Streetsign reading "Tallinn Streets dot com" Header

Work in progress

A pile of ro ad signs half-trashed and piled up on a building-site, to indicate the site is in construction.

Website under construction, a couple of entries still pending, no photos with the streets yet, layout not finalized...

This started with a book (last few pages under review) and so far 1889 of the 1891 articles entered, 1 or 2 links may go nowhere.

Logo of the Tallinn Children's Hospital Foundation

The Book

All author earnings of A Rambling Dictionary of Tallinn Street Names to be donated to the foundation or donate here.

If anyone could help or advise as to the legal mechanism, it would be appreciated, thanks!

The Website

Not intended at the beginning, the present website is taking on a life of its own, with plans for relevant discussion forums, picture galleries and, over time, more non-streetname entries.

In theory, it will be funded by advertising relevant to people in Tallinn, to be determined.

A percentage of profits (also to be determined) to be donated to the foundation. 

Contact

Photograph of Simon Hamilton in Pikk street, Tallinn.

Apparently, a company that uses its owner's name is considered more trustworthy because they put themselves on the line.

This is me, in Tallinn this spring (2025), on a 3-month spree to check details, take photos (about 12K), explore (ave. 15K/day), and so on. I think I covered every street in Kesklinn (apart from Mõigu), most of Põhja-Tallinn and some Kristiine.

For information, please contact Simon at this address dot com, thanks!

Names

Sepapoisi (Sepapoiss)

(Black)Smith’s apprentice. Street across the road from Sepapere.

Sepise (Sepis)

Wrought-iron object, forging. Part of a mini iron-working group. See also Valukoja.

Septembri (September)

Short (±100 m) and short-lived (1885-1954) street running between today’s Liivamäe and Keldrimäe, and named after local house-owner Tõnis September. And there we were, thinking of world events.

Serva (Serv)

Rim, edge, border, also hem, selvage. Possibly referring to the edge of Pääsküla Raba along which it runs. Anagram of Sarve.

Sibulaküla (Sibulaküla) Symbol designating a Tallinn "Asum", or Sub-district.

Onion village. Named after the small plots of ‘farmland’ or allotments around the Kaasani orthodox church, many of which grew onions, or after the church’s typical onion-shaped dome. The church – completed in 1721, severely damaged during the March 1944 bombing, icons looted in the 1970s, and partially burnt down on the night of 2009-07-15 – remains the oldest surviving wooden church in Tallinn. Its cemetery was probably destroyed in the early 1770s along with others in Tallinn following the Moscow plague riots of 1771. See Mõigu.

Side (Side)

Essentially a connection of some kind: communication, contact, liaison; or any sort of attachment: physical, emotional, mechanical. It could be a bandage or sanitary pad, a cord or ribbon for tying, a ligament, a (chemical) bond… Part of a 1927 naming-spree and specific meaning not clear. Crosses Sihi, if that helps.

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Advertise...

Your business, store or consultancy next to your street address and a percentage of your fee (to be determined) goes the the Children's Hospital fund.

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Post your favorite local photo and sponsor the foundation. Your entire sponsorship goes go the the Children's Hospital fund

Wanted!

Beautiful photos of your street or Tallinn! Send them in! No remuneration planned for now, but will be attributed according to your preferences.