What's In A Name

A street name, that is. No, this is not Romeo and Juliet.

Have you ever wondered who picks the names that appear on our streets? Names like Ranee and Rajah streets which intersect in the Bathurst, Lawrence area, a fairly Jewish neighbourhood. Or Terry Fox Way and Silken Laumann Way which grace the roads of Mississauga. Believe it or not, it is a committee of people made up of residents, town and region staff and emergency services. At least in the Region of Peel this is the case.

There are four criteria for choosing a name. The most important being that necessary services must be able to fully understand the street name 98% of the time in the event of a crisis. That is, the 911 operator, the dispatcher, and other essential services must be able to identify the name quickly. So making sure the pronunciation, and spelling is fairly simple, and does not sound similar to another street in the area or is duplicated are other criteria to naming a street.

While I find no problem with the criteria, I wonder how easy it is for folks who live on Trethewey Drive in the Black Creek area to spell their address.  Wellesley Street in downtown is easy if you live in the area but is a bit of a tongue twister with all those ‘l’s, not to mention the pronunciation. Some say Well-es-ley, while others say Wells-ly. Go figure.

But then again that is Toronto. Recently at a council meeting in Caledon, which is just forty-five minutes from downtown Toronto, in the GTA, one council member complained to the Mayor about the new street names in the developments going up in his ward. The unsympathetic mayor suggested he submit his own names to the committee. “It’s a simple system councillor, fill out the forms and make your own suggestions then,” said Mayor Marolyn Morrison, the Caledon Enterprise reported.

Apparently it is as simple as that. At least in the Region of Peel. Simply go to the website, fill out the form and submit it to the Region of Peel and it goes to a street naming committee. Bear in mind that they will not take names that are endorsing or putting down, someone, something, or being political, slanderous, etc. According the the committee chair, Ken Chartrand, they have ‘turned down some priceless ones; Desert Storm, Press Brick, Albert Callahan, Elephant...’ to name a few.

So short of having your name in neon lights, you may have it on street signs if it gets picked by the committee. Of course, it means submitting your choice of names and getting picked. Otherwise, you may just have to be content with looking at these wacky names (be forewarned, some of these names are profanity in English) from around the world in the virtual world, unless of course you go visit the place.