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Erika (Erika)
Woman’s first name but, given its then German designation as Erikastrasse (heather street), most likely named after the shrub growing on the drier parts of the ‘Kallamäe Soo’* (Kalamäe marsh) on Eurich’s map, reclaimed in 1898 (see also Angerja), especially given the mention of Feuchte und Heidigste Fiehtriften (damp and heathery cattle pasture or commons) 200 years earlier on a 1698 map of ‘Stadt Räfwal’ (city of Reval, i.e. Tallinn). Called Eerika in 1924, Eeriku in 1921, and Эриковая ул. (Erikovaya ul.) in 1916 (KNAB) but already present on Johann Friedrich Eurich’s survey map of Tallinn (1880-1882). Renamed as Nahhimovi P. during the Soviet occupation (1953-1990).
* The asterisk refers to an error by Aleksander Kivi (1894-1985) who might have misplaced the marsh in Kalamaja instead of Karjamaa and is not a criticism – Karjamaa to Kalamäe to Kalamaja… who hasn’t had glitches like this? – but an opportunity to celebrate the man foundational to Tallinn street-name studies – no computer, Soviet overlords, scattered resources... – for a brilliant job.
Esku (Esku)
Old farm/man’s name. Probably from an early Scandinavian name, Askel, Æskil, Askil, Eskil, Áskæll, Áskell, short forms of ON Ásketill, broken down to mean ‘God’s helmet’ (áss [god], and ketill, [helmet or kettle]). This, in Estonian, became jumalakiiver, prob. from Russian кивер (kiver: shako, itself from the Hungarian for ‘peak’, csákó). Rajandi’s Raamat nimedest (book of names) claims the name has long been used in Estonian coastal areas (probably Swedish). But helmet or kettle?... ON already had a word for helmet (hjálmr). So ‘kettle’ was likely a contemporary or later development as it spread through Scandinavia to mean cauldron, cooking-pot, basin, bowl, boiler (see Katleri), etc. There’s something oddly unquixotic about this! As our hero borrows a barber’s shaving-basin for a helmet, boys will pilfer their mums’ saucepans too, so why then would any self-respecting Norse warrior not nick his missus’ casserole to protect his shoulder-rock, as Norse kennings so poetically describe a head (deadpan humor?). I rest my case.
Gaasi (Gaas)
Gas. The word ‘gas’ is believed to have been created by Dutch scientist Jan Baptist van Helmont (1579-1644) as his mother-tongue pronunciation (/χɑs/ or /ɣɑs/) of Anc. Greek χάος – chaos, thus named, apparently, because of his surprise that gas was so disorganized: “halitum illum, Gas vocavi, non longe à Chao”: (I called that vapor Gas, not far removed from Chaos). Anagram of Saagi. Part of a loose construction-materials group. See Paneeli.
Glehni N.v.
(Nikolai von Glehn, Count, 1841-1923)
Founder of the then town, now Tallinn suburb, of Nõmme. Died in Brazil. One of the last scions of a family descended from the German merchant Heinrich von Glehn who arrived in Estonia in the mid-17th C. Street has a fairly motley history of name change, with (ignoring the minor Ger. & Rus. versions) Glehni (1927-39), followed by Niine (1939-59), interluding as Marana (Potentilla spp., 1940-41), then Niineõie (bast tree blossom, 1959-60), and Välgu (1960-89) during the Soviet occupation. The Glehni streetname was reinstated in 1939, upped to Nikolai v. Glehni tn in 1989 and restored to all its aristocratic pre-1939 fullness of Nikolai von Glehni tänav in 2010. In addition to the street, his home, a mock castle called Hohenhaupt after the nearby (400 m) Kõrgepea Nukk, is host to Tallinn’s observatory (see Tähetorni), a park and various sculptures.
