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, many entries missing, no photos with the streets yet, layout not finalized...

This started with a book (last few pages under review) and so far 1814 of the 1884 articles (A to Z, with 50-odd Ts remaining) entered so far, so some 5% of the links 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

Alasi

Alasi (Alasi)

Anvil, or what used to be called a stithy, stiddy, stedy, etc.. Appropriately, crosses Vasara, but causing a rather mixed (separatist?...) political metaphor.

Alemaa

Alemaa (Alemaa)

Ale is one of Estonia’s various slash-and-burn terms for a plot of cleared, burnt land ready for planting. Other dialect words for the same or very similar include saat (in the Mulgi or Viljandi dialect), sõõrd (in the Tartu & Võru dialects but see also Sõõru) and uht (apparently, in the Lääne [Western] dialect), so this means assart, grubbed land, forest-clearing, swidden. Part of a land-clearing group of streets, see also Põlendiku.

Alevi

Alevi (Alev)

Short for Alevipoeg, Alev’s son. According to Kreutzwaldi: cousin and fighting companion of the epic hero Kalevipoeg, Kalev’s son, or, possibly, rhyming variant of Kalev’s name (see Kalevipoja and Olevi), but the street creation dates (here 1912 or 1923) don’t seem to match its peers’. Another meaning, implied by TT’s comment that the street was built at an early stage of Tallinn’s ‘districtification’, is ‘small market-town’, ‘borough’, ‘second-degree urban settlement’ or ‘village’, and may (see TAAK) refer to its current Sub-district of Kitseküla).

  1. Algi
  2. All-Linn
  3. Alle A.
  4. Allika

Page 16 of 626

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.

Sponsorship logo top bare

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.