# Interesting Subdivision Street Name Themes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 28, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256 "2009-11-28T17:54:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/81 "2009-11-30T21:12:37Z")
As an aside, my aunt and uncle were down at city hall in their home town of about 80,000 residents when they stumbled upon a guy and a map. He told them he was trying to come up with street names for a new development. My aunt asked to have a street named after my uncle. The guy asked what he has done for the city. Well, my uncle played trombone in the city band. Done. Now they have a street bearing their last name. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/82 "2009-11-30T22:01:49Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Lots of the streets [here](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Atlantic+City&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hl=en&hq=&hnear=Atlantic+City,+Atlantic,+New+Jersey&ll=39.364283,-74.422927&spn=0.02296,0.042615&z=15) are named after spaces on a Monopoly board. It’s the [other way around](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_%28game%29). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/83 "2009-11-30T22:06:10Z")
Stand back, everyone, stand back. You with the armadillo, take your hat off. Okay, here it comes, duck your heads a little bit… _WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHH!_ ---
**Author:** ![PandaMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PandaMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaMom)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/84 "2009-12-01T20:46:05Z")
Here in Colorado Springs, we have many obscure areas… there is the Hell area (Purgatory Drive, and Deliverance), (When we moved here, the kids wanted us to buy a house on Purgatory Lane… they thought that was a RIOT!) we also have the usual Tree Themes, and Flower themes. ALso, we have a weather area (Stratus, Cirrus, Thundercloud, Contrails…) Then, there are the misscellaneous names: Nevermind, Teeter Totter, Happy, Whimsical! We also have a Smoocher’s Lane. I like that one! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/85 "2009-12-01T21:02:54Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Would any of you let street name dictate where you will or won’t buy a house? It would definitely be a factor. I can’t imagine buying a house in a subdivision, but if I had to for some reason, I’d like to at least be permitted the dignity of not living on Makayla Street or Peanut Brittle Way. It would be a lot easier to bear if I could live on Pine Street or something. I have to wonder if developers even give this factor any thought when choosing street names. > [@Polycarp](#): > > Many of Plattsburgh NY’s main streets are named aftr women: Helen St., Elizabeth St., Catherine St., Cornelia St. It was a particularly sophomoric joke – but in defense, we were college sophomores at the time – to list them off and finish with another main street: Broad Street. 🙂 I do live on a Broad Street! I’ve never thought of it that way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/86 "2009-12-01T23:59:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Would any of you let street name dictate where you will or won’t buy a house? I wouldn’t want to live on [Yankee Doodle Drive.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=yankee+doodle+drive+harford+county,+md&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=38.911557,56.25&ie=UTF8&cd=1&hq=&hnear=Yankee+Doodle+Dr,+Bel+Air,+Harford,+Maryland+21014&ll=39.545783,-76.376288&spn=0.009266,0.013733&z=16) What’s really odd is that the surrounding streets all have fairly normal names. Friar Tuck Drive, which parallels Yankee Doodle Drive, would be okay, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/87 "2009-12-02T00:04:20Z")
I gre up in an area where all the streets were female names - my family moved from Pamela to Kathleen. The other side of the main road were all male names. I preferred the naming convention not that far away where all the streets were named after British battles - Balaclava, Badajoz, Culloden, Agincourt, Abuklea and so forth. The bigger ones were all 19th-Century. I think that they probably started there and went further back as they needed more names. My mother lives in a suburb called Pearl Beach, where all the streets (except Pearl Beach Drive) are (to the best of my knowledge - it might be 'were) named after semi-precious stones. There were a Cornelian, an Agate and so forth, but no Diamond or Ruby. The street I’m currently living in was named after a pub that used to be on the corner, but relocated a little over 100 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/88 "2009-12-02T00:07:25Z")
Sorry for the double post - I had to find it. There’s a neighborhood in suburban Baltimore where the streets are named after airplane parts. [Aero Acres](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=propeller+drive,+baltimore&sll=39.332107,-76.45493&sspn=0.010689,0.014205&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Propeller+Dr,+Middle+River,+Baltimore,+Maryland&ll=39.334297,-76.456261&spn=0.018588,0.027466&z=15) - including Propeller Drive, Fuselage Avenue, Right Wing Drive, Left Wing Drive, Cockpit Drive, Left Aileron, Right Aileron, Stabilizer Drive, Yawmeter Drive, Compass Road, Beacon Road, Taxi Way and Runway Court. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/89 "2009-12-02T00:14:03Z")
The streets of faculty housing at the University of California, Irvine are all named for folks you would study: [http://www.uhills.org/comm/streetnames.htm](http://www.uhills.org/comm/streetnames.htm) Louisa May \*\*Alcott \*\*- American author Bela \*\*Bartók \*\*- Hungarian composer William \*\*Blake \*\*- British poet and artist Marie \*\*Curie \*\*- French physicist/chemist Charles \*\*Dickens \*\*- British novelist George \*\*Eliot \*\*(Mary Ann Evans) - English novelist Robert \*\*Frost \*\*- American poet Louis A. \*\*Fuertes \*\*- American ornithological painter Josiah Willard \*\*Gibbs \*\*- American physical chemist \*\*Gabrielino \*\*Indians Georg Friederich \*\*Händel \*\*- German composer William \*\*Harvey \*\*- British physician Jarnes **Joyce** - Irish novelist and poet John \*\*Locke \*\*- British philospher and political theorist Barbara \*\*McClintock \*\*- American geneticist Gregor Johann \*\*Mendel \*\*- Austrian botanist Murasaki \*\*Shikibu \*\*- Japanese novelist Sir Isaac \*\*Newton \*\*- British mathematician and natural philosopher Georgia **O’Keeffe** - American artist Robert \*\*Owen \*\*- British/American social reformer Frances \*\*Perkins \*\*- American social worker and politician Bertrand \*\*Russell \*\*- British mathematician, philosopher and author Franz Peter \*\*Schubert \*\*- Viennese composer Count Rumford \*\*Thompson \*\*- American/British physicist Mark \*\*Twain \*\*(Samuel Clemens) - American writer Harold Clayton \*\*Urey \*\*- American physicist/chemist Publius Vergilius Maro ( **Virgil** ) - Roman poet James Abbott McNeil \*\*Whistler \*\*- American painter and etcher Walt \*\*Whitman \*\*- American poet Charles \*\*Young \*\*- American astronomer Emile \*\*Zola \*\*- French author and founder of naturalism ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/90 "2009-12-02T00:30:19Z")
> [@BigNik](#): > > I gre up in an area where all the streets were female names - my family moved from Pamela to Kathleen. Naming the roads after women is okay, but unless there’s a Della St. and a Margaret Ct., it’s a definite missed opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/91 "2009-12-02T00:37:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Naming the roads after women is okay, but unless there’s a Della St. and a Margaret Ct., it’s a definite missed opportunity. Palo Alto, Ca [Lois Lane](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAcQFDAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmaps.google.com%2Fmaps%3Fq%3Dpalo%2Balto%2C%2Bca%2B%2Blois%2Blane%26oe%3Dutf-8%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF-8%26hq%3D%26hnear%3DLois%2BLn%2C%2BPalo%2BAlto%2C%2BCA%2B94303%26gl%3Dus%26ei%3DsrUVS6y8FofPlAf_oa3ABQ%26sa%3DX%26oi%3Dgeocode_result%26ct%3Dtitle%26resnum%3D1%26ved%3D0CAgQ8gEwAA&ei=srUVS6y8FofPlAf_oa3ABQ&usg=AFQjCNGpJSkGmnvvQ62mqWZW2R723q0obw) ---
**Author:** ![not\_austin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c68b51/32.png) [@not\_austin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_austin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/92 "2009-12-02T00:49:08Z")
The town of Ajax, Ontario names its streets after the crew of HMS Ajax (of the battle of the River Plate) [http://www.townofajax.com/Page374.aspx](http://www.townofajax.com/Page374.aspx) The one I’d like to live in though is the development with the streets named by Sir Terry Pratchett [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7984118.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7984118.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/93 "2009-12-02T03:37:57Z")
The area I grew up in you could drive down Overhill, then go one block over and drive down Overdale. No Dusty Trail, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/94 "2009-12-02T14:46:09Z")
Forgot about this (not quite a subdivision, and quite a bit older than the TV show): [In Cincinnati, Homer Ave is next to Simpson Ave.](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=homer+st,+cincinnati+oh&sll=39.103343,-84.513458&sspn=0.010191,0.016544&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Homer+Ave,+Cincinnati,+Hamilton,+Ohio+45227&ll=39.153409,-84.389323&spn=0.005092,0.008272&z=17) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/95 "2009-12-02T17:48:37Z")
In Los Alamos, NM, there are a number of streets named after the history of the atomic bomb. One of the main roads through town is Trinity Drive. There is also a Bikini Road, an Oppenheimer Road, an Eniwetok Boulevard, and a Manhattan Loop. ---
**Author:** ![ThePylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@ThePylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThePylon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/96 "2009-12-02T18:56:41Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I grew up in Sonoma County, California. I’ve seen multiple subdivisions with streets named after wines. How creative. I grew up in a neighborhood who’s feeder street is “Vineyard” and who’s streets are all French wines. In a subdivision of Ottawa, Canada. Where no french wine grapes would dare tread past November. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/97 "2009-12-02T19:14:48Z")
After house-hunting for months and months, I can definitively say that the name of the street would have **no** bearing on whether or not I purchased the house. I mean, I’d hate writing Jingle Bell Lane on forms all the time, but it wouldn’t prevent me from buying a house that I wanted! Sheesh, it was hard enough finding an acceptable house! That said, the most amusing one I’ve seen here is SOL Court. At first I thought it had to do with the sun, but I’ve since decided that someone had a sneaky sense of humor. “Contrails” in a cloud-theme neighborhood gives me the giggles too. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/98 "2009-12-02T19:41:11Z")
> [@atlantic](#): > > I had a friend in HS that lived in a subdivision named Twelve Oaks … complete with Scarlett Lane, O’Hara Drive, Butler Court, Prissy Lane, Melanie Street & Tara Court. Yes, I live in GA. 😉 I was doing a land survey in Shelby North Carolina and saw a mobile home park with this theme. The girl with me thought it was cute until I pointed out the unintended humor of naming a mobile home park after _Gone With The Wind_. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/99 "2009-12-02T20:00:05Z")
There’s an island subdivision in my county with three streets in a row: Damfiknow, Damficare, and Damfiwill. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256/100 "2009-12-02T22:31:17Z")
Our neighborhood in Ft Collins, CO, had streets all named after cattle breeds. Our street, for example, was Charolais Drive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-subdivision-street-name-themes/519256.md?page=6)