How Streets Get Named, From Durt Road to Promenade Chardonnay

SEATTLE (Zillow) -- Yes, there really is a Farthell Road (Chambersburg, Texas), as well as a Durt Road (Casco, Maine), a Poop Deck (Freeport, Texas) and a Crummy Road (Clark Fork, Idaho).

Who decides whether you will be fated to live on one of those unfortunately named streets or on something with a more pleasant ring, such as Lucky Lane (Rockford, Ill., among many other cities), or a whimsical and memorable one, such as Haveteur Way (San Diego)?

It depends on your city or county, but most often street names are requested by the developers of new subdivisions.

Developer's choice
Catherine Nicholas, agent/owner of the Cado Real Estate Group in San Diego, which builds subdivisions, says what happens in the city of Carlsbad (a San Diego suburb) is typical.

"The developer submits street names to the city through the relevant departments for review," says Nicholas, who worked in Carlsbad's Planning Department for years and coordinated the street naming process, which often takes weeks from submission to approval. "The building, engineering and public works departments all comment, but the departments that have the most input and veto power are police and fire. The concern here is that the street names are unique and intelligible enough for them to distinguish and find a street and property in an emergency." She says the post office also gets a final review, as a general rule.

Many cities also have guidelines on the type of street names required for an area of town. "When I worked in Carlsbad, there were four main areas and other subareas with 'themes' -- such as bird names or historic names," she says. "I would reject a name if it didn't follow the appropriate protocol."

Then there are the more personal associations.

"Many developers try, often successfully, to name streets for themselves, their partners, wives, mistresses and children," she says.

Common monikers
In the United States, most streets are named for numbers or trees. According to the National League of Cities, the most popular street name is Second (or 2nd). This is often because what would have been First is instead designated as Main or something similar, such as Broadway.

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