In the United States, most streets are named after numbers, landscapes, trees, or the surname of an important individual. Main streets were often named for the city or town that they led to. Then there are mysterious ones like Elbow Alley, Martyr’s Canal, Prayer Without End. These days, I think it’s decided by the local council, but citizens can very probably propose names as well. The most popular street name is Second (or 2nd).
There are about 790,000 roads with names in England, Scotland and Wales. The UK’s 50 most popular street names are High Street, Station Road, Main Street, Park Road, and Church Road. The most popular pub name in UK is The Red Lion, with 517 pubs, followed by The Royal Oak, with 403.
Street Naming Rules
What are the rules for street naming? The main rules are addresses should be clear, unambiguous and logical. A new name should be different to anything in use and easy to say and spell. How do they decide? Developers often choose names developers want people to associate with the area. Sometimes streets are named after loved ones.
Street Naming in the US
How do street names work in America? Streets were typically named after landmarks, topographic features, or location.
Out of over 2 million street names in the UK, High Street is the most popular with over 16,000 occurrences. Second most popular is Station Road followed by Main Street. In the US, Second Street is the most common street name with almost 11,000 entries.
Address Assignment
How are street addresses assigned? Streets may be numbered based on distances, so a house number is based on the formula according to distance from the start of the system. Thus, a property numbered 1447 may be 1.5 miles from the beginning point.
Naming After Individuals
How do you name a street after someone? Individuals must have provided extraordinary public service and be associated with the community where the highway is located. The designee must be deceased or an elected official no longer in office.
UK Street Naming Process
How are new streets named in the UK? City, borough and district councils allocate numbers to houses and name new roads and streets.
Street names like 125th Street or West Side Highway express geographical location. Landmarks and monuments also start with capital letters, like Empire State Building and Golden Gate Bridge. Street names are always capitalized too.
North-south streets are numbered, west-east ones use letters. Name is followed by directional suffix specifying a quadrant of the city. Quadrants meet at the US Capitol.
Historical Development of Street Names
In medieval England, names developed gradually, drawn from a nearby tree or river, the farm at the end of the road, the inn on the corner. Streets might be named for what happened there or what you could find there. The first street created in a town was invariably called First Street. Early urban developers looked at the surrounding areas for inspiration. They named streets after landmarks, topographical features, basic location in the town, or as an homage to people or places of power.