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 1,600 streets – and growing. See FAQ for more information.

Featured Major Street

Union Avenue

Historic Filipinotown, Pico-Union, Westlake

There’s an old theory that Union Avenue was named in 1876 to mark the U.S. Centennial. That’s cool… except that I found the street mentioned in a November 1875 newspaper. Maybe the people who named it jumped the gun by a few months, or more likely they just chose “Union” because it’s one of those go-to street names for American cities. (Nearly two years earlier, there was an attempt to change Grasshopper Street to Union Street; Grasshopper ultimately became Figueroa.) At any rate, Union started out between present-day 6th St. and James M. Wood Blvd. (Back then they were called Ward St. and 9th St., respectively.) It was on the Fairmount tract, owned by an association – or union, if you will – of 26 investors. The land’s previous owners were L.A. mayors Prudent Beaudry and John G. Nichols.

Featured Offbeat Street

Commonwealth Avenue

East Hollywood, Los Feliz, Rampart Village

Is this street’s name a paean to socialism, a nod to Boston’s famous thoroughfare, or just, well, common? There’s a theory that Henry Gaylord Wilshire, an outspoken socialist, named Commonwealth Avenue in 1887 in honor of Laurence Gronlund’s The Co-operative Commonwealth, an influential book that touted the virtues of socialism. Plausible, given that Wilshire was also developing the city of Fullerton in 1887 and named its main drag – you guessed it – Commonwealth Avenue. However, our Commonwealth Avenue was born just south of Third Street – close to Wilshire’s property, but actually on land owned by George and Clara Shatto, who were not socialists. They weren’t Bostonians either, but Beantown’s “Comm Ave” was known throughout the country as an elegant street – one worthy of emulating. Or maybe the Shattos took Wilshire’s suggestion for the name and were unaware of its leftist connotations.