Welcome to L.A. Street Names, the origin stories of street names across Los Angeles County, from the shortest cul-de-sacs to the longest boulevards. Mysteries solved, myths debunked, scandals exposed, history revealed. This is an ongoing project with more than 1,700 streets – and growing. See FAQ for more information.

Featured Major Street

Junipero Avenue

Long Beach, Signal Hill
Junípero Serra

Most Californians know about Junípero Serra – if you don’t, I’ll give you some background in a moment – but not everyone agrees on how to say his name. Proper Spanish would be “hoo-NEE-ped-o”. English speakers mostly go with “hoo-ni-PAIR-o”. But if you’re in Long Beach, don’t be surprised if you hear locals call this street “WAH-ni-PAIR-o”. Perhaps some LB old timers thought Serra’s first name was Juan, so we’re left with this unique pronunciation. (If you like that, you’re going to love Ximeno Avenue.) Anyway, Junipero Ave. was the “J” in an alphabetical group of streets – most with Spanish names – laid out in 1886. Its namesake, Junípero Serra (1713-1784), was a Franciscan friar originally from Mallorca. He came to Alta California in 1769 and established the first nine of our 21 missions, converting the indigenous peoples to Christianity whether they liked it or not. Unsurprisingly, his work has since become a polarizing issue.

Featured Offbeat Street

Bainbridge Avenue

Holmby Hills
Sherman J. Bainbridge in 1938

Sherman Jewitt Bainbridge (1890-1950) led a storied life. A Brooklyn boy who came to Los Angeles with his widowed mother and brother in 1894, he married Cleora Oder (1886-1966) in 1910 and they had one daughter, Marjorie. He then entered the new field of motion picture acting and racked up over ninety silent film credits until 1917, when he switched to live theatre. In the 1920s, Bainbridge got into the real estate boom and worked first as salesman, then as publicist, for the Janss Investment Co., developers of Westwood and Holmby Hills. They named this street for him in 1926. Then came the third act of Bainbridge’s life, when the Great Depression alerted him to the plight of impoverished seniors and he took on the cause of pension reform. Through his own radio show and public lectures, he spoke for a group promoting the California Pension Plan, nicknamed the “Ham and Eggs Movement”, in which every CA resident over 50 would receive $30 every Thursday in scrip. Alas, the group was crippled by internal drama – Bainbridge was the only key player with no personal agenda – and voters rejected the proposition in 1938. Bainbridge later fought for the Townsend Plan, another pension scheme based in Chicago, but spent his final years back in SoCal.