What's in a Prague street name
Every street in Prague, one by one.
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I could talk about myself for ages, or I could point out that https://english.radio.cz/ed-ley-englishman-recording-stories-pragues-streets-one-one-8806941 is over two years old but still largely stands (other than the Twitter links).
Category: 1935
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U koupadel was built in 1935. ‘Koupadla’ are ‘baths’, as in the outdoor ones you would go to swim in, rather than the indoor ones that you want to lie in for hours on end after having a bit of a day of it at work (I’m in that place today). See also: ‘koupaliště’. And…
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U propusti was built in 1935. A ‘propust’ is a sluice, i.e. a sliding gate or other device used to control the flow of water. It can also be translated as, yes, ‘floodgate’. This is relevant here, because the street is (kind of) located between the swimming baths discussed yesterday on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/02/22/prague-4-day-317-u-lazni/ and the Lhotka…
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Ve Lhotce was built around 1935. Welcome to Lhotka! And where better to start than with a street that is quite literally In It? Lhotka is mentioned in a text from 1245, stating that it belonged, at the time, to the Vyšehrad Chapter (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-118-vysehradska/). It’s not clear when the village was founded, but we know…
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Mezi stráněmi was built in 1935. A ‘stráň’ is a hillside or a slope, and the street is between (‘mezi’) two of them). Other words that we’ve come across before that have the same meaning as ‘stráň’ include svah (as in https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/01/prague-4-day-133-ve-svahu/ and https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/21/prague-4-day-236-pod-svahem/). As well as ‘úbočí’, which doesn’t have any streets named after…
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Nad pruhy was built in 1935. A ‘pruh’ is a strip, a stripe, a band or a lane. This street has its name due to its location near strips of fields. For fans of pruh-related vocabulary, a ‘silniční pruh’ or a ‘jízdní pruh’ is a traffic lane. Specific lanes include a ‘předjížděcí pruh’ (overtaking lane), ‘odbočovací…
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K dubinám was built in 1935. A ‘dubina’ is a forest dominated by oak trees, or ‘duby’. You could also call it an ‘oak grove’. Due to its surrounding vegetation, the area once here was once known as Na dubině. Unrelatedly, a long way to the west, a group of Czechs created a settlement called…
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Nad údolím was built in 1935. Keeping things geographical today: the street is above (‘nad’) a valley (‘údolí’). Anyone who thinks they’ve heard this one before is probably right: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/22/prague-4-day-267-udolni/ is nearby, but somehow a month has passed since I wrote about it.
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Nad lesem was built in 1935. While we’ve established that parts of Hodkovičky are quite barren (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/28/prague-4-day-293-na-lysinach/), you can go a tiny bit further to the north and find yourself just above a forest. Or, in Czech, ‘nad lesem’. The forest is on the border between Hodkovičky and Braník. I mean, this is based on…
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Mezi Lysinami was built in 1935. The creativity is the equal of the vegetation today: Mezi Lysinami is named after the same barrenness as yesterday’s https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/28/prague-4-day-293-na-lysinach/, but is ‘between’ these patches of nothingness rather than ‘on’ them. To make today’s story about 0.1% more interesting, the street was called Mezi Lysinami I between 1938 and…
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U nás was built in 1935. U nás is a novel by Alois Jirásek, discussed on both https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/10/prague-4-day-275-ludvikova/ and https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/12/prague-4-day-277-havlovickeho/. ‘U nás’ is a simple phrase that can be translated in multiple ways in English, because we don’t have an equivalent of ‘u’ / ‘chez’ / ‘bei’ / ‘hos’, and so on. You could say…
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Havlovického was built in 1935. Josef Regner was born in Havlovice, near Trutnov, in 1794, the son of a miller (his mill, Regnerův mlýn, is still standing) and fervent Czech patriot. He studied philosophy at Charles Ferdinand University in Prague, and then theology at the seminary in Hradec Králové. He first served as a priest in…
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Novodvorská was created in 1935 through the merger of two streets: Hlavní (Main) and Vozová (which is related to ‘vůz’, meaning wagon). Once upon a time, there was a farmstead (in present-day Lhotka, also in Prague 4). Its name was Nový dvůr (New Court). It later became a monastery. After that, it served, at different…
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Ludvíkova was built in 1935. Josef Myslimír Ludvík was born in Dolany, near Náchod, in 1796. After studying theology at the seminary in Hradec Králové, he was ordained as a priest in 1819. A year later, he became chaplain of Náchod Castle, staying in that role until 1832. He devoted much of his time to…
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Vítovcova was named in 1973. From 1927 to 1935, the street was called U rybníka, after a nearby and erstwhile pond. From 1935 to 1973, it was called V Hodkovičkách, which presumably caused confusion, as it’s not directly connected to the other street in the area called that. More on that name when we get…
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Poberova was built in 1935. We’ve been on a bit of a break, so let’s recap some key information. Alois Jirásek was a writer of historical novels and plays; these were written at a time when the Czech nation was seriously (re-)discovering itself. He has a square named after him in Prague 2: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-154-jiraskovo-namesti/. As…
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Pod Jiráskovou čtvrtí was built in 1935. Also having its construction completed in 1935? Jiráskova čtvrť, i.e. the entire district (a primer is on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/02/prague-4-day-247-vrbova/). Clearly, this was a popular idea: there’s also a Jiráskova čtvrť in Kyje (Prague 9), as well as in Doksy (near Liberec) and Meziměstí (near Náchod). Brno had one too…
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Ve studeném was built in 1935. ‘Studený’ means ‘cold’. Is it colder than elsewhere round here? I didn’t particularly notice. The other option – which I’ve not been able to prove, as that would involve having read 21 novels and ten plays on a working day – is that there’s something ‘studený’-tangential in one of…
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Machovcova was built in 1935. Until 1952, the street was called Pod myslivnou II, after a myslivna (gamekeeper’s lodge). As with yesterday, we’re spending some time in Jiráskova čtvrť, and so this is another street named after a character from a novel by Alois Jirásek (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-154-jiraskovo-namesti/). This time, the novel is called Temno (Darkness), and…
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Vrbova was built in 1935. Originally, it was two streets – one called Pod myslivnou (Under the gamekeeper’s lodge), and one called Ve studeném (a name we’ll get on to before we leave Braník). They were joined and renamed in 1973. The villa district covering parts of Braník and Hodkovičky (which is up next in this…
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Nad malým mýtem was built in 1935. A ‘mýto’ is a toll. We’re near the Vltava, and, historically, this is where tolls were collected. By the mid-19th century, the entire area was called ‘Za malým mýtem’, literally ‘Behind the small toll’. Those who think it may be unusual to name a place after a toll…
What's in a Prague street name 