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: Prague 4
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Žalmanova was built in 1969. First of all, your almost-daily reminder that we’re in Jiráskovo čtvrť (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-154-jiraskovo-namesti/). Second of all, your reminder that Jirásek wrote a novel called F.L. Věk (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/02/prague-4-day-247-vrbova/). Žalman is a character in said novel; he’s an old man and closet Protestant, whose tales of hardship and persecution have a…
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V závitu was built in 1945. A ‘závit’ is a coil or a whorl, and the street is so named due to its shape.
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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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U kempinku was built in 1981. I’ve mainly grown out of giggling at certain Czech transliterations of English words, but my ability to laugh when the English ending ‘-ing’ turns into ‘-ink’ hasn’t quite fizzled out yet. Think brífink, mítink, etc, and my personal winner, dispečink. But it’s time to, erm, carry on, and here,…
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Vostrý was built in 1952. Another day, another character from a Jirásek novel. Actually, no, another day, another character from Temno by Jirásek (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/03/prague-4-day-248-machovcova/). In said novel, Vostrý is a Protestant priest – a big no-no to the Habsburgs – and distributes non-Catholic literature. And he’s also the one who tries to get Machovec’s…
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Skaláků was built in 1975. The Alois Jirásek (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-154-jiraskovo-namesti/) series continues. Skaláci (1876) is Jirásek’s novel about the Peasant’s Uprising which took place 101 years earlier. I won’t go into huge detail on that (spoiler: the peasants were still peasants after it), as it’s sure to come up in other posts. For the title of the…
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Mikuleckého was built in 1973. The Pražský uličník tells me that we’re staying with Alois Jirásek’s 1915 novel Temno (Darkness), first discussed yesterday (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/03/prague-4-day-248-machovcova/). It also tells me that the novel had a character called Jakub Mikulecký. However, the long summary I read yesterday (full disclosure: I haven’t read Temno) doesn’t mention anyone called either Jakub…
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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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U ledáren was built in 1981. Quick one today, as we’re talking about the same ledárny – icehouses – as we were yesterday (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/30/prague-4-day-245-ledarska/).
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Ledařská was built in 1998. A ‘ledař” is someone who works with ice (and so you’d most likely hear the word, these days, in connection with ice hockey). A ‘ledárna’, meanwhile, would be an ‘icehouse’ or an ‘iceworks’. At the turn of the 20th century, the innkeepers of Prague were using the icehouse on Štvanice…
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Skálové was built in 2021. Dagmar Šimková was born in Plzeñ in 1912. She joined a scout troop in 1934, where the other members nicknamed her Rakša. Rakša is Raksha – the Mother wolf in The Jungle Book who raised Mowgli as her own cub. Raksha (रक्षा) is Hindi for ‘protection’. She and her husband, Karel…
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Tiché was built in 2021. Michaela Tichá was born in Šumperk in 1993. She joined the army in 2017, specifically the 242nd Transport and Special Squadron of the 24th Transport Air Force Wing of the 24th Transport Air Force Base Prague-Kbely. She also served in the voluntary fire brigade in Braník: https://prazska.drbna.cz/zpravy/spolecnost/3989-vojacka-ktera-zemrela-pri-padu-vrtulniku-patrila-k-hasicum-z-braniku-jeji-telo-dnes-prileti-do-prahy.html. Her first mission…
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Nad strouhou was named in 1926. A ‘strouha’ is an artificial or natural flow of water. It can be used to drain water, or to power a mill. I’m going to go with ‘gully’ as a reasonable English translation. I’m also going to assume it comes from the same Old Slavic source as Struga in…
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Bezová was built in 1935. ‘Bez’ translates as ‘Sambucus’, a genus of about 20-30 flowering plants which are commonly referred to as ‘elder’. In Czechia, there are three native species: the black elderberry (Sambucus nigra / bez černý), the Sambucus ebulus / bez chebdí) and the red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa / bez červený). And, obviously,…
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Branické náměstí was built in 1911. Until 1947, the square was named after Jan Hus (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/05/prague-1-day-169-husova/). Branické náměstí is pretty small, and currently feels even smaller, because it’s fenced off (pics of Jan Hus behind bars below). It was recently given a facelift which was completed in August 2025 (about a year later than intended), but…
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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…
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Za mlýnem was named in 1938. ‘Za mlýnem’ translates as ‘Behind the mill’, and so we need to talk about Kunratický potok. In Praha-Kunratice (south-east of here, and a separate urban district from the Prague 4 urban district, but part of the Prague 4 municipal district – it’s complicated), a stream (potok) originates. Eleven kilometres…
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Zelinářská was built in 1935. A ‘zelinář’ is a market gardener (as well as translating as ‘greengrocer’) – and this street reminds us that, while there’s been a lot of talk in recent posts about vineyards, the area was also once known for its vegetable gardens.
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Pod svahem was named in 1911. Until 1947, the street was called Pod vinicí (Under the vineyard), which takes us back to the trilogy of streets which started on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/11/13/prague-4-day-228-pod-vinohradem/. The vineyards were located on a slope – or a ‘svah’. So, in 1947, the street went from being ‘Below the vineyard’ to being ‘Below…
What's in a Prague street name 