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, layout not finalized...

This started with a book (last few pages under review) and only 1473 of the 1884 articles (A to R included) entered so far, so about a quarter 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!

Home

Sõbra

Sõbra (Sõber)

Friend. Parallel to Lemmiku. Strange entry where my original version got it completely wrong: [[“Considered by some to be derived from MLG sobbenhunt, young dog. But poss. a Baltic loanword, cf. Rus. собака (sobáka), Lith. šuo, and Latv. suns. Koer on söbber senni kui pead sillitad, a dog is your friend as long as you stroke its head.”]]. The opposite seems to be the case. Word and often-related meaning shared across FU languages, where Votic seems to encapsulate the essence of its footprint: ‘friend, girlfriend; trading partner across the Gulf of Finland’; with Finnish seura (society; company); Veps sõbr (‘association, artel; work done jointly’); and Wiedemann’s 100-year-old Estonian, also sõbr (Freund, Geliebter, Gönner, Kunde, i.e. friend, lover, patron, customer). There may have been earlier loans to or from MLG, Prussian and Lithuanian, but I’m incapable of analysing them. Comments or pointers welcome.

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.