern Highway
South Coast Highway
Eyre Highway
Barkly Highway
Flinders Highway
Bruce Highway
Landsborough Highway
Capricorn Highway
Warrego Highway
Mitchell Highway
Newell Highway
Gore Highway
Barrier Highway
Pacific Highway
Princes Highway
Sturt Highway
Calder Highway
Western Highway

The majority of them aren't motorways though.

I like when motorways have names.

Like:

Autoroute du Soleil
La Languedocienne
Linksrheinische Autobahn
Rechtsrheinische Autobahn
Golden State Freeway
Garden State Parkway
Autostrada del Sol

etc.

The Netherlands doesn't have these kind of names.
Also in Italy many motorways are called with "friendly" names...

Some I remember right now:
A1 Milano-Naples "Autostrada del Sole", the Sun's motorway
A4 Turin-Trieste "Serenissima", ancient name for the Venetian Republic
A8 Milan-Varese "Autolaghi", lakes' motorway (1924: first motorway in this world!!)
A21 Turin-Piacenza-Brescia "Autostrada dei Vini", wines' motorway


and many many others...
Often main roads and motorways get their name by the mountain passes the have to step.

^^ Also the A23 has a nice name - Alpe-Adria. :)

Here you can find the whole list ;)

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elenco_autostrade_italiane

I love this italian one:

- Autostrada del sole - Sun's motorway
- Autostrada dei fiori - Flowers' motorway
- Autostrada dei vini - Wines' motorway
- L'Adriatica - The Adriatic
- La Verdemare - The Green-Sea
- La Serenissima - The Serenissima
- Autostrada dei due mari - The two seas motorways
- Autostrada Azzurra - Blu motorway

Spain:

(i refer to the number only, because of the overlap of A and AP routes)

1 Autopista del Norte
2 Autopista del Norteste
3 Autovia del Este
4 Autopista del Sur
5 Autovia del Suroeste
6 Autovia del Noroeste
7 Autopista del Mediterráneo
8 Autovia del Cantábrico
9 Autopista del Atlántico
10 Autovia de la Barranca
11 Autovia del Duero
12 Autovia del Camino de Santiago
15 Autovia Navarra Norte Est
16 Autopista de Pau Cascals
17 Autovia Barcelona - Puigcerdà
18 Autovia de Montserrat
19 Autovia Barcelona a Massanet
21 Autovia del Pirineo
23 Autovia Mudéjar
30 Autovia de Murcia
31 Autovia de Alicante
32 Autovia de Levante
40 Autovia de Castilla-La Mancha
42 Autovia de Toledo
43 Autovia Extremadura-Communidad Valenciana
44 Autovia de Sierra Nevada
45 Autovia de Málaga
49 Autovia del Quinto Centenario
50 Autovia de la Cultura
51 Conexión Ávila
52 Autovia de las Rías Bajas
53 Autopista Central Gallega
61 Conexión Segovia
62 Autovia de Castilla
66 Autovia Ruta de la Plata
67 Autovia Cantabria-Meseta
68 Autopista Vasco-aragonesa
69 Autopista dos Mares
70 Circunvalacion de Alicante
71 Autopista León-Astorga
77 Acceso Noroeste a Alicante

Often the political preferences of the local authority, or the ethnic composition of a neighborhood (in the USA especially) can be deduced from the names of the local streets.

Thus (in France) Place Charles de Gaulle, and Rue Jeanne d'Arc are a good indication of a right-wing district, while Rue Lenine, or Avenue Salvador Allende are a reliable sign that the left is in control. In my native city, Glasgow, Scotland, the city council renamed a street Nelson Mandela Place, which was considered quite radical at the time, since political street names are uncommon in Britain (Glasgow council is permanently controlled by the left).

Likewise in the USA, Martin Luther King Jr Drive, and Cesar Chavez Street are often found in African-American, and Mexican-American neghborhoods, respectively.

I like the history behind the street and highway names that everyone has given.

As I stated with Wilmington nd other places in the Delaware Valley, many cities and towns were connected to each other during Colonial times by turnpikes, which were toll roads. Those toll roads exist today as regular roads. Just like in the Wilmington area, these roads tend to bear the name of where they lead to.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is another city like Wilmington in this respect. Here are some of the old turnpikes, which radiate out from the city:

Lititz Pike
Oregon Pike
Harrisburg Pike
Philadelphia Pike
New Holland Pike
Manheim Pike
Fruitville Pike
Marietta Pike
Millersville Pike
Beaver Valley Pike
New Danville Pike
Willow Street Pike
Strasburg Pike

Like Wilmington and Lancaster, the Philadelphia metro area also has roads that follow old turnpike routes that connect to other places. Most of these roads bear the names of the cities and towns that they go to, like Wilmington and Lancaster, but many are named for other palce that they went to: streets, industries, etc.

West Chester Pike
Baltimore Pike
Chester Pike
Ridge Pike
Germantown Pike
Limekiln Pike
Huntingdon Pike
Bristol Pike
Bridgetown Pike
Bustleton Pike
2ns Street Pike
Bethlehem Pike
Butler Pike
Skipjack Pike
DeKalb Pike
Penllyn Pike
Penllyn Blue Bell Pike
Paoli Pike
Pottstown Pike
Downtingtown Pike
Wilmington Pike

What are some common street names in your region or country? Some common names can be grouped into a common category, some are random. This is not to be confused with street name suffixes. (Discuss street name suffixes here (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=508658).)

Some common street names in the U.S.:

Numbers: 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd Street, etc. I've personally seen as high as 146th Street, I believe there are places in the Plains and West that go into the 200s.

Presidents: Washington Street, Adams Street, Jefferson Street, Madison Street, Jackson Street, Van Buren Street, etc. Washington, Jefferson, and Madison seem to be the most prominent.

Trees: Walnut Street, Oak Street, Elm Street, Cedar Street, Maple Street, Pine Street, Spruce Street, etc. Elm and Walnut seem to be the most prominent.

States: Delaware Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Maryland Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue, Florida Avenue, etc. Delaware and Pennsylvania seem to be the most prominent.

Random prominent names: Main Street, Broad Street, State Street, Union Street, Market Street, Church Street, Mill Street, Center Street, Atlantic Street, New Street, Water Street, North Street, South Street, King Street.

Any others?

We,in Hungary,mainly have famous people's name,or city names. That's all.
Most common is Kossuth utca,there is one in almost every settlement.
For city names,we have,eg Fiumei út,which means road leading to Fiume(Rijeka),
or Üllői út,meaning road leading to Üllő(a settlement east from Budapest).

Netherlands:

Hoofdstraat (Main Street)
Rijksweg (State Road)
Rijksstraatweg (statestreetroad) (kind of double named)
Interchange Prins Clausplein (royalty)
Interchange Europaplein (Europe square) (in this case, the "square" is a cloverleaf)

And a lot of streets are named after rivers in the Netherlands, like Waal, Rijn, Maas, IJssel, Zwartewater, Vecht, Lek, Merwede, Grevelingen, Volkerak, Krammer (the last 3 being former estuaries, now lakes).

A lot of roads are named after former mayors, and famous people from the middle ages, but we don't usually name streets after living persons.

Motorway interchanges are named mostly to geographic location, mostly a village nearby, or a geographic feature. Interchanges aren't usually named after the largest city they being in. (you can't find an interchange name that is named after Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague etc). A difference to other country's may be that our motorway interchanges aren't numbered, but exits are, so sometimes, there may be even 2 interchanges between 2 exit numbers. (Like between exit 25 and 26 on the A12 near Arnhem, there are two interchanges in between; IC Grijsoord and IC Waterberg).
The Dutch word for interchange is "Knooppunt".

Germany: Mostly

(local) famous names (Kurt-Schumacher-Straße, Freiherr-von-Stein-Straße, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage, Karl-Deichmann-Allee, Heinrich-te-Poel-Straße, Adickesallee, Ebertplatz, Laurentiusallee)

river names (Rheinstraße, Wiedstraße, Siegstraße, Saarstraße)

place names (Herschbacher Weg, Frankfurter Straße, Danziger Straße, Kürenzer Straße)

places inside towns (Bahnhofstraße, Kirchstraße, Am Backhaus, Industriestraße, Schlossstraße)

trees (Lindenstraße, Birkenweg, Tannenweg, Fichtenstraße)

or the names/jobs of the people who lived there in midage (Brotstraße, Fleischstraße, Gerbergasse, Judengasse)

Main Steet is Hauptstraße (most towns have it)

I've seen SW 404th St once. It's in Florida, US, a few miles from Florida City-Homestead, at the gateway to the keys. That high number is because it's in the outskirts of Miami-Dade Metro area.

Portugal

I'm only going to post the road'd name cince it could be road, street etc...

República (Republic).
25 de Abril (25th April).
Brasil (Brazil).

Those are the most common.

In the US, Martin Luther King, Jr.

In Poland usually main streets going outside of city, leading to other major city, gets name of that city. For example, in my home cty - Wroclaw ,ulica Krakowska (Krakow str.) is the street that runs in Krakow direction. And because traveling from Wroclaw to Krakow you have to pass through Opole and Katowice, the street before gets out of city, changes its name twice, to Opolska str. and Katowicka str.
In Poland there are also common streets named after ,
national heroes
fames ppl.
major historical events
trees
rivers
trades (smithing str. butchery str. shuemakers str. etc )
foreign countries (French str. Serb str. Ukrainian str. Czech str. etc )
foreign cities ( Belgrade str. Paris str. etc)
fisical traits ( strait str. croocked str. long str. short str. wide str. narrow str. etc)


.

In Caracas you can find streets or avenues by:

Important persons in the Americas history:

Bolivar Av.
Miranda Av.
Soublette Av.
Sucre Av.
San Martin Av.
O'Higgins Av.
Lincoln Av.
Lazo Marti Av.
Páez Av.
Andres Bello Av.
Washington St.
etc...

Spanish Speaking Countries:

Peru St.
Colombia St.
Spain St.
Argentina St.
Venezuela St.
Mexico St.
Ecuador St.
Bolivia St.
etc...

World Cities:

Paris Av.
London Av.
New York Av.
Tehran Av.
Milan Av.
Madrid Av.
Rio de Janeiro Av.
etc...

In the Downtown is a combination between numbers and geographical position:

East 1
North 4
West 6
South 10
etc...

For some neighborhoods you could find particular cases:

in Bello Monte for example, by artists or scientific personalities:

- Newton St.
- Einstein St.
- Da Vinci St.
- Beethoven St.
- Miguel Angel St.
etc...

but in the majority of cases by numbers or letters in each zone.

in cyprus is very common to name streets after people
makariou avenue(first president of cyprus)
homer avenue etc
or give the name of a greek island or historic city
leoforos athinon
leoforos constantinoupoleos
odos argyrokastrou (only in nicosia there are 7 streets with this name)
leoforos makedonias etc

Most common street name in France must be Avenue du Général de Gaulle... almost every city/town has one! Otherwise I would say Avenue de la République.

Some more street names in The Neterlands:
Dorpsstraat = village street
Statenweg
Hoogstraat

I think 99,999% of Estonian streetnames end with a vocal letter. Some common names:

Jõe(River) street
Jaama(station) street
Turu(market) street

-------------------------
Possibly the creepiest street to live on is Graveyard road.

I think 99,999% of Estonian streetnames end with a vocal letter.
Which is probably because all the Estonian street names are in genitive form, aren't they? For example the genitive for the word 'jaam' is 'jaama', also a street name that can be seen above.

In Finland the street names refer to locations, cities to which the roads lead, city activities, remarkable persons etc.

In Helsinki there are quite a bunch of streets named with human names, as Aleksanterinkatu, Liisankatu, Albertinkatu, Mariankatu and several others. Many of these refer to remarkable Russian persons from previous centuries.

In general, common street names in Finland (some which can be found in many cities) include Rauhankatu ("Peace Street"), Torikatu ("Market Street"), Keskuskatu ("Central Street"), Vapaudenkatu ("Freedom Street"), Asemakatu ("Station Street").

[QUOTE=Occit;14701691]In Caracas you can find streets or avenues by:

very cool. I like the mix of categories and names in Caracas.

Which is probably because all the Estonian street names are in genitive form, aren't they? For example the genitive for the word 'jaam' is 'jaama', also a street name that can be seen above.

That's correct.:)

Quebec's:

Saint(e) anything.

Montreal, for example, is known as North America's City of Saints because a large fraction of its street names (or names period) start with Saint or Sainte.

(By the way, Montreal's East End's been kind of heartbroken since yesterday, coz, the evening before, an 81-year-old volunteering nun was found murdered, which city police suspect to have been committed by one of her ward.)

In Ontario/most of Canada, I think the most common two would be:
King Street/Road/Avenue (or a variation involving King)
Queen Street/Road/Avenue. (or a variation involving Queen)
Lake (something, usually Lakeshore or Lakeside). Street/Road/Avenue.
Confederation Road/Avenue/Steet

In Ontario there are a lot of roads named after the Aboriginals that inhabited the region or some sort of aboriginal word. I'm not sure if it's the same in the rest of the country, but I imagine it would be in B.C.

There are also a lot of number streets that stem back from the old concession farm days. I know of at least "3rd Lines" within an hour drive of where I live.

in Turkey, the founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's name is so common on roads. Atatürk Köprüsü, Atatürk Caddesi, Atatürk Bulvarı etc.

in Dokuma, one of the "Semt"s of Antalya has memorial names;
Mehmet Akif Cd (Writer of National anthem)
Rasih Kaplan Cd (MP of Antalya during the first years of the Republic)
Fikri Erten Cd (Founder of Antalya Museum)
Halide Edip Cd (A female activist supported the Independence activities on early 1920's.)
Orhan Veli Cd (Contemporary poet known with his Garip style.)

Also after the 1980 coup, "Kenan Evren" and "12 Eylül" names were common on Turkish streets and schools but changed after. As an example on Antalya; Kenan Evren Blv is unofficially called as Konyaaltı Cd and 12 Eylül Cd is changed to Hürriyet Cd now, it's officially 3809. Sokak.

In Spain, most of the streets in the low-density housing developments are named after birds, flowers or trees.

Štúrova ulica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%BDudov%C3%ADt_%C5%A0t%C3%BAr)
SNP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_National_Uprising) square/street
Ulica Pavla Orságha Hviezdoslava (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavol_Orsz%C3%A1gh_Hviezdoslav)
Svätoplukova ulica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svatopluk_I)
Hlavná ulica (Main street)
Ulica Cyrila a Metoda or Ulica Svätého Cyrila a Metoda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Cyril_and_Methodius) (yes, in the past we had just one Slavonic language of Southern and Western Slavs :yes:)
-Local areas where streets go
- Towns, trees, countries
- Poets (many of them)
- Rivers
- People who you have to google :)
- Main street

Portugal:

Rua/Avenida/Praça da:

Liberdade
República
25 de Abril
Brasil
Moçambique
Angola
Timor
São Tomé
Cabo Verde
Guiné
Bissau
São/Santo/Santa x name

UK:
1. High Street
2. Station Road
3. Main Street
4. Park Road
5. Church Road
6. Church Street
7. London Road
8. Victoria Road
9. Green Lane
10. Manor Road
11. Church Lane
12. Park Avenue
13. The Avenue
14. The Crescent
15. Queens Road
16. New Road
17. Grange Road
18. Kings Road
19. Kingsway
20. Windsor Road
21. Highfield Road
22. Mill Lane
23. Alexander Road
24. York Road
25. St. John's Road
26. Main Road
27. Broadway
28. King Street
29. The Green
30. Springfield Road
31. George Street
32. Park Lane
33. Victoria Street
34. Albert Road
35. Queensway
36. New Street
37. Queen Street
38. West Street
39. North Street
40. Manchester Road
41. The Grove
42. Richmond Road
43. Grove road
44. South Street
45. School Lane
46. The Drive
47. North Road
48. Stanley Road
49. Chester Road
50. Mill Road

I got the UK ones from http://funky-facts.blogspot.com/2009/03/most-common-street-names-in-uk.html

In Spain, most of the streets in the low-density housing developments are named after birds, flowers or trees.

In Huesca we are going to name the streets after abandoned villages. There are lots of them in the province!

And the most common street name in Spain is... Mayor (Main).

[b]In Poland usually main streets going outside of city, leading to other major city, gets name of that city.

.

But there also is a set of generic street names in almost each town taken from Germans after 1945. Most of those towns were indeed set up by Slavs, but the original streets names long forgotten, communists "struggled" to create something to fill the vacuum. Therefore a typical town in Lower Silesia will have these streets:
Pocztowa (Post Street)
Dworcowa/Kolejowa (Station/Railway Street)
Chrobrego or Mieszka (kings in 10/11th century)
Kościuszki (Polish-American general)
3 Maja (day of constitution)
etc.



PS other Polish cities that were spared such violent changes in history have more original names, such as Dog Street (my favourite), or street names with weird grammar. Or ul. Kubisia Puchatka (Winnie the Pooh st.).

Bosnia and Herzegovina
The names depend whether town has Serbian, Croatian or Muslim majority

the most common names:
for state as whole:

Omladinska (Youth street)

Serbian part:
Ulica Svetog Save (Saint Sava - Serbian Prince of Zahumlje and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church, the originator of Serbian legislation and literature, the founder of the Monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos, and a diplomat.)

Ul. Vuka Karadžića (Serbian linguist and major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore.)

Ul. Petra Kočića (Serbian poet, writer and politician from Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Ul. Nikole Tesle (Serbian inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer)

Ul. Jovana Jovanovića Zmaja (one of the best-known Serbian poets)

Ulica Gavrila Principa (Bosnian Serb who was a Yugoslav nationalist associated with the movement Mlada Bosna)

Muslim part:

Ulica zlatnih ljiljana (Golden lilly street)

Šehidska ulica (Sehid street - sehid is martyr in islam)

Kulina Bana (Ban of Bosnia who ruled from 1180 to 1204 first as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire and then of the Kingdom of Hungary)

Ulica Džemala Bijedića (Yugoslav Communist politician from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the prime minister of Yugoslavia from 1971 until his death)

Sarajevska (Sarajevo st.)

Croatian part:

Franjo Tuđman (was the first President of Croatia)

Republike Hrvatske (Republic Croatia)

Hrvatskih velikana (Croatian splenors)

Hrvatskih branitelja (Croatian defenders)

ulice Gojka Šuška (Croatian politician, Croatian Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998, and a close associate and personal friend of President Franjo Tuđman. In 1997, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia contemplated subpoenaing Šušak)

Ulica Janka Bobetka (Croatian Army general and Chief of the General Staff between 1992 and 1995 during Croatian War of Independence. Bobetko had been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia)

Uica Mate Bobana (Bosnian Croat politician and the only president of the short lived and self proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia that existed between 1991-1994 during the Bosnian war)

Ulica HVO-a (Croatian Defence Council st.)

Portugal:

Rua/Avenida/Praça da:

Liberdade
República
25 de Abril
Brasil
Moçambique
Angola
Timor
São Tomé
Cabo Verde
Guiné
Bissau
São/Santo/Santa x name

UK:
1. High Street
2. Station Road
3. Main Street
4. Park Road
5. Church Road
6. Church Street
7. London Road
8. Victoria Road
9. Green Lane
10. Manor Road
11. Church Lane
12. Park Avenue
13. The Avenue
14. The Crescent
15. Queens Road
16. New Road
17. Grange Road
18. Kings Road
19. Kingsway
20. Windsor Road
21. Highfield Road
22. Mill Lane
23. Alexander Road
24. York Road
25. St. John's Road
26. Main Road
27. Broadway
28. King Street
29. The Green
30. Springfield Road
31. George Street
32. Park Lane
33. Victoria Street
34. Albert Road
35. Queensway
36. New Street
37. Queen Street
38. West Street
39. North Street
40. Manchester Road
41. The Grove
42. Richmond Road
43. Grove road
44. South Street
45. School Lane
46. The Drive
47. North Road
48. Stanley Road
49. Chester Road
50. Mill Road

I got the UK ones from http://funky-facts.blogspot.com/2009/03/most-common-street-names-in-uk.html

I'm surprised Front Street isn't on that list.

The following road names are quite common in Chinese town centres:

East/West/North/South Gate Street
Zhongshan Road
Liberation Road and, would you believe it,
Democratic Road.

Ul. Vuka Karadžića (Serbian linguist and major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore.)


We also have street Karadžičova ulica :) but it was Ulica kráľa Žigmunda (Zsigmond király-Gasse, Zsigmond király-utca) in the past so it might be re-named. :bash:

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/37214522.jpg

Streets named after trees (Oak, Maple, Chestnut, Walnut, Elm etc) are pretty common here.

Also expect names like Main, Arch, High, Church, Market, Park in US towns.

Strangely enough, in New England, numbered streets (1st, 2nd, and so on) are relatively rare and street names change pretty rapidly depending on the town that you go in. Perhaps this is attributable to the fact that most do not have grids and were originally settled way before the car was invented.

Kamloops:

Numbered streets are on the North Shore. Numbered Avenues are on the south shore. Named Avenues and streets are on both shores.

Depending on where you are in the city, streets are named after trees (Birch, Alder, Spruce, etc.) People (Singh, Popp, Ollek, etc) Places (Alberni, Regina, Comox) And in two examples, a destination. (5A, often referred to as the Old Merritt Hwy and Lac Le Jeune Rd.)

Perhaps this is attributable to the fact that most do not have grids and were originally settled way before the car was invented.

The grid street layout has nothing to do with automobility. Mainy railroad towns in the 1800's already had grids.

Once I read the most common street name in the US was 2nd street :nuts:.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
The names depend whether town has Serbian, Croatian or Muslim majority

the most common names:
for state as whole:

Omladinska (Youth street)

Serbian part:
Ulica Svetog Save (Saint Sava - Serbian Prince of Zahumlje and Orthodox monk, the first Archbishop of the autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church, the originator of Serbian legislation and literature, the founder of the Monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos, and a diplomat.)

Ul. Vuka Karadžića (Serbian linguist and major reformer of the Serbian language, and deserves, perhaps, for his collections of songs, fairy tales, and riddles to be called the father of the study of Serbian folklore.)

Ul. Petra Kočića (Serbian poet, writer and politician from Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Ul. Nikole Tesle (Serbian inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer)

Ul. Jovana Jovanovića Zmaja (one of the best-known Serbian poets)

Ulica Gavrila Principa (Bosnian Serb who was a Yugoslav nationalist associated with the movement Mlada Bosna)

Muslim part:

Ulica zlatnih ljiljana (Golden lilly street)

Šehidska ulica (Sehid street - sehid is martyr in islam)

Kulina Bana (Ban of Bosnia who ruled from 1180 to 1204 first as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire and then of the Kingdom of Hungary)

Ulica Džemala Bijedića (Yugoslav Communist politician from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the prime minister of Yugoslavia from 1971 until his death)

Sarajevska (Sarajevo st.)

Croatian part:

Franjo Tuđman (was the first President of Croatia)

Republike Hrvatske (Republic Croatia)

Hrvatskih velikana (Croatian splenors)

Hrvatskih branitelja (Croatian defenders)

ulice Gojka Šuška (Croatian politician, Croatian Minister of Defence from 1991 to 1998, and a close associate and personal friend of President Franjo Tuđman. In 1997, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia contemplated subpoenaing Šušak)

Ulica Janka Bobetka (Croatian Army general and Chief of the General Staff between 1992 and 1995 during Croatian War of Independence. Bobetko had been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia)

Uica Mate Bobana (Bosnian Croat politician and the only president of the short lived and self proclaimed Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia that existed between 1991-1994 during the Bosnian war)

Ulica HVO-a (Croatian Defence Council st.)

You mean Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim or Croat, Serbian, Bosniak right ?

I've tinkered a bit in data available at the web of our ministry of interior... so here we go, top 10 street names in CZ:

1. Zahradní (Garden st.)
2. Krátká (Short st.)
3. Nádražní (Station st.)
4. Školní (School st.)
5. Polní (Field st.)
6. Luční (Meadow st.)
7. Komenského (Comenius (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Amos_Comenius) st.)
8. Nová (New st.)
9. Husova (Huss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Hus) st.)
10. Družstevní (Cooperative st.)

Pretty generic, as one would expect. :)

3. Nádražní (Station st.)

Nádražní ulice is in every single town. :)

I'd like to find something like that for Slovakia.

You mean Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim or Croat, Serbian, Bosniak right ?:bash:

In brazil :

Avenues:

Avenida (plural: Avenidas) Independencia (independence)
Avenida Brasil (Brazil)
Avenida Gertúlio Vargas
Avenida republica (republic)
Avenida Presidente ..._____... (President)
Avenida Central (Central)
Avenida São Paulo (brazilian state)
Avenida Minas Gerais (brazilian state)
Avenida Europa (europe)
Avenida Governador (governor)
Avenida professor (Professor)
Avenida América
Avenida Beira Mar (sea)
Avenida Floresta (Forest)
Avenida Janeiro(January) Fevereiro(February) Março(March) Novembro(November)...Dezembro(December)


Streets:

Rua (plural:Ruas) Brasil
Rua 1/Um
Rua 2/Dois
Rua central
Rua Marechal .....
Rua Brasilia
Rua Tiradentes
Rua Nossa senhora de/da.....(catholic's saints)
Rua JK
Rua Campos ....
Rua presidente ....
Rua liberdade (liberty)
Rua do Canal
Rua Norte ( north)
Rua Sul (south)
Rua amazonia
Rua tropical
Rua Estação (station)
Rua Vitória (victory)
Rua da Cooperativa (cooperative)

I would say that the most common street name in South Africa is probably Church Street (Kerkstraat). Most towns were started with the building of a church (usually the Dutch Reformed Church) and the street leading to it was named Church Street.

Another very common name (possibly as common as Church Street) is Voortrekker Road (Voortrekkerweg) or Voortrekker Street (Voortrekkerstraat) after the 19th century pioneers. Almost every town has one.

Other than that street names are a great hotch-potch, especially in suburbs built from the second half of the 20th century onwards. Often the planners would get a theme for a block of streets, say flowers or trees or places in Britain or France. My favourite is probably the part of Mitchells Plain where they are named after aircraft: Spitfire, Tiger Moth, Zero, Cessna, Boeing, Heinkel, Liberator, Catalina, Lysander etc.

In the next section there is an astronomical theme with Saturn, Andromeda, Southern Cross and Melkweg (Milky Way) and next door minerals and gems with Gold, Silver, Pearl etc.

In the Cape Town area the freeways also have a mixture of names. The first part of the N1 is Table Bay Boulevard and the N2 has sections called Eastern Boulevard and Settlers Way. The M5 is Black River Parkway north of the N2, after the river it is next to and Kromboom Parkway to the south (named after a type of tree). The southern part of the M3 is the Simon van der Stel Freeway after an early governor of the Cape. The R300 is named the Cape Flats Freeway in the south and Kuilsriver Freeway in the north, both geographical names.

In Philadelphia, major north-south streets are numbered, but east-west streets are named, as are glorified alleys running between the major north-south streets.

In Center City, most east-west streets are named after trees (for example, Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, Pine, Locust...); however, in South Philadelphia, they are named after people (Bainbridge, Christian, Washington, Morris, Tasker, Snyder...) and in a part of North Philadelphia, after Pennsylvania counties (Susquehanna, Dauphin, Allegheny, Wyoming*, Erie...) Pikes have been repurposed as avenues (Germantown, Ridge, Rising Sun, Lancaster, Baltimore...) and don't always run in the grid.

Other streets have Indian names, primarily derived from Delaware. Kingsessing, Passyunk, Wissahickon, and so forth. Peoples' names get used in other neighborhoods (Girard, Shaw, Leverington...), as do Old World place names (Upsal, Kensington, Bethlehem, Oxford...), and finally there is a spattering of some absolutely relevant (Industrial Hwy.) and silly (Mermaid Lane) names.

Atlantic City's streets are famously named after the Monopoly board! :lol:
__________________
*Yes, there is a Wyoming County in Pennsylvania. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming_County,_Pennsylvania)

Main Streets are very common in NYC metro area.

Not in NYC proper though, I think. The only "Main Street" that I know of in NYC is in Flushing.

I noticed a common thing for street names here is a street being named after the town that it is going towards.

Here in Hartford, there is an avenue called Wethersfield Avenue that goes down to a suburb adjacent to it called Wethersfield. There is also another street, called Farmington Avenue which goes to Farmington. And then another one called Newington Avenue that goes to Newington...you get the deal.

Town limits are also pretty small here, so streets change names pretty quickly.

Grope**** Lane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grope****_lane) used to be a common street name in England.

In Philadelphia, major north-south streets are numbered, but east-west streets are named, as are glorified alleys running between the major north-south streets.

In Center City, most east-west streets are named after trees (for example, Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, Pine, Locust...); however, in South Philadelphia, they are named after people (Bainbridge, Christian, Washington, Morris, Tasker, Snyder...) and in a part of North Philadelphia, after Pennsylvania counties (Susquehanna, Dauphin, Allegheny, Wyoming*, Erie...) Pikes have been repurposed as avenues (Germantown, Ridge, Rising Sun, Lancaster, Baltimore...) and don't always run in the grid.

Other streets have Indian names, primarily derived from Delaware. Kingsessing, Passyunk, Wissahickon, and so forth. Peoples' names get used in other neighborhoods (Girard, Shaw, Leverington...), as do Old World place names (Upsal, Kensington, Bethlehem, Oxford...), and finally there is a spattering of some absolutely relevant (Industrial Hwy.) and silly (Mermaid Lane) names.

Atlantic City's streets are famously named after the Monopoly board! :lol:
__________________
*Yes, there is a Wyoming County in Pennsylvania. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyoming_County,_Pennsylvania)

Hey, I live on one of those! (Seriously, a couple of blocks west of Rittenhouse Square.)

Main Streets are very common in NYC metro area.

All over the U.S. and English Canada, really. The British equivalent would be High Street.
Off the top of my head, big cities with a Main Street: Hartford, Buffalo, Rochester, Richmond...hmm, I used to know this sort of thing better - there must be lots that I would have come up with 20 years ago...Houston and Dallas....

The one in Philadelphia is in the Manayunk section, a separate town until 1854 that still feels like one.

In Ontario, streetnames, town names, and highways are often based on our common shared heritage with the UK, or in names that were originally from First Nations language. In Quebec, the same is true with their French and First Nations roots.

In Ontario, streetnames, town names, and highways are often based on our common shared heritage with the UK, or in names that were originally from First Nations language. In Quebec, the same is true with their French and First Nations roots.

Although there are a lot of English names in parts of Montreal, including the downtown. Some of which could easily have been translated into French but haven't been - they still say Rue University rather than Rue de l'Université, avenue McGill College, rue City Councillors....

I noticed a common thing for street names here is a street being named after the town that it is going towards.

Here in Hartford, there is an avenue called Wethersfield Avenue that goes down to a suburb adjacent to it called Wethersfield. There is also another street, called Farmington Avenue which goes to Farmington. And then another one called Newington Avenue that goes to Newington...you get the deal.

Town limits are also pretty small here, so streets change names pretty quickly.

Most of those were likely turnpikes in colonial times, and has their suffixes changed from "Pike" to "Avenue/Street/etc" when built up and part of a municipality.

Most of those were likely turnpikes in colonial times, and has their suffixes changed from "Pike" to "Avenue/Street/etc" when built up and part of a municipality.
Yep, there are quite a lot of them in the Philadelphia area:

Lancaster Pike (Rt. 30/Lincoln Hwy.) --> Lancaster Ave. Goes to Lancaster.
Baltimore Pike --> Baltimore Ave. Goes to Baltimore.
Germantown Pike --> Germantown Ave. Goes to Germantown (now a part of the city).
Bustleton Pike --> Bustleton Ave. Goes to Bustleton (a part of the city).

And so forth.

In the suburbs we have gems such as Sumneytown Pike, Penllyn-Bluebell Pike, Doylestown Pike, West Chester Pike, Downingtown Pike, Harleysville Pike, and so on and so forth. Look at the map--all these pikes go exactly where they say they go. :nuts:

Although there are a lot of English names in parts of Montreal, including the downtown. Some of which could easily have been translated into French but haven't been - they still say Rue University rather than Rue de l'Université, avenue McGill College, rue City Councillors....

Very true; they reflect some of the city builders during the 19th Century. This mixture of French and English influence is also clear in the architecture!

Yep, there are quite a lot of them in the Philadelphia area:

Lancaster Pike (Rt. 30/Lincoln Hwy.) --> Lancaster Ave. Goes to Lancaster.
Baltimore Pike --> Baltimore Ave. Goes to Baltimore.
Germantown Pike --> Germantown Ave. Goes to Germantown (now a part of the city).
Bustleton Pike --> Bustleton Ave. Goes to Bustleton (a part of the city).

And so forth.

In the suburbs we have gems such as Sumneytown Pike, Penllyn-Bluebell Pike, Doylestown Pike, West Chester Pike, Downingtown Pike, Harleysville Pike, and so on and so forth. Look at the map--all these pikes go exactly where they say they go. :nuts:

Well, this is a quibble, but not colonial times: the first turnpike in the US - Lancaster Pike - was established a little later than that, in the 1790s. Also, I'm wondering if Pa. 340, rather than US 30, is the original route closer to Lancaster, since its name is Old Philadelphia Pike.

Isn't PA 340 the route that passes by the Strasburg Railroad?

Bethlehem Pike was originally known as the King's Highway...that should give you some indication of its age.

I wonder when this system of turnpikes began breaking down--was it still in use at the dawn of the automotive era?

Isn't PA 340 the route that passes by the Strasburg Railroad?

Bethlehem Pike was originally known as the King's Highway...that should give you some indication of its age.


I wonder when this system of turnpikes began breaking down--was it still in use at the dawn of the automotive era?

340's farther north than Strasburg - it's north of 30, through Bird-in-Hand and, um, Intercourse. I never paid attention to it until I got caught in construction delays (single lane, flagman....) on 30 a couple of times, so the next couple of times I was out there in the evenings I used 340 instead. It meets 30 again somewhere near Downingtown or Coatesville (but I've used Pa. 10 to get from 340 back to 30 rather than following it to the end). It's probably actually a little shorter than 30. And quieter: the main hazard on 340, even after dark, is Amish buggies.

Wikipedia says Lancaster Pike - built between 1792 and 1795 - is the first turnpike "of importance" in the country. No idea if Bethlehem Pike is older; I suppose a turnpike company could have taken over an existing road - taken responsibility for maintaining it and charged tolls for that - so the road itself could be older but not have been a turnpike. But I'm just guessing.

Turnpikes started breaking down when people started using trains for long-distance travel. But I've read that there were still tolls being collected somewhere in the Philadelphia area (can't remember which road) as late as about 1915.

EDIT: Bethlehem Pike's even older than the name King's Highway would suggest: it was a Native American trail. Became the turnpike in 1804 and only stopped collecting tolls in 1910. Per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem_Pike