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: 1941
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V jehličí was built in 1941. You may remember that we’re near a forest (which you are allowed to call several different things – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/09/12/prague-4-day-443-pod-krcskym-lesem/). Among the things you find in forests are trees and shrubs which reproduce with male and female cones. These trees are known as conifers in English, and as ‘jehličnany’…
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Pod Krčským lesem was built in 1941. You will see a big chunk of forest on the map above. Thing is, people can’t quite agree what to call it. Generally, the north-western section is known as Michelský les (Michle Forest), and Michle is where we’ll be going once I’m finished with Krč in approximately one…
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Strmilovská was built in 1941. Strmilov is a town in South Bohemia, bordering Moravia. Strmilov proper has a population of 1,100, or 1,400 if you include four other villages which are part of the district. While ‘strmý’ means ‘steep’, it’s believed that the name could have other sources: it could be from Střemil, an Old…
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Matek was named in 1941. ‘Matek’ is the genitive plural of ‘matka’, and therefore translates as ‘of the mothers’. In 1914, Ochrana matek a kojenců / Protection of Mothers and Infants was founded; when Czechoslovakia was founded, it started to operate across the new country. In 1922, it merged with another organisation, Československá péče o…
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Na sponě was built in or before 1941. ‘Spona’ can be translated as clip, fastener, buckle, and so on. It derives from the verb ‘spínat/sepnout’, which translates as ‘to fasten’ or ‘to clip (together)’. So, a ‘tie clip’ would be a ‘spona do kravaty’. In grammar, a ‘spona’ would be a ‘copula’, i.e. a word linking…
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Postranní was built in 1941. Until 1947, it was called Na odbočce, due to its location (it turns off from Dolnokrčská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/07/18/prague-4-day-406-dolnokrcska/); an ‘odbočka’ is a diversion, a turn, a digression, and so on. Meanwhile, ‘postranní’ is an adjective meaning ‘side’ (as in ‘postranní ulička’ – a ‘side street’). You sort of wonder why they…
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Nad obcí II was built in 1941. Nad obcí I (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/07/17/prague-4-day-405-nad-obci-i/) is named after Lower Krč (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/07/18/prague-4-day-406-dolnokrcska/). So it probably won’t come as a surprise that Nad obcí II is too. I don’t like harking back to Prague’s Nazi occupation, but I can’t help but be intrigued by the fact that, in that time, this…
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Kunžacká was built in 1941. Similar story to yesterday’s post (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/06/03/prague-4-day-392-rodvinovska/): Kunžak is another village in South Bohemia, near Jindřichův Hradec. It lies on the historical border between Bohemia and Moravia, meaning its inhabitants must spend an awful lot of time talking about how they are so different from each other. The earliest written mention…
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Rodvinovská was built in 1941. Rodvínov is a village in South Bohemia, near Jindřichův Hradec. The earliest mention that we know of is from 1319. Rodvínov has 631 inhabitants, three red deer breeding operations, two emu farms, and a train station which no trains have stopped at since 2020. And yes, the fact that it’s…
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Bystřická was built in 1941. However, until 1960, it was part of Humpolecká (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/04/20/prague-4-day-362-humpolecka/). Bystřice is a town of 4,700 people in Central Bohemia, about six kilometres south of Benešov. The earliest written mention that we know of is from about 1350. It developed due to its location on a trade route. In 1471, George…
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Krchlebská was built in 1941. Its second street sign, meanwhile, is one I won’t forget in a hurry. Krchleby is a village in Central Bohemia, six kilometres north of Nymburk, and about a sixty-kilometre drive to the northeast from Prague. The origins of Krchleby’s name have never quite been agreed on. ‘Krch’ means ‘left’ in…
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Neveklovská was built in 1941. Neveklov is a town of 2,800 people in Central Bohemia, about 12 km east of Benešov and, therefore, about 30 km north of Prague. The earliest written mention we know of dates from 1285, and we assume it was once the court of somebody called Nevykl or similar. That written…
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Jankovská was built in 1941. Jankov is a village in South Bohemia, about 13 kilometres of České Budějovice. It has a population of about 390. The earliest mention we know of is in a Land Register from 1379; Its name indicates that it was once the estate of someone called Janek. In 1964, a neighbouring…
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Humpolecká was built in 1941, and this is one case where highlighting roads in red doesn’t work very well. Humpolec is a town in the Vysočina Region, about 23 km northwest of Jihlava, with approximately 12,000 residents. The first verified written mention is from 1233, when the Order of Teutonic Knights sold some local property…
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Dudínská was built in 1941. Dudín is a village near Humpolec (which will probably be the subject of tomorrow’s post) in the Vysočina Region. It has a population of 198. The oldest written mention we have is from 1226; the name means that it belonged to someone named Duda, a surname in several Slavic languages,…
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Herálecká I (which was lacking the Roman numeral at that time) was built in 1941. Herálec is a village of about 1,200 people in the Vysočina Region, about 12 kilometres southwest of Havlíčkův Brod (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/12/26/prague-3-day-122-havlickovo-namesti/ to learn about the Havlíček part). The earliest written mention that we know of is from a Papal document…
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Obětí 6. května was built in 1941. The Prague Uprising, an attempt by the Czech resistance to liberate Prague from six years of occupation, broke out on 5 May 1945. You can read about its first day on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/05/prague-4-day-25-5-kvetna-5-may/. On the night of the 5th and 6th of May, almost 1,600 barricades were erected in…
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Pacovská was built in 1941. Pacov is a town of about 4,700 inhabitants in Vysočina Region, 17 kilometres northwest of Pelhřimov. It flourished during the 1400s and the 1500s, gaining a coat of arms in 1519 and being designated a manor town in 1597. It eventually became the property of the Discalced Carmelites (find out…
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Vzdušná was built in 1941 (I think). There’s greenery around here, and there no doubt used to be a lot more of it, especially as none of these streets I’ve been covering lately seem to have sprung up earlier than Czechoslovakia did. This particular street was built on a plateau near the forest. One nice…
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Nad Zátiším was built in 1941. Just because we’re out of Hodkovičky doesn’t mean we’ve left all our Hodkovičky habits behind: this street is ‘above’ Zátiší, as discussed on on day 301 (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/02/05/prague-4-day-301-k-zatisi/). And 305. and 306.
