Names
Liivalaia (Liivalai)
Sandflats, lit sandy expanse, avenue, channel... Named after local sand flats, see Liiva. Nice muddle this one: Renamed (1944-1992?) as Kingissepa V. during the Soviet occupation (at one stage of its evolutionary mutation from Kingissepa V. to Liivalaia and/or back again it apparently become misprinted as V. Liivalaia), along with, interestingly, two other streets which shared the name but not the longevity (1974-1990): Jõe and Pronksi, with Liivalaia itself replacing (1974-1990) the German-sounding Juhkentali. This is perhaps the street with the most ‘picturesque’ history, with spellings ranging through its current to Liiva laia, Laia-Liiva and Lai-Liiva (1885); names including Kaasani (Große or Breite or Neue Kasansche Straße in the early 19th C), and a variety of variants around ‘width’ and ‘sand’ in all three standard-for-19th‑C languages. Curiously, its name in 1813 was Suur-Kaasani or Große Kasansche Straße which, from a spoken point of view, is not that far from Sand Straße... It seems that (one of?) Tallinn’s main execution site(s), the Kivivõllaste paik (lit. place of the stone-built gallows) was located at No.8 (see Vana-Lõuna, Hariduse and Roosikrantsi), or nearby. See Vana-Veerenni.
Liivalao (Liivaladu)
Sand depot. Not too far from the sand and concrete materials group. See Liiva.
Liivaluite (Liivaluide)
Sand dune or drift.
Liivamadala (Liivamadal)
Sandy shallows.
Liivamäe (Liivamägi)
Sandy hill, mountain. Earliest record gives German Auf dem Sande and Russian На пескахъ (1881), then Estonian Liiva mäel and Liiva peal (1885), all meaning ‘on the sands’. Over time, the meaning shifted to ‘hill’/’mountain’, as in Auf dem Sandberge / Песочная гора (1890), hinting at a shift of meaning from ‘on’ or ‘on top of’ to that which this might be, irrespective of topology, perhaps also suggesting a change in naming conventions from one based on experience to one simply read about. In a sense, this matches current pronunciations of uncommon words which increasingly depend on reading rather than hearing. The earlier names were long used for various general sandy areas before used for streets. Another earlier designation was Auf dem Sande bei den drei Kreutzen (on the sand near the three crosses) and seems to refer to other crosses memorializing Blackheads who died in a clash with Russians in 1560-09-11 (see Marta). See Mäe for discussion.
Liivametsa (Liivamets)
Sandy wood.
