Estonian has been ranked as the world's 2nd most difficult language to learn - by whom, I can't remember. Whether it is actually true and, if so, particular to the language, or more a question of language group, I do not know (all other things being equal, an Asian will find French harder to learn than a Spaniard, for example). What I have found, tackling my first non-Indo-European language, is that its vocabulary, even basic, has no stickies (remembering the German "Milch" for "milk" is easier than the Estonian "Piim"; ditto French "crème" for "cream", than "koor"). Everything must be learned laboriously by rote, and I ain't a spring chicken no more.
As an exercise, I decided to find out what Tallinn street names mean. Here it is, but please take note: this is a work in progress and the present version is certainly packed to the gills with errors. Any comments and corrections welcome. Please send to simon :: at :: simonhamilton.com
Back to the language. Wikipedia describes Estonian as a "transitional form from an agglutinating language to an inflected language", an opinion most of us would find hard to argue with. For non-specialists, you tack on endings to give meaning to the word. In English, you may say "into the garden", "through the garden" or "I like the garden", garden remains the same; in Estonian... Well, look at the following table:
| Nominative | aed | garden |
| Genitive | aia | garden's, of the garden |
| Partitive | aeda | e.g. hoeing the garden |
| Illative | aiasse or aeda | into the garden |
| Inessive | aias | in the garden |
| Elative | aiast | from, out of the garden |
| Allative | aiale | to the garden |
| Adessive | aial | upon, on the garden |
| Ablative | aialt | from, off the garden |
| Translative | aiaks | for, as the garden |
| Essive | aiana | as the garden |
| Terminative | aiani | up to, until the garden |
| Abessive | aiata | without the garden |
| Comitative | aiaga | with the garden |
... and yes, there are a multitude of exceptions, long forms, short forms, and 14 more cases in the plural. Those who went through the agonies of Latin will remember its five dastardly declensions, or basic noun types (rosa, rosa, rosam... res, rei, rem...). Estonian has almost 600. It is also reputed to have eight dialects (Northern: Central, Eastern, Western and Island; Southern: Tartu, Mulgi, Võru and Seto), and no-one has yet finalised a standard spelling reform. Do you really want to know 126 ways of writing "aquarium"?
The list is in two parts:
Since once you've gathered that Kiriku tänav means "church street" it will add little to the depths of your knowledge to discover that Kiriku tee means "church road".
A typical street name will be of the "street of X" type, and so the word will be in the genitive case. Next to it, in brackets, I put the nominative form. Sometimes one genitive will correspond to two or more different words. If the reason for such a name is not very clear, I include the other versions too. And if the name is already in the nominative, I put an "0". For example, the compound word garden-path, Aiatee, is already nominative, if it were two words as it is in Aia it would have its corresponding case.
To return to the alphabetical key, click on any headword.
1. liin (0): 1st line. As a reminder, if the street name is already in the nominative (rare), its usual place in brackets is left as "0".
1. Tehase (1. Tehas): Tehas is a works or factory, but since all five of them - 1. Tehase ... 5. Tehase - were scuppered by the building of Admiraliteedi bassein, Admiralty dock, the word may well imply a laevatehas, or shipyard. The present entry also presages the protean orthography of Tallinn toponymy: whereas the above, 1. liin, must be writ in lower-case, this one was capitalised.
2. liin (0): 2nd line.
21. Juuli (0): Five days after the Red Army paid their respects to Estonia on 16th June 1940, the state “became” Soviet. Many years later (1980-1989), this was the name they gave Mustakivi.
NB: for those who don’t read introductions, forget fast or need constant reminders: headwords of street names no longer in existence, mainly former Soviet namings, are struck through.
3. liin (0): 3rd line.
4. liin (0): 4th line.
5. liin (0): 5th line.
Aarde (Aare): Treasure.
Aasa (Aas): Meadow.
Aate (Aade): Idea, ideal: kõrged aated, high ideals, slightly more practical for dictionary compilers than kõrged kontsad, high heels.
Aaviku (Aavik): Probably just named after a village in neighbouring Rae Rural Municipality, or perhaps a farm, and regrettably not after one or more of the Aavik family including: Johannes (1880-1973), linguist and inventor of numerous reforms and neologisms (oddly, the ones most people recall are relv, weapon, from revolver, and mõrv, murder), as well as translator of Maupassant, Edgar Allen Poe, Turgenev, Aino Kallas... or his cousin Joosep (1899-1989), organist, conductor (oftentimes chief conductor of the Laulupidu) and music critic. (Museum in their name in Saaremaa.)
Abaja (Abajas): Cove, creek, inlet, bight, pool or quagmire.
Abara (Abar): Three-part net for catching small fish. Fishing-related street-name zone on the Kakumäe peninsula, site of former fish kolkhoz, processing and refrigeration plants. See also Ahingu.
Adamsoni A. (Amandus Heinrich Adamson, 1855-1929): Sculptor, studied under Carpeaux in Paris (1887-1891), and in Italy, creator of the Russalka monument, using his 17-year-old girlfriend as model. Sculptor of the beautiful Laeva viimne ohe (Ship’s last sigh), and others. Street previously known as Kiriku (Church, 1774), Hospidali (Hospital, 1786), Seegi (Almshouse, 1787-1806), for a while Tiigi (pond), Vaeste (the poor, 1881), then, after local complaints at the shame of the name, switched to Falkspargi tänav (Falk park road, 1882) but that’s too long to remember for holiday postcards so on it moved to Pargi tee (Park road, 1950) and, until further notice, Adamsoni from 1959.
Adra (Ader): Plough.
Aedlinn (0): Garden town, garden city
Aedvere (Aedvere): Aed means garden, but the -vere suffix occurring in at least 89 place-names (as well as hidden/embedded in others) deserves an entry of its own (but won’t get it). Estonian linguists have been discussing its meaning for about a hundred years and are still not certain. Various suggestions have been made for its derivation: Gothic: fera and OHG: fiara (region, area); Finnish: verho (covering), vero (verosta in place of), vuori, vaara (hill); Estonian: vare (ruin), veri (blood), pere (farm, family, household), -kõrve (forest), veer: veere (brink, border, edge, slope), *vēri (deciduous forest; note for non-linguists, the asterisk indicates a hypothetical form), *veere: *veerde (?),*veri: *veren (wood, woody hill). Not easy. An interesting angle comes from the taxation list compiled for Danish King Valdemar II in 1220-1241, Liber Census Daniae (LCD): the settlement name Serueueræ, for example, looks very much like a Latinised name. Given the LCD was written in Latin and “probably based on the notes of Danish priests” (www.estonica.org), we have two weak links (Danish clerks hearing Estonian names and their re-transcription into possibly faulty dog Latin). Perhaps the -ueræ suffix is the result of fortuitous convergence between (conceiving) a Latin suffix -ver < vergo, -ěre, meaning to be turned towards, to incline or lean, and veere meaning about the same, where the two weak links may have prevented hearing a less obvious “Estonian” genitive. Either way, Estonian linguist Valdek Pall concludes that “the spreading of the -vere-names was connected with slash-and-burn agriculture”, Paul Alvre proposes a relation to vierre (burnt-over clearing for cultivation), and Marja Kallasmaa also puts forward the hypothesis that both veer: veere and *veere: *veerde were slash-and-burn terms. To conclude, with no certainty, my personal suggestion is that, since swiddeners were unlikely to build homes on top of the swidden, but nearby, -vere may possibly have meant “by or beside a swidden”. Ten years down the road, it will be interesting to see how embarassingly wrong I may be…
Aedvilja (Aedvili): Fruit and vegetables, after a large market garden nearby in 19th-C or before.
Aegna (Aegna): Island off the coast of Tallinn. Known as Wulf or Wulfö to the Germans, Аэгна or Вульфъ to the Russians, and Ulffö (unusual with two f's) to the Swedes.
Ahingu (Ahing): Fishing-spear. See Abara. See also Kahva.
Ahju (Ahi): Stove or oven.
Ahtri (Ahter): 1) Stern, poop; 2) By extension (no pun intended): buttocks, (often) ladies’, (usually) generous. Known until 1958 as Simeoni, Siimoni or Simuna after its Saints Simon and Anna orthodox church (built 1752-1871).
Ahvena (Ahven): Perch, European perch, Perca fluviatilis. See also Havi.
Aia (Aed): Garden, fence, enclosure, run. Renamed (1958-1987) as Ujula during the Soviet Era. First known as Valli or Wallstrasse.
Aiandi (Aiand): Market garden, usually involving greenhouses. Truck farm (US), i.e. market garden concentrating on limited number of species for trucking to regions the plants do not grow.
Aianduse (Aiandus): Gardening, horticulture.
Aiatee (Aiatee): Garden path. Sort of: this one used to be Aia tee, garden road/path, but it wasn’t enough, so they added a “street” to produce “garden road/path street”. One wonders where the future will lead us…
Aida (Ait): Outbuilding, storehouse, granary, after the granaries dating back to (at least) 17th-C. Prior to this, called simply põiktänav kloostri müüri ääres (± “side road running along the cloister walls”) and Väike-Kloostri.
Aisa (Ais): Shaft (of draught vehicle), thill. Road now buried beneath a carpark servicing the Rocca al Mare ice rink and tennis courts, with a remaining 27 m or so of dirt track allowing for travel from the access road to a nearby spruce.
Akadeemia (Akadeemia): Academy.
Alajaama (Alajaam): Electrical substation, named after the nearby Eesti Energia facilities.
Alasi (Alasi): Anvil. Appropriately, crosses Vasara, but causing a rather mixed politico-equiferrarian metaphor.
Alemaa (Alemaa): Assart, grubbed land, forest-clearing, swidden.
Alevi (Alev): 1) Short for Alevipoeg, Alev’s son. According to Kreutzwald, cousin and fighting companion of the epic hero Kalevipoeg, Kalev’s son, or, possibly, alliterative poetic variant of Kalev’s name; 2) Small market-town, “borough”, “second-degree urban settlement”. See Kalevipoja. See also Olevi.
Algi (Alk): Auk or Razorbill. Both breed in Estonia: Alk, Razorbill, Alca torda, and Väikealk aka Ürr, Little Auk, Alle alle. See Linnu. See also Auli.
Alle A. (August Alle, 1890-1952): Son of a stone-mason, studied medicine and law. Poet, columnist and publicist. Editor of the Estonian literary journal Looming (“Creation”) from 1948. Street formerly known as Voolu
Allika (Allikas): Spring, source, fountain, wellspring, fountainhead. After a spring located at the end of the road in the courtyard of Tatari 24, mentioned as early as 14th-C.
Alliksoo (Alliksoo): Source of a bog. Relationship not clear: theoretically allikasoo would be “bog of the spring” or the bog resulting from a spring, but alliksoo is the conjuction of two nominatives allik (alternative form of allikas) and soo, hence spring-bog, or source-bog, which could be interpreted as either “bog as source”, “bog of the spring” again or even “bog by the spring”. Formerly known as Soo, bog or marsh. In simple terms: somewhere wet.
All-Linn (0): Down-town. Less perhaps in the club, cinema and shopping sense as the one where poor buggers were stranded outside the fortified upper part of town.
Alvari (Alvar): 1) Limestone region covered with thin soil and stunted vegetation (see Lageloo); 2) Man’s first name; 3) Best tiler in Tallinn.
Amburi (Ambur): Archer, bowman, Sagittarius.
Andrekse (?): Possibly after Andreas, 15th-C master-builder supervising rebuilding of St Olaf’s church.
Angerja (Angerjas): Eel, Anguilla anguilla.
Angerpisti (Angerpist): Dropwort, Fern-leaf Dropwort, Filipendula vulgaris, a herb.
Ankru (Ankur): Anchor.
Anni (And): Gift, present, talent, endowment. Renamed (1979-1994/5) as Kullmani L. during the Soviet Era.
Anveldi J. (Jaan Anvelt, 1884-1937): Also known as Eessaare Aadu, Jaan Holm, Jaan Hulmu, Kaarel Maatamees, Onkel Kaak and Н. Альтъ. Estonian revolutionary, writer, leader of the Communist Party of Estonia, Premier of Soviet Estonia, died as a result of persuasive cross-examination in 1937 but redeemed as a “good communist” by Krushchev. One of the rare Estonian communists to have a Wikipedia page devoted to him in Tamil, see ஜான் ஆன்வெல்ட். Soviet Era renaming (1957-1991) of Kivisilla and Reimani V..
Ao (Agu): Early dawn, daybreak. Build on land occuped by former copper foundry. Part of the dawn and dusk triad. See also Eha.
Apteegi (Apteek): Chemist’s, pharmacy, apothecary’s. Named after Tallinn’s oldest apothecary, the nearby Raeapteegi mentioned as far back as 1422. Apteegi as street name was first mentioned in municipal records of 1611 as Apoteker Gasse, with later (1614) marginalia alters die Lütke Schröder Strasse (formerly the Little Tailor’s street). Prior to this (1389), the street was known/described as parva platea sartorum, qua itur de foro ad monachos, little road of the “tailors”, which goes from the market to the monks, i.e. Vene, and before that (1368) platea monachorum, road of the monks, these being the Dominiiklased or Dominican Friars. Note on tailors... the Latin Sartor indicates someone who repairs, and stitching wounds to Saville Row is as far as barbers to surgeons (cf the red and white spiralled barber’s pole: red for blood-letting and white for bandages). So the street probably specialised in leeches and breeches, bone-setting and button-sewing, pox and socks. Makes you glad to live in the 21st-C.
Arbu (Arp): Lot, magic contrivance. Arbujad (sorcerers, soothsayers, shamans) was an influential group of Estonian poets created in 1938, their rather anti-totalitarian attitude did not endear them to the censors. Renamed (1979-1995) as Võrgu V. during the Soviet Era. One of a mini-group catering to D&D fans. See also Loitsu.
Armatuuri (Armatuur): Fixture, (light-)fitting, framework, mounting accessory/ies. Construction-material street-name group, incidentally close to two of the town’s main building supplies merchants. See also Asfaldi.
Arnika (Arnika): Arnica, Arnica spp.. Also one of the alternative names of Harilik karutubakas, Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Pilosella officinarum, another yellow-flowered Asteraceae which it may strongly ressemble.
Artelli (Artell): Artel, workers’ guild, general term for various semi-formal cooperative associations in Russia past and present ranging from fishing to stevedoring to thieving.
Aru (Aru): Dry upland meadow or grassland. Also means reason, mind, intellect, understanding or wits. Part of what I call the “odd bits and bobs of agricultural thingies that don’t really fit anywhere else” group. There are plenty of other such zones in Tallinn but, given the extremely time-consuming in corralling the creatures and, let’s be honest, the ROI, I won’t bother you with all of them… See also Auna.
Arukaskede (Arukased [pl.]): Silver or Lowland Birches (Sing; Kask), Betula pendula, aka Arukõiv, Õmmik (the beneedled), etc.
Asfaldi (Asfalt): Asphalt. Named after nearby asphalt depot. See Armatuuri. See also Betooni.
Assauwe torn (0): Also spelled Asso (see next entry). Tower known with this name since late 19th-C. Previous names include Bevermans Thurm (early 17th), and, later, Buchaus Turm.
Asso õu (0): Asso courtyard. Believed to be a typically Estonian name, records give one as town herdsman in the 14-15th-C whose house whose house on the corner of Harju and Müürivahe was close to Assauwe torn, Assauwe being an alternative spelling.
Astangu (Astang): Terrace, cliff, escarpment, bluff.
Astla (Astel): Barbed spear, thorn, spine, sting. Given its location in a flower group, the meaning here is probably thorn.
Astri (Aster): Aster spp., genus of flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. One fascinating piece of trivia about this flower is that the number of petals is a Fibonacci Number, i.e. 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21... (Fn = Fn-1 + Fn-2, where F0 = 0 & F1 = 1), a series rediscovered (apparently known by Indian mathematicians as far back as 200 BCE) by Leonardo of Pisa, aka Fibonacci (= son of [filius] Bonaccio), in his Liber Abaci (1202) to calculate a theoretical growth in rabbit numbers. The book was also one of the prime movers introducing Arabic numerals, and algebra, to Europe. Mathmatophobes, you now have a name to play darts with.
Asula (Asula): Dwelling, settlement, urban community, any populated place. And Estonians have this down to a fine art… Below a population density of 20 (villages) or 2000 (towns), the asula is designated as kääbus (dwarf or, to use boxing parlance, bantam). They then grow through the following stages - jugu (stunted), taru (hive/buzzing), väike (small), siire (transitional), suur (large), kasa (large-heap), hiid (giant) and rait (colossal [over 5M for towns]) - before becoming mega-cities, a state yet to be reached by certain communities in, for example, Jõgevamaa.
Asunduse (Asundus): Settlement, colony. Built on land furnished by a certain arbitrageur named Albert Koba.
Auli (Aul): Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis. Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Haigru.
Auna (Aun): Shock of sheaves, stack, cock, or stack of peat. Street started life (1932) as Muru, German Rasenstrasse, grass, lawn, turf, and Russian Дерновая ул, turf-covered or turf-edged, so they probably intended to stay closer to the sod than the cock. Switched in 1959 when the new street-name zoning came into being. See Aru. See also Heina.
Auru (Aur): Steam, vapour (Auru ära laskma: to let off steam). Named for the nearby steam-engines in the Tallinn-Väike railway shunting-lines. Known for a time (1930s) as >Muru.
Auto (Auto): Car, automobile, motorcar. Soviet Era naming (1927-2001) of the now Nugise.
Basseini (Bassein): Bath, baths, after the Mustamäe swimming-pool… Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990) of Lossi.
Bastioni (Bastion): Bastion.
Belinski V. (Vissarion Belinski, 1811-1848): Russian literary critic. (Renamed under Soviet rule [1953-1995) of Tuulemaa and Vihuri.
Bensiini (Bensiin): Petrol, gas, gasoline. Part of a oil street-name group. See also Filmi.
Betooni (Betoon): Concrete. See Armatuuri. See also Gaasi.
Bornhöhe E. (Eduard Bornhöhe, 1862-1923): Real name Eduard Brunberg, writer of bestselling historical adventure stories and translator of Robinson Crusoe into Estonian. His novel Viimne reliikvia (The Last Relic, 1969, see Pirita) was made into what is now a cult film or bane of Christmas according to viewpoint, while Tasuja (The Avenger), deals with Jüriöö ülestõus, the St. George’s Night Uprising, and features Tambet.
Bremeni (Bremen): Bremen, former Hanseatic town in Germany.
Brookus (Brookus): Latinised name of 14&15th-C city father Wolmar Brockhusen, landlord of various properties near Pikk.
Börsi (Börs): Exchange, stock exchange. German Börse (stock exchange or purse), French Bourse and English Purse share the same etymology, from Greek βύρσα, hide, leather, through low Latin Bursa, small bag with drawstrings (hence expression “to purse one’s lips”) in which money was kept, to modern-day purse and stock exchange. The story of a 14th-C Bruges family, van de Borse or Van Der Burse, at whose house local and Venetian merchants used to meet and do business may well be apocryphal. Popular French etymology has often suggested that the bourse was kept against the groin, a site of great physical sensitivity and awareness and, true to form, one of the earliest uses (1278) of the term bourse (Mod. Fr. les bourses) was scrotum. And where better to keep a bag containing your valuables than next to another bag containing your valuables?
de la Gardie or Delagardie (Pontus de la Gardie, 1520?–1585): Originally Ponce d’Escouperie, left France in 1565, became mercenary for Denmark, captured by Swedes, switched sides, became Pontus de la Gardie, married Sofia Johansdotter, illegitimate daughter of king Johan III of Sweden, Governor of Swedish Estonia (1574-1575), captured Narva from Russia (1581), re-Governor of Swedish Estonia (1583-1585), drowned in Narva River, buried in Toom-Kirik. (No street named after him, just a shopping centre in Viru although there was a redoubt in his name on one of the south-east city walls ca. 1710.)
Dominiiklaste (Dominiiklased [pl.]): Dominican friars.
Dunkri (Hans Dunker, 16th-C): Although Dunker is an old Germanic name for someone who lived near a swamp, it seems this one was a 16th-C chef at the town hall, as well as Tafelbruder (see Eppingi Torn). Did they make donuts in those days? This has been the street's name for the past 400-plus years, misinterpreted variously as Drunckerstraße, drunkard's street (1528) and Dunkelstraße, dark street (1701, etc.). Before this it was (lutke) strate achter der munte, (little) street behind the mint, or Sternestrate achter munte, star street behind the mint, and variants. The "star" part coming from the name of the well now known as Rataskaevu. Before this, although TT states it was known (1378) as platea qua itur ad sanctum Nicolaum in opposito putei, road which goes to Saint Nicolas’ away from the well", it doesn't make sense: even in the 13th-C, sunte Nicolaus kerke was still where it is now: at the end of Rataskaevu. Renamed during the Soviet Era as Eduard Vilde (1950-1963) then Vana Tooma (1963-1987).
Dunteni (Dunte, ?): Park on SW end of Tondi presumably attempting to rectify the terrors of Tallinn orthography on its owner. See street in question.
Edela (Edel): South-west, south-western, south-westerly. Also süüdvest among sailors. Street-name which used to be in the docks, now in Kivimäe, and pointing south-east… See Vesikaare. See Lääne.
Edu (Edu): Success, progress, advancement. Very odd. Street started life as Puhke, in 1940 the Soviets named it Karge, crisp or harsh according to preference, the Fascists renamed it Edu, then an official in the Street-names commission with penchant for the ladies pushed for its new name of Põua, drought, without realising the genitive he wanted was “e” not “a” (ask for help on this one and thank me afterwards for the ice-breaker) and, finally, when the fuss blew over, it went back to Edu.
Eerikneeme (Eerikneem): Eric’s Cape (point, headland, foreland) on Aegna island, site of one of Estonia's approximately 9 stone labyrinths built by Swedish settlers during the early medieval ages. One of the island's six roads. See also Kalavälja.
Eevardi (Eevard): Or Evard, etc. Family name documented as far back as 14/15th-C (Eynvaldt and variants). Apparently, the name of a former local farm/farming-family. Farm group. See also Jaagu.
Eha (Eha): Red sunset sky or glow. See Ao. See also Koidu.
Ehitajate (Ehitajad [pl.]): Builders, constructors. Also shipwrights. Named in honour of the workers building housing in Mustamäe.
Ehte (Ehe): Adornment, ornament, piece of jewellery. Appropriately, next door to Sõle.
Elektri (Elekter): Electricity. Known briefly, 1959-1960, as Iiri, by which they probably mean a blast or gust (of wind) or even Irish/Ireland rather than clepsine, an out-dated term for the glossiphonid or snail-leech.
Elektroni (Elektron): Electron.
Endla (Endla): Name of a lake, bog, basin, region and nature reserve in central Estonia, home to the white-tailed eagle, golden eagle and osprey. The lake is home also to Juta, the Maid of Järve, a Muse-like fairy capable of evoking the past. Speaking of which, previous name Wittenhofi after former burgomeister.
Enela (Enelas): Spirea, meadowsweet, Spiraea spp., shrub of the rose family.
Energia (Energia): Energy.
Eppingi Torn (Tideman Eppynck, 14th-C): Aka Thilmannus/Thidemannus/Tydemann/Thidericus Eppynch/Eppingh/Eppinc/Eppingk, wealthy burgher of Tallinn, person in charge of one of the Tallinn towers, but not necesarily this one. Although there may have been two Eppincks, since one is recorded as dying in 1378, and another named Tafelbruder, member of the Tafelgilde, a lesser guild involved in feeding the poor, in 1383.
Erika (Erika): Eerika in 1920. Woman’s first name, but, given its then German designation as Erikastrasse (heather street), perhaps named after the shrub that may have grown on the Kalamaja marshes reclaimed in 1898. Renamed (1953-1990) as Nahhimovi P. during the Soviet Era.
Esku (Esku): Village in central Estonia.
Estonia (Estonia): Country in the Baltics. Street known previously as Peters-Promenade (Peter’s Promenade), Vene turu promenaad (Russian-Market Promenade), Promenaad (Promenade), Der Ring/Ringstraße (Ring Road, or part of it, along with Mere pst and others but don’t ask which), Gogoli puiestee (Gogol Avenue), Karjavärava puiestee (Cattle gate avenue), Vabaduse puiestee (Freedom avenue), Viruvärava puiestee (Viru gate avenue), and perhaps many, many others. No.11 was the Estonian Red Card HQ. After two of them, non-Communist footballers would be sent off to Siberia.
Faehlmanni F.R. (Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, 1798-1850): Founder of the “Learned Estonian Society” and originator of the Kalevipoeg idea, converting a rather malevolent giant of Estonian folklore into a king and national symbol. His 1827 doctoral thesis, “Observationes inflammationum occultiorum”, or Observations on non-visible inflammations, he wrote in Latin. Other papers, such as the page-turning “Ueber die Declination der estnischen Nomina” (a copy of which was owned by Napoleon’s linguist nephew Louis-Lucien Bonaparte, known for his almost definitive opus on Basque verbs, but I digress), upon the declination of Estonian nouns, a topic causing violent baldness in anyone approaching within three yards of it, he wrote in German and, as penance, became reader in Estonian language at the University of Tartu from 1842–1850.
Falgi (Hans Heinrich Falck, 1791-1874): Cabinet-maker, clavier manufacturer and Toompea craftsman’s guild elder, Tallinn land-owner. Collectivised (1948-1989) along with Komandandi tee under the name of Nõukogude during the days of wine and roses.
Filmi (Film): Film, cinema, movies. Although given its oleaginous neighbours, perhaps that nice insulating layer of fossil fuel that ships deposit to keep the water warm? See Bensiini. See also Nafta.
Filtri (Filter): Filter. Named after nearby water treatment plant. Given its two equally nearby cemetaries, one wonders where they obtained their activated charcoal…
Forelli (Forell): Trout. Either the Meriforell: sea trout, Salmo trutta morpha trutta; Jõeforell: brown trout, Salmo trutta morpha fario (these two are actually the same species, but whereas the former is anadromic, or spends most of its life the sea and returns to the river to spawn, the latter is essentially freshwater); or Vikerforell: rainbow or ocean trout, or steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss, renamed from Richardson’s S. gairdneri. For those tempted by logo-erotic nomenclature, the mykiss part of the name bears no relation to ichthyandric osculation, but comes from the fish’s Kamchatkan name “mykizha”, original spelling unsure, my Kamchatkan’s a little rusty.
Fulfordi Tagune Torn (Wulfard Rosendal, ?-ca. 1411): Incorrect name of Wulfordi-tagune torn. Named after Wulfard Rosendal, mayor of Åbo/Turku, Finland, in 1390, and burgher in Tallinn who later retired with his wife to Pirita convent. Money management was not a prime quality in this family: the loans he made from Tallinn council became a local soap, dragging on for years, and in 1430, his son (apparently), another Wulfard Rosendal, accused his brother-in-law, a certain Gerd or Gherhardus van der Beke, one-time Tafelbruder and keeper of the key to Eppingi Torn, of stealing his paternal inheritance, rather late on the uptake, or perhaps a third generation of WRs?
Gaasi (Gaas): Gas. See Armatuuri. See also Paneeli.
Gagarini J. (Juri Gagarin, 1934-1968): First man in space (12 April 1961). A contributing factor to his cosmonauticality was a spaceship-friendly height of 5 ft 2, or 1.57 metres. Soviet Era renaming (1961-1989) of Toompuiestee.
Gerbera (Gerbera): Gerbera, ornamental plants of the sunflower family, fifth cut flower in the world.
Gildi (Gild): Guild. Renamed (1950-1990) as Kolhoosi during the Soviet Era.
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 arriving in Estonia in the mid 17th-C. Renamed (1960-1989) as Välgu during the Soviet Era.
Gogoli N. (Nikolai Gogol, 1809–1852): One of the Ukraine's most brilliant Russian writers. Author of Deal Souls, Diary of a Madman, The Greatcoat, The Nose, The Government Inspector and, most regrettably, Taras Bulba. Soviet Era renaming (1952-1989) of Raua.
Gonsiori (Jakob Johann Gonsior, ?-1866?): Formerly (1920) split into Greater- and Lesser-Gonsiori. 19th-C Tallinn alderman and lawyer, orphanage founder and funder. Renamed (1950-1991) as Lomonossovi M. during the Soviet Era.
Graniidi (Graniit): Granite.
Grusbeke Tagune Torn (Ar(e)nd Grusbeken/Gruzebeke, 15th-C): “Behind Grusbeke’s tower”, Grusbeke said to be a wealthy burgher of Tallinn, although that didn't stop him borrowing 50 marks from Arnd Saffenberch in 1428, using his house near Oleviste as security.
Gümnaasiumi (Gümnaasium): Secondary school, high school. Name sent down (1939-1989) in favour of Kooli during the Soviet Era.
Haabersti (?): Manor house close to Tallinn centre, roughly on the site of the present-day zoo, originally named Habers, or Habris/Habres, reputedly deriving from the German Hafer, oats; street previously written Haawersti (1920), Haberscher Weg and Hawersche Straße.
Haava (Haab): Two species: Harilik Haab, Common or Trembling Aspen, Populus tremula - the trembling is due to the flat petioles allowing the slightest breeze to move the leaves and increase exposure to the sun; and Hõbepappel or Hõbehaab, White Poplar, Populus alba. Same muddle in both languages as to name, and both seem accepted, haab or pappel, and poplar or aspen.
Haaviku (Haavik): Aspen grove.
Hagudi (Hagudi (Haggud)): Birthplace of Adam Johann Ritter von (knight of) Krusenstern, Baltic German admiral and explorer leading the first Russian circumnavigation around the globe in 1803-1806. Street previously known as Viljandi (Fellin str. on the “Pharus-Plan Reval” Map of Tallinn 1918) due to location close to the old “Felliner Hauptbahnhof” (Viljandi Main Station, today Tallinn-Väike; “Felliner Bahnhof II” was near Petrooleumi and the line ran (or probably ambled) down Vesivärava.
Haigru (Haigur): Heron or Egret. Five species known to breed in Estonia: Hallhaigur, Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea; Hõbehaigur, Great Egret, Casmerodius albus; Purpurhaigur, Purple Heron, A. purpurea; Siidhaigur, Little Egret, Egretta garzetta and Ööhaigur, Black-crowned Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax. See Linnu. See also Hane.
Haldja (Haldjas): Guardian, fairy, spirit, elf, pixie. Belonging to a mythological zone which, paradoxically, exists. See also Ilmarise.
Haljas (0): Green, verdant. Usually referring to nature.
Halla (Hall): Hoarfrost. You can’t please everyone all the time, but once you get your creative juices flowing you can find some very uninspiring names. The only one they missed out is purgaa, a bitterly cold wind that brings Siberia up your trouser legs. See also Härmatise.
Halli (Hall): 1) Grey: Ootasin nii et halliks läksin, I waited so long I went grey; 2) Grey horse; 3) Covered market. See Punane. See also Kollane.
Hallikivi (Hallikivi): Grey stone, due to nearby glacial, or erratic, boulder. See also Kivi.
Hallivanamehe (Hallivanamees): Literally “grey old man”. Two possibilities paraphrased from Kivi: 1) There used to be a very sharp curve here resulting in numerous accidents. Given the abstemious nature of Estonian drivers, any mishap had to be due to Ülemiste Vanake leaping into the middle of the road (but then again he was a liquid spirit); 2) The curve, then street, where a grey-bearded old codger used to live until his house was demolished. To which I add the possibility of a mutation from hallivatimees or hallivammusemees), meaning soldier (grey-coat), or wolf (grey-coated chap).
Halu (Halg): Billet, piece of firewood, log.
Hane (Hani): Goose (also figurative, simpleton, pigeon), seven avian (and an undisclosed number of hominid) species known to nest or lose their feathers in Estonia: Hallhani aka Roohani, Greylag Goose, Anser anser; Lumehani, Snow Goose, A. caerulescens (although unsure whether this one does breed here); Lühinokk-hani, Pink-footed Goose, A. brachyrhynchus; Rabahani, Taiga Bean Goose, A. fabalis fabalis; Suur-laukhani, Greater White-fronted Goose, A. albifrons; Tundra-rabahani, Tundra Bean Goose, A. f. rossicus and Väike-laukhani, Lesser White-fronted Goose, A. erythropus. One of the two genera found in Estonia (see Lagle). See Linnu. See also Haraka.
Hange (Hang): Snowdrift, bank of snow. Aptly, next to Talve
Hansu (Possibly Käsu Hans, ? - 1715/1734): One of the earlier poets in the Estonian vernacular, author of the lament Oh! ma waene Tardo liin [or Vaene] (Oh Tartu! Poor City of Mine) in 1708, written in the middle of the Great Northern War.
Hao (Hagu): Stick, twig, small branch used for firewood, brushwood.
Haraka (Harakas): Black-billed Magpie, Pica pica. Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Hauka.
Hargi (Hark): Fork, pitchfork, prong. Part of a harvest-equipment street-name group. See also Kabli.
Hariduse (Haridus): Education, training, schooling, the Ministry of which is in this street although, with characteristic Estonian flair, its official address is Tõnismägi. Known in the mid-19th-C as Vaestepatuste, hangdog (lit. sins of the paupers), or German Armesündergasse, condemned man, since it was the quickest route from Toompea to Võllumägi, gallows hill. Later, to prevent suspicious characters skulking about, the police asked it to be closed, earning it the name Suletud, closed. And I have documents to prove I was not in Estonia then.
Harju (0): Of or corresponding to Harjumaa (county, inhabitants...) in northern Estonia. Possibly from the Finnish for ridge, harja “peak; crest of a mountain”, cf. Karelian, harja, harju “peak, crest (of a mountain); hillock, hill; sandy shoal”, and Olonets Karelian harju “heights; the top of a hill or crest of a furrow”, but cf. also Finnish harju “sandy bank or shoal” and Karelian, harja, harju “sandy shoal”. First recorded in 1339 as Platea fabrorum, smith street, continuing the tradition through the 16th-C with kannengeterstrate or tinageterstrate, can or tin founder. The building of fortifications - bastions, ravelins and counterguards - buried the street for a couple of hundred years until 1767, when cleared and re-opened as Новая ул., New street (see Vabaduse) and stayed that name till 1918. Harju tänav was the street most destroyed during the Soviet bombing of March 9th 1944.
Harjumägi (0): Harju hill.
Harjuorg (0): Harju valley.
Harjuväräva (Harjuväräv): Harju gate. During the late 15th and early 16th-C, the gate extended some 60 m from the city wall with gatehouse and portcullis, corridor or neck with machiolations, intermediate flanking towers, second neck, and barbican with drawbridge. Beyond this was another 40 m or so of wooden bridge across a moat.
Harksaba (Harksaba): Kite (bird). Lit. forktail. Two species breeding in Estonia: Must-harksaba, Black Kite, Milvus migrans and Puna-harksaba, Red Kite, M. milvus.
Harku (Harku): Small town SW of Tallinn, and Rural Municipality west of Tallinn in which direction, approximately, the street points.
Harusambla (Harusammal?): Not traced. Given its location in the middle of a field of mosses, clearly assumed to be one of them. But what? Possibly a misreading or misprint of Karusambla (but already exists), or maybe an unrecorded name for one of the broom mosses, Dicranum spp., whose stems fork (haru = branch, fork, prong). Maybe an accidental rendition of haruhärmik, Green Mountain Fringe-moss, Racomitrium fasciculare (rare in Estonia anyway). Perhaps a conflation of harilik karusammal, Great Goldilocks or Common Hair/Haircap Moss, Polytrichum commune? A bottle of Château Beau-Site, Saint-Estephe, awaits the person providing the best solution to this most distressing of conundra. Answers by email to simon :: at :: myfathusband.com. One of a group of moss-named streets. See also Karusambla.
Hattorpe Tagune Torn (Johan Hattorp?, 13th-C.): ²
Hauka (Haugas): Hawk, no species indigenous to Estonia. See Linnu. See also Hüübi.
Havi (Haug): Pike, Northern pike,
Heina (Hein): Hay. See Aru. See also Nabra.
Heinamaa (Heinamaa): Hayfield, grassland, meadow.
Heki (Hekk): 1) Hedge; 2) Fence; 3) Bullfinch or; 4) Stern (of boat). According to TT, street started life as Vaikne (1924), then in 1959, year of municipal inimicality to toponymic topicality, mutated to Sume, hazy, dim, subdued... (for those with dramatic urges, Sume on öö is Tender is the Night), and, one year later, to its present name. Given its neighbour, Salu, probably the hedge.
Helbe (Helves): Flake. In this case, being next to Hange, a snowflake. Was Suve till they discovered they already had one.
Hellemanni (?): Helleman, Holleman? Untraced.
Helme (Helmes): Bead. As in necklaces and so on.
Helmiku (Helmik): Melick, grass of the fescue family.
Herilase (Herilane): Wasp. Just next door to Lepatriinu.
Hermanni K.A. (Karl August Hermann, 1851-1909): Composer, linguist, author of the first Estonian grammar in Estonian by an Estonian, Eesti keele Grammatik (1884), romantic writer, journalist and important musical character during Estonia’s period of awakening (1850-1918). After studying comparative linguistics at Leipzig went on to learn 16 languages. His research led him to believe that Estonians were descended from ancien Sumerians. His wife is said to have sewn the first Estonian blue, black and white flag.
Herne (Hernes): Pea. This would have been the shortest entry if I hadn't said anything...
Herzeni A. (Alexander Ivanovich Herzen, 1812-1870): Russian philospoher and writer, known as the “father of Russian socialism”. Soviet Era renaming (1953-1995) of Puhangu.
Hiidtamme (Hiidtamm): Giant oak but possibly a corruption of hiietamm, sacred oak, Hiie. It is quite likely that becoming large, over human generations, gave it the sacred qualities too. See Tamme. The oldest known oak in Estonia is the Tamme-Lauri oak, in Võrumaa. About 680 years old, with a chest-height circumference of 8.25 m, it decorates the back of the 10-krooni banknote.
Hiie (Hiis): Grove, sacred grove, sacred spot in general: stone, tree, hill, spring. There seems> to a line going across the country with hiied being slightly> more common in the northern half. Both hiis and hiid share a common etymology.
Hiiela (Hiiela): Place of the sacred grove.
Hiiu (Hiiu): Of or from Hiiumaa or, more probably, the Hiiu district of Nõmme. Hiiu is also the genitive of hiid, giant, but any references to “Giantland” are due to popular etymology (i.e. completely wrong); it is more reasonably suggested that the name comes from its sacred groves, see Hiie.
Hiiu-Maleva (Hiiu-Malev): [Hiiu district (of Nõmme)] Army or Host. Which our gentlemen in grey converted (1959-1994) to Rahvamaleva during the Soviet Era.
Hiiu-Rahu (Hiiu-Rahu): [Hiiu district (of Nõmme)] Quiet, tranquility, calm, peace, truce. Soviet Era renaming (1987-1991) of Rahu.
Hiiu-Suurtüki (Hiiu-Suurtükk): [Hiiu district (of Nõmme)] Cannon. Big gun. Follow me on this one… For years, this street lived as blameless an existence a thoroughfare called Cannon could live. Then came the annus mirabilis of Tallinn toponymy when, one warm 2nd July 1987, a wave of counter-revolution took to the streets and reclaimed its own: in the municipal zeal to delete the memory of communist nasties, the old-town streetname Käsperti J. reverted to its original of Suurtüki. But this caused problems here in Nõmme where another Suurtüki existed already. To solve matters, this was cropped to Tüki. Now, if Suurtükk is a cannon, maybe Tükk is just a can. Actually, it means “piece”, “bit”, “lump” or “fragment”. With a bit of leeway, the “piece” might also be a piece of weaponry. Perhaps too, historically, it was (cf. French pièce légère, light gun, pièce de bord, naval gun, etc., etc.). Either way, calling a respectable street “lump of mud road” may well have displeased the residents, so on December 4th it switched back to its former name, with the Hiiu- modifier (Hargtäiendit) appended in front. Quite enough done.
Hinke (0): Various interpretation along the same lines: said to be named after a 14th-C municipal servant, either lackey, stable-boy, footman, valet, etc., called Hinke or Hindrik.
Hirve (Hirv): Deer, stag, hart. Native to Estonia is the Punahirv, Red deer, Cervus elaphus. Previously Trammi, tram. One of Pääskula’s woodland mammal group. See also Ilvese.
Hobujaama (Hobu(se)(posti)jaam): Stage, posting-stage. Hmm. Apparently known as Hermapöllsche Gasse or Hermapõllu sometime in the late 16th-C, and later (1885) known as Jaama, station, with two different versions as to origin (both from TT): 1) a certain punter called Heinrich Wagner had his posting stage, hobupostijaam, at No.11 Narva; and 2) towards the Ahtri end of the street, then known as Siimuni, were the Sadamaraudtee (harbour railway) freight yard and offices. TT suggests the first explanation is less likely. In addition, No.11 is on the corner of Jõe, 330 m from Hobujaama (although, interestingly, still a communications hub, with a helipad on the roof of Sampopank, blanked out on Google Earth but visible on the Maaamet website). Later (1907-1958), the street vacillated between Jaama, Stationsgasse/straße, Станціонная ул, all meaning essentially the same thing but tending more towards "railway station" due to proximity to the Felliner Bahnhof II (see Hagudi). The 1958 change to its current name may well reflect a local Arcadian wistfulness during the dull grey years, but slightly freer, post-Stalin.
Hoburaua (Hobu(se)raud): Horseshoe.
Hobusepea (Hobusepea): Horse’s head. Since one of the street’s 15th-C residents was Hans Hannemann, a horse trader, it became known as Perdekoper (horse-buyer, -trader, cf. Middle Low German köpen, to trade, and Mod. German kaufen, to buy). However the kop part of the word was thought to be the German Kopf, head, and the rest is history. But not quite, the communists’ desire to eliminate any sign of individual leadership, removed the head and converted a once noble steed into a ordinary nag. Also known in medieval times as, among others, klene strate, alse men to den süstern geit / parva, quod itur ad moniales (little street through which you go to get to the “sisters”). Today, you reach Lai, which used to be Nunne.
Hommiku (Hommik): Morning. From 1940-1941, named Haki, either jackdaw, chopper (as in knife), or stack (as in stook)… Your guess is as good as mine…
Hoo (Hoog): Momentum, impetus, swing, bout, attack, seizure, dash, verve... - hiigla hooga, quite an evocative way of saying “impetuously”.
Hooldekodu (Hooldekodu): Nursing-home.
Hospidali (Hospidal): Hospital, infirmary. This sweet little street existed quite happily as it was until, one day, somebody noticed it was - shock, horror (crashing chords, minor key) - grammatically incorrect. The “d” should have been “t” and, mutatis mutando, mutato nomine, it metanominosed into Hospitali. But they had not taken vox populi (or rather vox inquilinae) into account: the locals trashed it and kept on saying “d”. The Street-name Commisssion folded.
Humala (Humal): Hop, hop-plant. Village in Harku.
Hundipea (Hundipea): Wolf’s head. Another Soviet decapitation (See also Hobusepea): let it be named Lume, snow (1958-1991). Why?
Hunditubaka (Hunditubakas): Hawkweed, lit. Wolf’s tobacco. Hieracium spp., genus of the Asteraceae family, 2nd largest family of flowers.
Hõbeda (Hõbe): Silver. A quintessentially metallic quarter of Tallinn… See also Pronksi.
Hõbekuuse (Hõbekuusk): Silver spruce. Picea pungens f. argentea, cultivar of the Blue Colorado spruce, Picea pungens f. glauca.
Hõberebase (Hõberebane): Silver fox, Vulpes vulpes. Next door to Sinirebase.
Hõimu (Hõim): Tribe, kith knd kin, relative, clan. Estonians cannot effusively be described as the most extrovert or other-person-oriented nation on earth (and how do you tell an Estonian extrovert? It's the one looking at your shoes). As macadam evidence of this: only three family type street names in the whole of Tallinn. Along with Sõbra, and Lemmiku, this is the closest they get to relational intimacy and, without any intersection at all, a very rigid ménage à trois it is too. Being the first country in the world to succeed in avoiding social intercourse during elections by e-voting, one wonders how they reproduce. See Vaari.
Hälli (Häll): Cradle, cot. Possibly a suspended version with an upper and lower wooden frame supporting a cloth surround which would swing gently if baby kicked around enough.
Hämar (Hämar): Dusky, crepuscular, nebulous, vague, shadowy, yay, if not dingy.
Hämariku (Hämarik): Dusk, nightfall, the personification of dusk.
Härgmäe (Härgmäe): Ergeme (Estonianised into “hill of the ox/bullock/Ursa Major/great bear”) in northern Latvia, site of a battle where Ivan the Terrible’s army decisively defeated the Livonian Order on 2nd August 1560, leading eventually to its dissolution.
Härjapea (Härjapea): Ox-head, name of river that used to flow through Tallinn from Ülemiste Lake, converted into sewage canal in 1937 (see Jõe).
Härma M. (Miina Härma (Hermann), 1864-1941): Music teacher, organist, prolific composer (over 200 choral songs, 10 cavatinas, a canto, “Kalev and Linda” and more), choral and orchestral conductor. Received initial musical education from Hermann (no relation).
Härmatise (Härmatis): Frost, hoarfrost, rime. See Halla. See also Külma.
Hüübi (Hüüp): Bittern. At last, we have a generic that’s also a specific: Hüüp is the Great Bittern (not to be confused with Great Britain), Botaurus stellaris and its smaller cousin is the Väikehüüp, Little Bittern (not to be confused with NW France), Ixobrychus minutus. Both breeding in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Kaarna.
Ida (Ida): East, eastern, easterly. Also oost or ost among sailors. See Kagu.
Idakaare (Idakaar): East, eastern point/quarter on the horizon. See Läänekaare.
Ilmarise (Ilmarine): Mythological gentleman: god of fire, weather (ilm = weather) and smithing. However, this raises an interesting point. The genitive of ilm is ilma and this is associated more with earth, the world: ilmale tooma means to give birth, to bring into the world; ilmaelu means life, existence. Given the importance of the genitive in declining Estonian words, perhaps this tense was the original word or name. Apart from Tallinn and other conglomerations (Pelgulinn) ending in -linn, all towns in Estonia are named using the genitive, and this makes sense. The descriptor is of something, the word is not the object itself. Incidentally, the neighbouring Old Novgorod dialect had a nominoaccusative case, in the feminine plural at least. Interestingly, a major lake 6 km north of Novgorod is called Ilmen (Rus. Ильмень). See Haldja. See also Taara.
Ilo (Ilo): 1) Name of literary magazine published in the 1920s; 2) Person’s first name; 3) Alternative spelling of ilu, beauty.
Ilvese (Ilves): Lynx, wildcat. Native to Estonia is the Harilik ilves, Eurasian lynx, Lynx lynx. See Hirve. See also Kärbi.
Imanta (Imanta): Apparently an erroneous transcription of Ymaut (Latvian), or Himmot or Himotu (Livonian), the soldier who killed the newly appointed bishop of Ikšķile (Ükskül meaning “a/one village” [or, possibly, “village No.1”] in Livonian, [cf. German, Üxküll or Uexküll] in present-day Latvia), Cisterian Bishop Berthold of Hanover, on his bolting horse during the Livonian Crusade in 1198. Name of Estonian choral society founded in Riga, 1880.
Inseneri (Insener): Engineer. Named after the Insenerimaja, Engineers’ House, at the end of the street (Uus 10).
Invaliidi (Invaliid): Invalid, cripple, disabled serviceman. After the barracks for disabled servicemen, later converted into a dispensary for the prevention of tuberculosis.
Iru (Iru): 1) Hill some 8 km east of modern-day Talllin; 2) Rocky pillar on Iru Hill itself into which Linda - Kalevipoeg’s mother, having been abducted and possibly raped by a Finnish sorcerer - was turned (a boulder, known variously as the Old Woman of Iru, or Iru’s Stepmother, was broken up and used in building a Russian military airfield during WWI); 3) Site of a pre-Bronze age (±3000 BP) Corded-ware settlement in the Tallinn area.
Irusilla (Irusild): Iru bridge.
Islandi (Island): Iceland, known for its fishing and other banks.
Iva (Iva): Grain, corn, morsel - Ma ei ole täna iva hamba alla saanud: I haven’t had a bite to eat all day.
Jaagu (Jaak): One of the most popular names in Estonia from 17-19th-C, often qualified: Karjajaak Cow(boy?) Jack; Mustajaak Black Jack, Gypsy Jack; etc. Apparently, name of former local farm/farming-family. Farm group. See also Kotlepi.
Jaama (Jaam): Station, depot, terminus. If a train station is somewhere a train stops, what then is a workstation?
Jaaniku (Jaanik): St. John’s Eve, Midsummer Eve bonfire and festivities (23rd June).
Jaanilille (Jaanilill): Best known as one of the names for Pääsusilm, Bird’s-eye Primrose, but also an alternative name for a number of plants: Harilik härghein, known as Natt och Dag in Sweden or Night and Day, Melampyrum nemorosum; Keskmine ristik, Zigzag Clover, Trifolium medium (see Ristiku); Liht-naistepuna, Common St John’s Wort or Tipton’s Weed, Hypericum perforatum (see Naistepuna); Pääsusilm, Äiatar, Field Scabious (but see Tähtpea and ), Knautia arvensis.
Jahe (Jahe): Cool, chilly, parky.
Jahimehe (Jahimees): Hunter, huntsman, gunner. Job-centre street-name group. See also Kalamehe.
Jahu (Jahu): Flour, meal. Ater the military flour stores.
Jakobi (Jakob?): Aka Jaagupi. Suggested as named (in 1882) after local house-owner/landlord and ex-serviceman Mart Jakob.
Jakobsoni C.R. (Carl Robert Jakobson, 1841-1882): Writer and teacher. One of the important persons in Estonian national awakening and founder of Sakala newspaper. Depicted on the 500-crown banknotes where, interestingly, his beard seems to improve with each printing. Prior to 1923, known as Vladimiri tn in honour of a visit to Tallinn in 1886 paid by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, uncle of Tsar Nicholas II, replacing the previous name of Uus-Slobodi, derived ultimately from “Russian village”. Be this as it may, the “Pharus-Plan Reval” street map of Tallinn 1918 gives Jakobson S[tr]..
Jalaka (Jalakas): Elm. Harilik jalakas, Wych Elm or Scots Elm, Ulmus glabra.
Jannseni J.V. (Johann Voldemar Jannsen, 1819–1890): Father of Lydia Koidula, publisher of first Estonian newspaper, Postimees (Postman), conductor and chairman of the Vanemuine male choir, and co-organiser (with Jakobson) of the first Estonian Song Festival in Tartu, June 18-20 1869.
Jasmiini (Jasmiin): Jasmine, Jasminum spp., from Persian yasmin, “gift of God”. National flower of Pakistan.
Joa (Juga): Waterfall, cascade. Referring to the 3.8-m high Hundikuristiku cascade in Kadrioru.
Joone (Joon): Line, stripe. Even geometricians get to name their streets. See also Looga.
Jugapuu (Jugapuu): Common or European Yew, Taxus baccata. The word “yew” comes from a proto-Germanic word Eiwaz or Eihaz, which also gave Anglo-Saxon îw, French if, Welsh ywen, German Eibe, Latvian īve, etc. A literal translation of the name would be “waterfall tree”, but since it doesn’t seem to need or tend to grow by waterfalls (Joa), the juga may well be a loan word. The Latvian connection is interesting: although both Latvian and Estonian may have lifted it from German, Latvian may also have inherited it from a Proto-Indo-European Baltic language, and Estonian acquired it from one or the other as a loan. Being Europe’s longest-living tree, 2000 years or more, and probably due to its extremely poisonous (mainly taxane, now used in chemotherapy) seeds in its “berries” or arils, the yew tree is often associated with dark forces, cemetaries and so on, even Voldemort’s wand is made of yew. Said, too, to be Estonia’s most beautiful tree.
Juhkentali (Juhkental): Corruption of Joachimsthal (Joachim’s valley, Estonian Joaorg), a secondary manor house on the Joala estate. Renamed (1974-1990) as Liivalaia during the Soviet Era.
Juhtme (Juhe): Lead, wire, conductor. Part of a six-street electrical-engineer’s fantasia. See also Kaabli.
Jumika (Jumikas): Knapweed, Centaurea spp. thistle-like plants in the Asteraceae family. Other names include Starthistles, Centaureas and, for some species, Cornflower. Sometimes used too, Centaury would be better reserved for the Centaurium genus (no relation).
Juurdeveo (Juurdevedu): Conveyance, transport, supply. Street leads to the Tallinn-Väike station.
Jõe (Jõgi): River, the river in question being the Härjapea which went though the standard slippery slope of many an urban river, with names to-ing and fro-ing between river and canal according to mindset of the day:Canalstraße (1881, first record), Härjapea-jõe tn, Alam-Jõe tn (lower river), Bachstraße (stream), Kanalstraße, Канальная ул (canal). In the mid thirties, mains were laid, the water was diverted, and the bed filled in. The Soviet Era saw a major change, switching (1974-1990), along with Pronksi and Liivalaia (1944-1972), to Kingissepa V.. Present name dates to 1990.
Jõekalda (Jõekallas): Riverbank, riverside.
Jõeküla (Jõeküla): River village, riverside village.
Jõeoti (Jõeott): River bear. Along with Räime, street renaming a section of Tiskre in 1995.
Jõhvika (Jõhvikas): Cranberry, mossberry, probably harilik jõhvikas, Common or Northern Cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccos i Oxycoccus palustris. Mini group of berry streets near the Liiva Kalmistu (Liiva cemetary), probably calcium-rich. See also Karusmarja.
Järve (Järve): Lake. Järv may possibly be derived from a Baltic loan-word *jarva (Lithuanian jura, Latvian jūr and Prussian iuriay all meaning sea).
Järvekalda (Järvekallas): Lakeside.
Järveotsa (Järveots): Lake’s end.
Järvevana (Järvevana): Old man of the lake, another nickname for Ülemiste Vanake, a mythological character living in lake Ülemiste.
Jääraku (Jäärak): Ravine.
Jüriöö (Jüriöö): After Jüriöö ülestõus, the St. George’s Night Uprising of Estonians against the Teutonic knight invaders starting 23rd April 1343. Soviet Era renaming (1982-1994) of Seli.
Kaabli (Kaabel): Cable. See Juhtme. See also Lambi.
Kaali (Kaal(ikas)): Name of a field of nine craters on Saaremaa caused by a meteorite probably around 7500-7600 BCE. As it slowed down in the atmosphere to an impact speed of some 10-20 km/s, breaking into pieces as it did so, the largest left a hole 110 m diameter and 22 m deep. Understandably, even its mythology has its own mythology. Actually, swede, turnip, rape, rutabaga: street shouldn't be here anyway, belongs to the Laagri fruit an' veg section along with Tomati, Selleri, et al..
Kaare (Kaar): Arc, curve, bow, bend, swath, compass point.
Kaarla (Kaarel): Alternative name for Rabamurakas, Cloudberry or Bakeapple in the US, Knotberry or Knoutberry in the UK, Rubus chamaemorus. See Murakas.
Kaarlepere (?): Karl (Charles) family farm, family, household. Probably former farm name.
Kaarli (Kaarel): [Name of both church and road] Charles, most likely Swedish king Karl XI who had its wooden ancestor built in 1670. The spot on which it stands is believed to have been a Hiis (Hiie) since at least the middle ages. Present church consecrated in 1870. Mid-life crisis (1950-1989) as Suvorovi A. during the Soviet Era.
Kaarna (Kaaren): Aka Ronga, the Common raven, Corvus corax. Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Kajaka.
Kaasiku (Kaasik): 1) Birch wood, birch forest, birch grove; 2) Singer of old folk songs at weddings (archaic).
Kabli (Kabli): Hoe, mattock. See Hargi. See also Kilde.
Kadaka (Kadakas): More properly known as Harilik kadakas, Common juniper, Juniperus communis. Its berries are used for flavouring as any gin drinker would know. Juniper, in French is genièvre, genever.
Kadri (Kadri): Street in Kadrioru park. Either a diminutive of the honorable Tsarina or another Catherine altogether: Kate, “Katie” - Kadriks käima (to go “Katieing”), when “kadrisants” dress up in light-coloured women’s clothes (both men and women) and go from door to door asking gifts (of food, wool, etc.) in exchange for songs and good wishes on St Catherine’s day, Nov. 24th. The cult of St Catherine (martyred on the famous wheel), supposedly of 4th-C Alexandria (no evidence she even existed), started in the 9th C and was banned by the Holy See in 1969.
Kadrioru (Kadriorg): Catherine’s valley, after the lady who began life as Martha Skavronskaya, 1683/84(?)-1727, daughter of a Lithuanian peasant, adopted by Glück, the Lutheran pastor who translated the Bible into Latvian, was pressed into becoming laundress to the Russian army, became mistress first to Prince Menshikov then to Peter the Great whom she later married, becoming Catherine I, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias (no relation to Catherine the Great). Interestingly, this is one of the few sub-districts named in the nominative, Kadriorg, perhaps because it actually is a valley, leading from the giddy heights of Mäekalda (ca. 7 metres above sea level) to the depths of Luigetiik (Swan pond) which, having not yet fallen in, I cannot say how deep.
Kaera (Kaer): Oat. Part of what Kivi calls the kõrsviljanimeliste tänavate piirkond or hulk or rajoon (the cereal-names street zone / cohort, region). See also Kõrre.
Kaeravälja (Kaeraväli): Oatfield.
Kaevu (Kaev): Well - Vanasse kaevu ei või sülitada enne kui veel uut valmis ei ole: don’t spit in your old well until your new one’s dug.
Kaevuri (Kaevur): Miner, digger.
Kagu (Kagu): South-east, south-eastern, south-easterly. Also süüdoost or süüdost among sailors. See Lõuna.
Kaheküla (Kaheküla): Double village.
Kahlu (Kahl): Tuft, bunch, truss, group, flock. See Kuhja.
Kahu (Kahk): Slight rustle, whisper. Runs parallel to the slightly noisier Pikri. For those fascinated with words describing obscure sounds, try this: rahin - sound made by partially-frozen water rubbing against the side of a boat. Renamed (1979-1994], along with Lummu, as Pusta A. during the Soviet Era.
Kahva (Kahv): Landing-net, net for catching fish or crayfish (although some say its handle or haft too). Also means pale or pallid. See Abara. See also Kaladi.
Kai (Kai): Quay, wharf.
Kailu (Kail): Ledum, march tea. Formerly considered the Ledum genus, now considered a Rhododendron. Used for “tea”.
Kaisla (Kaisel): Club-rush or Bulrush, Schoenoplectus probably lacustris, a type of sedge.
Kaitse (Kaitse): Protection, defence.
Kaja (Kaja): Echo.
Kajaka (Kajakas): Tallinn: cold, wet and fishy coastal harbour town… that means seagulls, kittiwakes, gulls and mews. As they say in Pöide: Narri küll meest, ära narri mehe kübärät, Laugh at the man, not at his hat… Breeding in Estonia are Harksaba-kajakas, Sabine’s Gull, Larus sabini; Hõbekajakas, Herring Gull, L. argentatus; Jääkajakas, Glaucous Gull, L. hyperboreus; Kalakajakas, Mew Gull, L. canus; Kaljukajakas, Black-legged Kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla; Karbuskajakas aka Mustpea-kajakas, Mediterranean Gull, L. melanocephalus; Koldjalg-hõbekajakas, Caspian Gull, L. cachinnans; Lõuna-hõbekajakas, Yellow-legged Gull, L. michahellis (not a spelling mistake for michaellis, named after Bavarian zoologist Karl Michahelles (1807–1834); Merikajakas, Great Black-backed Gull, L. marinus; Naerukajakas, Black-headed Gull, L. ridibundus; Polaarkajakas, Iceland Gull, L. glaucoides; Roosakajakas, Ross’s Gull, Rhodostethia rosea; Tõmmukajakas, Lesser Black-backed Gull, L. fuscus; Vandelkajakas, Ivory Gull, Pagophila eburnea and Väikekajakas, Little Gull, L. minutus. See Linnu. See also Kauri.
Kakumäe (Kakumäe): Reads like loaf/bannock or owl hill, but probably Estonianisation of Kackemaye, although other records show Kakomiag. Named after a peninsula (poolsaar), cape (neem), spit (nina), and bar (leetselg, sandbank not bottlebank) in NW Tallinn.
Kaladi (Kaladi): Gauge: slat of wood or bone used to ensure regular mesh-size in net-making. See Abara. See also Kessi.
Kalamaja (Kalamaja): Fisherman’s hut, name of a one-time fishing village, along with the three ages of man: Uus-Kalamaja (new, but let’s say “young” for poetic licence), Kesk- (middle-aged), and Vana- (Old). Records date back to 1374.
Kalamehe (Kalamees): Fisherman, angler. See Jahimehe. See also Meremehe.
Kalaranna (Kalarand): Fishing-beach. With a fine view of the sea, until they built a prison (no longer used) in front of it.
Kalasadama (Kalasadam): Fish harbour, fish port.
Kalavälja (Kalaväli): Fishfield? Perhaps a place where fish were laid out to dry, or a spot where shoals could be seen from land? Road close to the cliffs on Aegna island. See also Karnapi.
Kalda (Kallas): Shore, bank, riverside, etc.
Kalevala (Kalevala): Finnish epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century, sharing several features with (or lending to) Estonia’s Kalevipoeg. The “Kalev” part of the name (lit. “fishing”) seems clearly related to the proto Finno-Ugric *kala, fish (cf. Estonian & Finnish kala, Hungarian hal, Sami guöllé) and even Altaic (Tungusic: kul, salmon; Khalka Mongolian: xalim, whale). Clearly a very old word.
Kalevi (Kalev): Estonia’s epic hero of uncertain identity, the same name being used to describe the man and his son. Kalev stories pre-date the separation of Finns and Estonians. Possibly also an early name of Tallinn: the Eastern Slavs knew it as Kolyvan, and 12th-C Arab cartographer Al Idrisi (أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي), descendent of Muhammed, included a town called Qlwny. See Kalevipoja.
Kalevipoja (Kalevipoeg): Title and huge eponymous hero of Kreutzwald's mammoth poem, said by many to trigger the sense of (Romantic) nationalism in Estonia, by others vice versa. Readers curious as to the mechanical issues facing gigantism should read the paper by Henn Voolaid.
Kalinini M. (Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin, 1875-1946): Bolshevik revolutionary and head of state of the Soviet Union from 1919 to 1946. Married to Estonian Katarina Loоrberg, a “counterrevolutionary Trotskyist” (1938 “confession”, released from camp 1945). The former Kalinin District of Tallinn covered roughly the present-day districts of Põhja-Tallinn and Haabersti. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990) of Kopli.
Kaljase (Kaljas): Schooner.
Kalju (Kalju): Rock, boulder.
Kallaku (Kallak): Incline, slope, rake (of theatre stage, i.e. the floor, not the lady-killer of stars and starers). First known as Douglase (Duglase (1920) after the infamous Swedish mercenary Count Gustaf Otto Douglas (1687-1771), Governor of Estonia (1738-1740) and responsible for extensive burning and brutality in Finland during the Great Northern War. Also Soviet Era renaming (1948-1989) of Piiskopi.
Kallaste (Kairi Kallaste, 1932-2008): Famous circus performer: ventriloquist, tightrope walker and, according to some, striptease artiste.
Kalmistu (Kalmistu): Cemetery, graveyard, burual ground, churchyard.
Kalmuse (Kalmus): Calamus, sweet flag, Acorus calamus, being sterile, it’s probably a human-cultivated plant.
Kaluri (Kalur): Fisherman. Named after nearby fishermen’s kolkhoz.
Kammelja (Kammeljas): Not the “camellias” I was expecting: turbot, Psetta maxima. Beware when buying flowers, kameelia BTW. See Ahvena. See also Kilu.
Kanali (Kanal): Canal, watercourse, duct. Close to the canal linking Ülemiste lake and Pirita river.
Kanarbiku (Kanarbik): Common Heather, Heather, Ling, Heath, Brier (decreasing order of correct usage), Calluna vulgaris. The generic name Calluna comes from the Greek, to sweep, since it used to be used in broom-making.
Kandle (Kannel): Estonian zither, with strings of horsehair (usu. 4) or metal (usu. 7). Exquisite to listen to. Given its neighbours - Laulu, Vanemuise, etc. - perhaps attempting to associate the instrument with the mythical birth of Estonia.
Kanepi (Kanep): Hemp. Also Rural Municipality in Võrumaa. See Sitsi. See also Lina.
Kangelaste (Kangelased [pl.]): Heroes, one suspects, of the Soviet Revolution… Soviet Era renaming (1979-1995) of Saarepiiga puiestee.
Kangru (Kangur): 1) Weaver, name derived from the nearby Balti Manufaktuuris textile plant (now Baltex 2000). Another translation is Heap of granite. Althought the “heap of granite” belies yet another reality. A kangur is also a Bronze age (8th- to 7th-C BCE) burial ground, stone barrow or cairn-grave, where the dead were laid, head facing north, eyes towards the sun. There is a large burial site in Rebala, Jõelähtme, some 20 km east of Tallinn town centre. Five villages are also called Kangru in Estonia).
Kannikese (Kannikene): Violet or Pansy, Viola spp.. Kannikene is the diminutive of Kannike (violet, pansy) which is the diminutive of Kann, flower. The Estonians like diminutives. See Lille. See also Kibuvitsa.
Kannustiiva (Kannustiib): Two sorts, the jalaka-kannustiib, the white letter hairstreak, Strymonidia w-album; and toominga-kannustiib, the black hairstreak butterfly, S. pruni. Part of a swarm of butterflies in the Lepiku disrtrict. Why are their young called caterpillars and not buttermaggots? (Actually, the word comes from Old French: chatepelose, hairy cat, later modified by verb piller, to pillage, plunder, reflected in the Estonian name: röövik, plunderer, robber, etc.). See also Kedriku.
Kantsi (Kants): Citadel, stronghold, bulwark, tower. Named after former military training facilities.
Kanuti (Kanut): Confusion in the Danish House of Knut (Canute). Canute’s Guild, Kanuti Gild, was a Hanseatic merchant guild involving the more complex crafts: mainly goldsmiths, watchmakers, milliners, but also bakers, shoemakers and painters. First recorded 1326, probably founded 13th-C, disbanded 1920. Name comes from Knut Lavard (1090ish-1131), Duke of Schleswig and sovereign over the Western Wends, canonised 1171, feast day January 7, the day on which he was assassinated. Knut Lavard was nephew of Knut IV (1043ish-1086), aka Canute the Saint / the Holy, great-nephew of Knut the Great (985ish-1035). Knut IV’s official Catholic feast-day is January 19, but celebrated on January 13 in Estonia, Sweden and Finland, apparently for his decreeing that Christmas last 20 days. Since both were saints, both were nephews of a King Knud, both had feast days in January, confusion seems inevitable. Some of the more fervent Estonians still celebrate Canute’s day, Nuudipäev, (any date ranging from January 13 to January 7) by drinking.
Kapi A. (Artur Kapp, 1878-1952): Composer and organ virtuoso, born in Suure-Jaani (Big John’s), one-time director of the Astrakhan Music School and leader of the Estonian Academic Society of Music Artists.
Kappeli J. (Johannes Kappel, 1855-1907): Composer, studied at St-Petersburg Conservatory and remained in Russia.
Kari (Kari): Reef, rocky islet, shelf. Renamed (1953-1995], along with Sitsi, as Majakovski V. during the Soviet Era.
Karjamaa (Karjamaa): Pasture, grazing-land.
Karjavärava (Karjavärav): Cattle gate, in the sense of passage into a city, not the former Nordic sense of “way”, “street” (cf. Swedish gata), as in Fisher gate or Carter gate in Nottingham, UK, etc.
Karl Marxi (Karl Marx): Capitalist writer. Three stars on Amazon.com. Soviet Era renaming (1968-1990) of Sõle.
Karnapi (?): Area on the southern rim of Aegna island, bordering Karnepi kõrgendik, or Karnep Heights. See also Kurikneeme.
Karsti (Karst): Karst.
Karu (Karu): Bear.
Karukella (Karukell): Lit. bear bell. Small pasqueflower, Pulsatilla spp.. Likes limestone which, for a flower in Estonia, is a no-brainer. Also grows in my garden. Not to be confused with Karukeel, lit. bear tongue, Anchusa arvensis, the bugloss, a weed. Also grows in my garden. Bugger.
Karusambla (Karusammal): Hair cap moss, Polytrichum spp.. See Harusambla. See also Karuvildiku.
Karuse (Karune): Hairy, shaggy.
Karusmarja (Karusmari): Gooseberry. See Jõhvika. See also Kuremarja.
Karuvildiku (Karuvildik): Not quite sure. Lit. “felt boot made from bear fur”. Given its company, reasonable to assume it might be (intended as?) the name of a moss, although a reasonably thorough search finds no mention of the name. See Harusambla. See also Käolina.
Kase (Kask): Birch, Birch-tree. Various species: Arukaskede; Madal kask, aka Marokõiv (see Kase) or Kassi pässad (“cat’s thumbs” perhaps); Vaevakask, Betula nana; and the Sookaskede.
Kaskede (Kased [pl.]): Birches, birch-trees.
Kassi (Kass): Cat.
Kassikäpa (Kassikäpp): Catsfoot, Cat’s-ear or, as I’m led to believe, Pussytoes, Antennaria spp.. It’s a herbaceous perennial - gardeners will know what that is, although I’m damned if I do.
Kassisaba (Kassisaba): Lit. cat’s tail. Spiked speedwell, Veronica spicata, beautiful blue flower, one of the Veronicas (see also Mailase). Likes dry, calcareous , mountainous zones so what it’s doing here I don’t know. Slum area in the late-19th-C.
Kastani (Kastan): Chestnut.
Kaste (Kaste): Dew, sauce.
Kasteheina (Kastehein): Bent, Agrostis spp., a grass, but not, despite the reiteration of seemingly unseemly language, the criminally-inclined informer…
Kastevarre (Kastevars): Hair grass.
Kastiku (Kastik): Named but not yet built so not sure whether a small reed or a vaulting-box.
Kasvu (Kasv): Growth, increase, height, stature.
Katariina (Katariina): Catherine.
Katoliku (indeclinable): Catholic.
Katusepapi (Katusepapp): Roofing felt, tar paper. Named after the factory procucing same in 19th-C: Tallinna Katusepapivabriku.
Kauba (Kaup): Goods, wares, merchandise. Germanic loanword, German Kauf or Swedish köp. Same root gives Denmark's København or Copenhagen, trading port dating back to at least 11th-C, earliest recorded name: Køpmannæhafn Traders'/Merchants' harbour
Kaubamaja (Kaubamaja): Department store, lit. “purchase house”. Renamed (?-1991], along with Rävala [1950-1991], as Lenini during the Soviet Era.
Kauge (Kauge): Far, far off, distant, remote.
Kauka (Kaugas): Shirt pocket, pouch. Renamed (1959-1991) as Vakmanni R. during the Soviet Era.
Kauna (Kaun): Pod, hull, legume.
Kaunis (Kaunis): Beautiful, lovely, pretty.
Kaupmehe (Kaupmees): Merchant, trader. Renamed (1959-1990) as Pöögelmanni H. during the Soviet Era.
Kauri (Kaur): Loons. One of the mysteries of modern-day life: I, British-born, never heard any name but “loon”, although it seems to be the American name while Europeans say “diver”... Four species breeding in Estonia: Järvekaur, Black-throated Diver or Arctic Loon, Gavia arctica; Jääkaur, Great Northern Diver or Common Loon, G. immer; Punakurk-kaur, Red-throated Diver (Eur. Name) or Red-throated Loon (US name), G. stellata and ;Tundrakaur, White- or Yellow-billed Diver (bill colour debated, more likely yellow here), G. adamsii. See Linnu. See also Kiuru.
Keava (Keava): Hamlet close to Kehtna in Raplamaa, street appropriately located at the end of Rapla. Perhaps a homesick builder somewhere?...
Kedriku (Kedrik): Moth of the Lasiocampid family, aka eggars or snout moths. Common to Estonia are Lehekedrik, the Lappet, Gastropacha quercifolia; Männikedrik, the Pine-tree Lappet, Dendrolimus pini; Rohukedrik, the Drinker, Euthrix potatoria; and Aia-rõngakedrik, disrespectfully known as The Lackey, Malacosoma neustria, as well as its lowlier cousin Niidu-rõngakedrik, the Ground Lackey, M. castrense, rare in Estonia, other than Saaremaa. See Kannustiiva. See also Kirilase.
Keemia (Keemia): Chemistry.
Keeru (Keerd): Lay, turn, coil. Also used in yarn manufacture for the direction of twist, e.g. s-keerd or z-keerd S- or Z-twist, usually measured in tpi, or twists per inch. The twist being needed to hold the fibres together. Two-ply yarns will tend to use one of each.
Keevise (Keevis): Weld (possibly a butt weld). Part of a mini iron-working group of streets behind Ülemiste shopping centre, helpful if your spouse loses a horseshoe. See also Lõõtsa.
Keldrimäe (Keldrimägi): Cellar hill, named after a large concrete cellar in the neighbourhood. Known formerly as Israelgasse (1893) plus variants Iisraeli (1921), Израильская ул (1907), but mainly Israeli tn (1885-1954), then Turu (1954-1991) during the Soviet Era. The first Jews to arrive in Estonia are believed to have come with the Teutonic knights. Jewish streets/quarters have been a typical feature of European towns since at least the 10th-C, with names like "Old Jewry", "rue de la Juiverie" (France). The word ghetto comes from the Venetian dialect, gheta, after the 14th- to 15th-C foundry area where Jews were required to live.
Kelluka (Kellukas): Campanula spp.>/i>, bellflower, with dozens of varieties: kerakellukas, clustered harebell; ümaralehine kellukas, harebell; kurekellukas, creeping bellflower; etc.. See also Lehise.
Kelmiküla (Kelmiküla): Rogue’s village, scampstown (a slum in the late 19th-C). Also name of story by Kitzbergi A. about life in Viljandi (see Viljandi).
Kentmanni (Wilhelm Gottfried Kentmann, ca.1800-ca.1874): Pedagogue and headmaster of a school for poor children (Luthers Armenschule, funded by Christian Luther) from 1830-1874 (attended, among others, by Bornhöhe E. and Vilde E.). The street was also known for a short period (1939-1940) after Konstantin Päts, 1st President of the Republic of Estonia (died while resting at a Soviet psychiatric hospital, 1956), followed by Kreuksi J. during the Soviet Era (1940-1989), with a brief, few-day interlude in 1942, after Hermann Göring.
Kerese P. (Paul Keres, 1916-1975): Estonian Chess-Master, for some, “the Paganini of chess”, for Spassky the “Pope of chess”, for others, a face on a 5-krooni note.
Kesk (attributive): Centre, middle.
Kesk-Ameerika (Kesk-Ameerika): [Mid, Betwixt or Between] America. Give or take a metre or two, connects Suur-Ameerika and Väike-Ameerika. Renamed (1959-1991), apparently bizarrely (but actually fitting into a “skyscape” group), as Kuu during the Soviet Era.
Keskküla (Keskküla): Mid-village, middle of the village, also name of (now) ruined manor house in Läänemaa county.
Kesklinn (0): Town centre.
Kesktee (Kesktee): The kuldne kesktee is the golden mean, but this one's slightly more concrete and paving slabs, so just "middle road" and, at a push, happy medium.
Keskuse (Keskus): Centre. But given the naming of Viru Keskus, Kristiine Keskus, Järve Keskus and so on, perhaps “mall”.
Kessi (Kess): Net bag (bag for putting nets in), backpack, pouch, wallet or basket made from birch bark or bast. Cf. Hungarian kász-u is “a little container or pot made of bark”; both perhaps related to Etruscan cesu, piece, trunk. See Abara. See also Käba.
Ketraja (Ketraja): Spinner, as well as the operator, spinster. But also dialectical name for the European Nightjar, öösorr, Caprimulgus europaeus.
Ketta (Ketas): Disk, discus, puck. Kettamaailm is Discworld, and kõvaketas is hard disk.
Kevade (Kevad): Spring (season). Also title of first volume of classic Estonian film trilogy - Kevade, Suve & Sügis (buy them, they’ve got English subtitles). Note the genitive for the first and nominative for the others… Estonian is bizarre.
Kibuvitsa (Kibuvits): Dog rose, Rosa canina. Its hips contain high levels of vitamin C. Name said to date back to ±18th-C when used to treat bites from rabid dogs. See Lille. See also Kullerkupu.
Kiek in de Kök (0): Usually translated as “peep in the kitchen”, although “look”, cf. German gucken or kucken, might be more appropriate. Said to derive from from Low Saxon kijk in de keuken. Explanations range from its uncommon height of 38 m setting it so far above neighbouring houses’ chimneys that the guards could, theoretically, see straight down into the kitchens; or that its height allowed them to see what the enemy was cooking, since their kitchens would be furthest from the front. My personal suspicions, however, given later (central to southern) German words such as Guckindiewelt (2nd half 18th-C) and northern German variant Kiekindiewelt, curious child, Topfgucker, Nosy Parker, lit. saucepan peeker and, particularly, Guckfenster, Judas window, spyhole, peephole (recorded 16th-C), of which the tower has many, are that the name either means just a small kitchen window and the tower was named by metonymy, or reflects the human tendency to want to look into things they're not meant to. XXX Any other suggestions?
Kihnu (Kihnu): Island about 10 km off the coast of Pärnu, western Estonia: pop.: ±560, 16.4 km².
Kiige (Kiik): Swing. Made of wood, the traditional Estonian swing took on as many passengers as a Greek motorcycle and provided a similar degree of adrenalin. Today, higher, more evolved and distinctly more singular, an Estonian sport, kiiking, where the participant must swing across the top bar. Having killed at least 3 children in the past 800 years, Europe has deemed Estonia’s traditional swings unsafe, and therefore illegal. Cars, on the other hand….
Kiili (Kiil): Dragonfly. Estonia has some 50+ species, but ars longa vita brevis… Part of a small groups of insects, placed conveniently next to a horde of insectivorous rodents and birds… See also Kuklase.
Kiini (Kiin): 1) Gadfly or botfly, divided into three families: nahakiinlased, or, literally, skin bot flies, Hypodermatinae, maokiinlased, or, lit., stomach bot flies, Gasterophilinae, ninakiinlased, or, lit., nose bot flies, Oestrinae; 2) Heavy chopping-knife, apparently from the Latvian, šķīnis. Interestingly, kiinijooks is a stampede of reindeer on hearing the buzz of the botfly. The flies eject (dare we say "ping"?) larvae into the host’s nasal cavities where they burrow, develop and grow, then escape to pupate in the soil, causing extreme pain and discomfort both inwards and out. An arms race has evolved with reindeer burying their muzzle in the snow, vegetation or water when they hear the sound, and the fly learning stealth strategies. A similar expression, kiili jooksma, to cause a stampede, also exists, but probably erroneously due to similar sounding insect names, see Kiili. Kinni jooksma, on the other hand, refers to when your brain goes dead. So much change in such a tiny soundlet. See Kiili.
Kiire (Kiire): Quick, fast, swift, nimble, urgent… Street now suffering from severe personality disorder. During the Soviet Era, Väike-Ameerika was renamed Kiire [1950-1991] and the existing Kiire was renamed Väike-Kiire [1950-1996]. Later [1990], the then Kiire tn from the railway to Tulika along with Kiire põik were renamed Kotkapoja, and Kiire tn from Tehnika (next to the railway), to Pärnu switched back to Väike-Ameerika) while Väike-Kiire reverted to its original Kiire.
Kiisa (Kiisk): Eurasian Ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernuus, member of the perch family. Oddly, TT puts this in the raudteejaamade-nimeliste tänavate piirkonnas or, for those who still haven't learned the language despite the encouragement offered by the present tomelet, railway-station namèd street district. Perhaps confusing it with Raudkiisk (see Ogaliku), raud meaning "iron" and kiiskama is to glisten or sparkle as all trains should. On the other hand, he's right, it is in the raudteejaamade-nimeliste tänavate piirkonnas, but perhaps just a fish out of water.
Kiive (Kiive): One of the numerous alternative or dialectal names for Kiivitaja, the lapwing, plover, or peewit. Other nicknames include hirmutaja (the “frightener”), kiivits, poola kana (Polish chicken), sookajak (marsh gull), tillvitt, tüvitaja and vaenulind (hostile bird). Nice reputation. Two species breeding in Estonia: Kiivitaja, Northern Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus and Valgesaba-kiivitaja, White-tailed Lapwing, Vanellus leucurus. If, on the other hand, the name also means plover, six nest in Estonia: Liivatüll, Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula; Mustjalg-tüll aka Meritüll, Kentish Plover, C. alexandrinus; Plüü, Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola; Rüüt, European Golden Plover, P. apricaria; Tundrarüüt, Pacific Golden Plover, P. fulva and Väiketüll, Little Plover, C. dubius.
Kilbi (Kilp): Shield, badge. And one for car lovers everywhere: ilukilp, beauty shield, is a hubcap.
Kilde (Kilud [pl.]): Onomastogeek alert: interesting name. As we all know by know, names are essentially in the genitive (omastav). Here, we have a weird one kilde is the partitive (osastav). Presumably, for reasons of collectivity, kild, splinter, chip, piece, fragment, does not seem to be a genitive ending, singular or plural. Note: English has this partitive case too, but concealed behind the bland old “some”. Do you want some cheese? "Some" representing an indeterminate amount lesser, obviously, that all the cheese available... See Hargi. See also Kubu.
Killustiku (Killustik): Rubble, breakstone, cheed, crushed aggregate, chippings. Soviet Era renaming (1960-1990) of Sikupilli. Former neighbourhood whose economy revolved on rock. See also Kivimurru.
Kilu (Kilu): Baltic sprat, brisling, Sprattus sprattus balticus. See Ahvena. See also Latika.
Kindral Fedjuninski (Ivan Fedyuninsky, 1900-1977): Much-decorated Hero of the Soviet Union, and General (kindral) of the 2nd Shock Army at the 1944 Battle of Narva. Soviet Era renaming first (1978-1981) as Ivan Fedjuninski then Kindral Fedjuninski (1981-1991) of Paekaare.
Kinga (King): Shoe street. Always has been… Although the names suggest more the maker [strata calcificum (1357), platea sutorum (1364), schohmekerstrate (1405), Schuhmacherstraße (1740), Schusterstraße (1803) and Башмачная ул (1872)], than the object [schostrate (1374), Schohstrate (?), Schuhstraße (1806), and Schuhgasse (1893)]. Clearly, a very pedestrian precinct, presumably well-cobbled.
Kingissepa V. (Viktor Kingissepp, 1888-1922): Sinister-looking leader of the Estonian Communist Party, arrested by the KAPO (Kaitsepolitsei, “Secret” or Security Police) on May 1st and executed for treason three days later. Revenge was got during the 1941 War Tribunal of the NKVD Baltic District Forces with the execution of Aleksander Läve, Paul Malsvel(l), Julius Palm, and Johan Nõmmik-Linkhorst responsible, directly or indirectly, for his arrest. Soviet Era renaming (1974-1990) of Jõe, Liivalaia and Pronksi. The town of Kuressaare on Saaremaa was similarly renamed Kingissepa [1952-1988] while Yamburg (Я́мбург), aka Jama (Я́ма), in Leningrad Oblast was renamed Kingisepp (Ки́нгисепп, or Кингисе́пп) in 1922. The Kingisepp district also has the dubious distinction of being home to the forthcoming extinction of Votic, a language very close to Estonian, with only twenty or so speakers left alive.
Kirde (Kirre): North-east, north-easterly. Also noordoost or nordost (but presumably not noordost or nordoost) among sailors. See Ida.
Kiriku (Kirik): Church. All three addresses, Raamatukogu plats, põik & tänav respectively renamed (1950-1989) as Raamatukogu during the Soviet Era.
Kirilase (Kirilane): As McCruiskeen would say: "quite a pancake this one". After a long process of elimination, given its almost totally lepidopteran neighbours, we can almost certainly exclude the following fancies: a) a “k” omitted from kiriklane, churchman; b) a farm or farmer’s name derived from Russian first name Kiril; c) a neologism or poetic term for a typesetter, writer or font-worker (kiri is a letter, writing or print); and d) despite the tendency to nickname this popular little bug, kirilind is the closest we get to lepatriinu, or ladybird. As to the moths and butterflies, there are piles of them, matching the street to varying degrees. The closest match may be Kiriöölane, with Kanarbiku-kiriöölane, the Beautiful Yellow Underwing moth, Anarta myrtilli, or Sinika-kiriöölane, the Small Dark Yellow Underwing, A. cordigera, both common to Estonia. The next tempting candidate is one of the Festoon butterflies, although both are unlikely. In adjectives, the -lane ending designates appurtenance: an Estonian, for example, is an Eestlane, and in zoology, the -idae ending designating families is rendered -lased in Estonian so, since they're obviously butterflies, the Kiriliblikas could be called Kirilased (nominative plural), hence kirilase (genitive singular) which would be all very nice and QED, except that EP firmly annotates Lääne-kiriliblikas, the Spanish Festoon, Zerynthia rumina, as Eestis ei ole: in Estonia ain't none; as to Lõuna-kiriliblikas, the Southern Festoon, Z. polyxena, this is even listed as a wrong answer to the local "Who wants to be a millionaire" question "which of the following is an Estonian butterfly?" and you can't argue with that. So: streets in Spain, Turkey and certain parts of NE Moldavia would be fine but Tallinn, niet. Having said that, a litle voice does nag, "Yes, but there's no Islandi in Estonia either... It could also be a shortened form of Kasekirilane the Kentish Glory moth, Endromis versicolora which is common in Estonia. Not lastly, but that's as far as I'm going, there's a half a page or so of Kirivaksiklased which vaguely fit the bill, but I'm tired and hungry and really ought to go out and get some fresh air so we'll just drop them. What seems interesting is that kiri, along with letter, etcettera, also means design, ornament(al) or, for some, even beautiful so perhaps they mean me! Yes, that's it. "Simon, shut up! Go and lie down for a while." Definition unfinished. Any help on the matter welcomed, any information about affordable rest-homes for the toponymically disturbed, please contact the publisher. See Kannustiiva. See also Kuldtiiva.
Kirsi (Kirss): Cherry. Mini group of berry streets in the Lilleküla district. Name ultimately derives from an ancient Turkish city/peninsula whence the first cherries were exported, known to the Greeks as Cerasus, hence Fr. cerise, G. Kirsche, etc., (the same principle that gave us currants from Corinth, etc.). Reputedly brought back to Rome by Lucullus after the Third Mithridatic War. This was the Mithridates (No.IV) who gave his name to "Mithridatism" for plying his body with small doses of poison to protect himself against murder by poisoning (obviously a popular chap). Now, when he attempted to use the method to commit suicide, failed and had to have himself run through by his bodyguard, a double irony to say the least. See also Marja.
Kitsas (Kitsas): Narrow, close, tight. Quite a common street name in Estonia, with 15 towns having or having had one, but beaten by Lai, with 20-odd.
Kitseaed (Kitseaed): Goat garden.
Kitsekakra (Kitsekakar): Street no longer exists, but it's a nice name - Leopard's Bane, lit. goat's camomile, Doronicum orientale - so it stays; not to be confused with kitsekakar-ristirohi, Senecio doronicum.
Kitseküla (Kitseküla): Goat’s village, goatsville (slum area in the late 19th-C).
Kitzbergi A. (August Kitzberg, 1855-1927): Author and playwright. Romantic to realist writer of short stories and, by which he's better known, plays such as Libahunt (Werewolf) and Kauka jumal (God's Purse [but see Börsi]). Knowing Kitzberg to be a committed anti-drinker, playwright Oskar Luts kept a bottle of whisky in a sculpture of his head. In 2005, the post office gave him a sesquicentennial first-day cover. Kitzberg lived at Posti 23, Viljandi, in 1893–1894, so they probably owed him one.
Kiuru (Kiur): The Pipit, dozens of ’em breeding in Estonia: Metskiur, Tree Pipit, Anthus trivialis; Mongoolia kiur, Blyth’s Pipit, A. godlewskii; Mägikiur, Water Pipit, A. spinoletta; Niidukiur aka Stepi-niidukiur, Richard’s Pipit, A. richardi; Nõmmekiur, Tawny Pipit, A. campestris; Randkiur, Rock Pipit, A. petrosus; Sookiur, Meadow Pipit, A. pratensis; Taigakiur, Olive-backed Pipit, A. hodgsoni and Tundrakiur aka Punakurk-kiur, Red-throated Pipit, A. cervinus. See Linnu. See also Koskla.
Kivi (Kivi): Stone, rock, boulder (one of the oldest words common to Finno-Ugric languages, cf.: kivi (Finnish, Karelian & Veps), кӱ (Mari), кев (Mordvin), kő - more apparent in the accusative case: kővet - (Hungarian), geađgi (Northern Sami), kevi (Hunnic) and, even further back, kuikna (stone projectile, Etruscan). Part of what I call the kivinimeliste tänavate hulk (stone-named street cohort). See also Kivi. Tartar, for those who’re interested (or don’t brush regularly), is called hambakivi, toothstone.
Kiviaia (Kiviaed): Stone wall, dry-stone wall.
Kivila (Kivila): Place of stone, with a fair degreee of uncertainty to this: kiviküla, stone village, used to be a slightly pejorative way of saying “town”. Is this a similar metaphor? Soviet Era renaming (1981-1995]: Veimeri A..
Kivimurru (Kivimurd): Quarry (lit. “of broken stone”). See Killustiku. See also Lubja.
Kivimäe (Kivimägi): Stone mountain.
Kiviranna (Kivirand): Stone waterfront.
Kiviriku (Kivirik): Saxifrage, Saxifraga spp.. Estonian name reflects the Latin: saxum, coarse, unworked stone, rock, & frangere, to break: kivi, stone, rock, & -*rik, defect, ruin, decay, both reflecting the plant’s capacity to send its roots into cracks and slowly cause them to split. They must love Estonian rock.
Kivisilla (Kivisild): Stone bridge, once a suburb of Tallinn (roughly, today’s Maakri, Rävala, Tartu mnt & Tornimäe… area). (Renamed under Soviet rule [1957-1991] along with Reimani V. as Anveldi J..
Klaasi (Klaas): Glass.
Kloostri (Klooster): Abbey, cloister, monastery, convent.
Kloostrimetsa (Kloostrimets): Abbey, cloister, monastery, convent woods.
Kodu (Kodu): Home, hearth, dwelling. Kodu armas kodu is, of course, home sweet home.
Koge (Koge): Cog (or cog-built ship), ship dating back to 10th-C, usually oak, single mast, square sail, common trading vessel in the Baltic. Street currently lurking in the primeval ooze awaiting development beside the docks.
Kohila (Kohila): Manor house (mõis) in Hager, Harjumaa, first mentioned 1438 under the German name of Koil.
Kohtu (Kohus): Law court, tribunal.
Kohtuotsa vaateplats (0): “Viewing platform at the end of Kohtu”.
Koidiku (Koidik): Sun-up, dawn, daybreak, cockcrow.
Koidu (Koit): Dawn, aurora. See Ao.
Koidula L. (Lydia Koidula, 1843-1886): Lydia of the Dawn, sobriquet of the bushy-browed Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen, Estonian kirjaneitsi (maiden of letters), poet and journalist. Mugshot on 100-krooni note. By tradition, every All-Estonian Song Festival since 1869 closes with her Mu Isamaa on Minu Arm (My Fatherland is My Love). Earliest records (19th-C, date unsure) have the street as Catharinenthalscher Weg (see Kadrioru), mutating to Tihvti in 1885, from tihvt, a tack or pin, not impossibly due to its proximity with the "metals" sector (see Hõbeda). In 1907, however, while the German camp translated it as Stiftstr., with the Estonians, oddly, following suit a year later by switching to Stifti, the Russian camp called it Институтская ул., institute. Why, remains a mystery (NB: as a rule, whenever you hear the word "mystery", understand it as indicating that no-one has bothered to or succeeded in find out the actual reason, in other words, a "mystery" is an expression of ignorance). This, of course, was not enough: having failed to confuse the greatest possible number with these shenanigans, in 1921, the Estonians named it both Institudi and Instituudi, revealing once again their perennial perplexity as to the consonance of vowel length.
Kolde (Kolle): Hearth, fireplace, grate. Named after nearby housing scheme kooperatiivehitusühing (cooperative building union), “Oma Kolle”, or “Dunroamin’” (actually, my (one’s) own home/hearth).
Koldrohu (Koldrohi): Common kidney vetch, lady’s finger, Anthyllis vulneraria.
Kolhoosi (Kolhoos): Kolkhoz, contraction of kollektivnoje hozjaistvo or collective farm, see note on Communist Renaming in introduction). Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990) of Gildi.
Kollane (0): Yellow. See also Punane.
Komandandi (Komandant): Previous (1920) orthography, Komendandi. Commandant. But which one? (Purged and merged [1948-1989] with Falgi into Nõukogude during the Soviet Era.
Komeedi (Komeet): Comet. Previously Kuu. Celestial street-name groiup. See also Kuu.
Kompassi (Kompass): Compass. Probably after an inn of that name. Street first recorded in 1830 as sogenannte Compass-strasse.
Komsomoli (Komsomol): Youth wing of the Soviet Union Communist Party: the Communist Union of Youth. Some two-thirds of today’s adult Russian population is believed to have once been a member. See also Pioneeride. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1991) of Suur-Ameerika.
Koogu (Kook): Hook, bucket pole (for drawing water from wells).
Kooli (Kool): School. The two contiguous education street-names of Kooli and Gümnaasiumi were fused (1939-1989) under this during the Soviet Era.
Koorti J. (Jaan Koort, 1883-1935): Jugendstil sculptor, painter and ceramicist. Began studies at Stieglitz school of art, St. Petersburg, then Paris École des Beaux-Arts, influenced by Bourdelle.
Kopli (Koppel): Enclosure, paddock, run. Renamed (1950-1990) as Kalinini M. during the Soviet Era. There used to be a rope-making factory at No.19 (1920).
Kopliranna (Koplirand): Kopli beach.
Korgi (Kork): Cork, plug, stopper.
Kose (Kosk): Waterfall, rapids.
Kose-Kallaste (Kose-Kaldad [pl.]): [Kose district] Shores, banks, riversides, etc. (In its composite form, the nominative is highly unlikely and probably irrelevant.)
Kosemetsa (Kosemets): Woods by the (or with) waterfall.
Koskla (Koskel): Sawbill, large ducks with serrated bill for catching fish: Jääkoskel, Common Goosander, Gulaund or Goosander, Mergus merganser; Kübarkoskel, Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus; Rohukoskel, Red-breasted Merganser, M. serrator; Väikekoskel aka Pudukoskel, Smew, M. albellus (uses tree holes, old woodpecker nests, etc., for breeding). All breeding in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Kotka.
Kotka (Kotkas): Eagle. Ten species breeding in Estonia: Kaeluskotkas, European Griffon Vulture, Gyps fulvus; Kalakotkas, Osprey, Pandion haliaetus; Kaljukotkas aka Maakotkas, Golden Eagle, Aquila chrysaetos; Madukotkas, Short-toed Eagle, Circaetus gallicus; Merikotkas, White-tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla; Raipekotkas, Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus; Raisakotkas, Monk Vulture, Aegypius monachus; Stepikotkas, Steppe Eagle, Aquila nipalensis; Suur-konnakotkas, Greater Spotted Eagle, Aquila clanga and Väike-konnakotkas, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Aquila pomarina. See Linnu. See also Kotkapoja.
Kotkapoja (Kotkapoeg): Eaglet. Renamed (1990) from Kiire. See Linnu. See also Kuldnoka.
Kotlepi (Kotlep): From the German, Gottfried, with multiple spellings (Kottvriid, Kottart, Kotolt, etc.). Not from the “kotlane: bagman, itinerant journeyman labourer” as proposed by one Sunday etymologist. Apparently, the name of a former local farm/farming-family. Farm group. See also Kristeni.
Kotzebue (Otto von Kotzebue, 1787-1846): Baltic German born in Tallinn, completed three circumnavigations of the globe in Russian service. The north Alaskan town of Kotzebue (known as Qikiqtagruk, or “place shaped like a long island”, in Inupiaq) was named after him. Soviet Era renaming of this (1960-1990), Hiiu-Suurtüki (1959-1960) and Suurtüki (1960-1990) as Käsperti J..
Kraavi (Kraav): Ditch, trench, fosse.
Kreegi (Kreek): Bullace, wild damson, Prunus domestica ssp. institia.
Kressi (Kress): Cress.
Kreuksi J. (Jaan Kreuks, 1891–1923): Estonian Communist, shot in the back by the security police, Kaitsepolitsei. Soviet Era renaming (1940-1989) of Kentmanni.
Kreutzwaldi F.R. (Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, 1803-1882): Pseudonyms: K. Friedhold, Lauluisa, Viru Laulik. Shoemaker’s son, doctor and Estonian national poet, compiler of the Kalevipoeg, Estonia’s epic poem about the Son of Kalev, giant hero of the past, and vehicle for the National Awakening after 600 years of serfdom. Once known as Romanov Prospect. See Kalevipoja.
Kriidi (Kriit): Chalk, crayon.
Kristeni (?): Not traced, but sounds very much like Christian/Kristjan. Apparently, the name of a former local farm/farming-family. Farm group. See also Kurmu.
Kristiina (Kristiina): Proper name: Christina (but see next entry).
Kristiine (0): Refers to Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689). Used to live at No.19.
Kruusa (Kruus): Gravel, shingle, ballast.
Kruusaranna (Kruusarand): Shingle beach.
Kuberneri (Kuberner): Governor. But which one?
Kubu (Koo): Bundle, truss, faggot. See Hargi. See also Käia.
Kudu (Kudu): Spawn. Konnakudu = frogspawn.
Kuhja (Kuhi): Heap, pile, stack. See Rangu.
Kuhlbarsi F. (Friedrich Kuhlbars, 1841-1924): Schoolteacher and author of lyrics to Eestimaa, mu isamaa (Estonia, my fatherland), the Estonian Scouts’ anthem. Part responsible for various "mythological" interpretations of Estonia's past.
Kuiv (Kuiv): Dry - Kuival olema: to be on the rocks.
Kuke (Kukk): Cock, rooster.
Kuklase (Kuklane): Alternative name for sipelgas, ant, of the Formica genus. Also archaic name for ant, like its variant kusikuklane, suggesting the smell of pee that antheaps often have (kusi = urine), ditto in the English name of yore for ant, “pismire”. While I’m waffling, another earlier English name for ant is “emmet” from the Old English æmette, and, along with modern German Ameise, derived from the hypothetical *ai-, off or away, + *mait-, to cut or hew. German etymologists are still arguing whether it means that the ant body is segmented, or that they hew (read “bite”) off pieces of plant. See Kiili. See also Parmu.
Kuldnoka (Kuldnokk): Starling. Both the Kuldnokk, Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris and Roosa-kuldnokk, Rosy Starling, S. roseus breed in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Kulli.
Kuldtiiva (Kuldtiib): Literally a Goldwing, but they're probably not referring to chrome-plated penis extensions, but butterflies of the Blue or Copper varieties. Valgetäpp-kuldtiib, Small or Common Copper, Lycaena phlaeas, and Leek-kuldtiib, the Scarce Copper (although rumour has it that they're never around when you need 'em, both species are quite common in Estonia), Heodes virgaureae . See Kannustiiva. See also Leediku.
Kuljuse (Kuljus): Sleigh-bell, bell, or alternative word for brass.
Kullassepa (Kullassep): Known earlier as vicus institoris (1327), platea institorum (14th-C) or kremerstrate (1389), translated variously as merchants', grocers' or haberdashers' street. Became Kannengeter Strate in the 16th-C, for the tinsmiths gradually climbing the social (and financial) ladder to silver for brooches, ouches, and similar embossed work (see Sõle) and thence to Goldschmiedestraße in teh 18th-C, although the Russians continued calling it Серебряная ул. (silver street) until at least 1872.
Kullerkupu (Kullerkupp): Trollius or Globeflower, Trollius spp.>/i>, related to the buttercups, but not to the cresses… See Lille. See also Mooni.
Kullese (Kulles): Tadpole, flagellate (biological not theological) or, believe it or not, bluish grey cow.
Kulli (Kull): Harrier (hawk). Breeding in Estonia: Kanakull, Northern Goshawk, Accipiter gentilis; Raudkull, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, A. nisus; Roo-loorkull, Eurasian Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus; Soo-loorkull, Montagu’s Harrier, C. pygargus; Stepi-loorkull, Pallid Harrier, C. macrourus and Välja-loorkull, Hen Harrier, C. cyaneus. See Linnu. See also Kure.
Kullmani L. (Leen Kullman, 1920-1943?): Real name: Helene Kullman, soviet spy trained at Leningrad spy school, Hero of the Soviet Union, arrested by Germans and died (heroically) under torture. Or, by the time the Soviets had committed themselves to honouring her, they discovered she’d done nothing of the sort, rather a quick switch of sides and living to die another day under the Nazi informant protection scheme, but couldn’t back down. Soviet Era renaming (1979-1994/5) of Anni.
Kumalase (Kumalane): Bumblebee, aka kimalane. Odd, for a social insect, they’ve left this one on its own.
Kume (Kume): Hollow, dull, cloudy weather, glimmering (go figure...).
Kummeli (Kummel): Camomile, Latin name debated. Plant beloved by homeopathists for treating alcohol withdrawal, asthma, bronchitis, colic, cough, diarrhea, dysmenorrhea, ear infection, brain extraction and nuclear winters.
Kungla (Kungla): A sort of pseudomythological Estonian Arcady that found its way into 19th-C Estonian writers’ minds and books.
Kuninga (Kuningas): King. Renamed (1948-1987) as Niguliste during the Soviet Era.
Kupra (Kupar): Boll, capsule (on plant).
Kura (Kura): Uncertain: possibly relating to Kuramaa, Courland, the county, region, former Duchy of Kurzeme in present-day Latvia, or the Irbe or Irben Strait (Estonian: Kura kurk, Latvian: Irbes jūras šaurums), possibly a bay on the Juminda peninsula about 50 km ENE of Tallinn. It is also the name of a lake between Kärdla and the airstrip on the N coast of Hiiumaa; and of the Lithuanian bay known locally as Left. Co-incidentally, along with kuura and kora, it is old dialect in the SW half of Estonia for "left", too. In other places, for example, Kihnu, a kuralane may also designate a "Courlander", but more reasonably, an inhabitant of the Kura village in Pärnumaa (it's only half an hour away by raven - actually, at an average speed of 10m/s, about 24 mins), although that doesn't explain it's earlier use in S Hiiumaa and S Saaremaa. There is also a word kurameerima, to court, implying cultural remnants of kura, court, as a loan word. Lastly, of interest only to a very bizarre minority of people who need to get out more often, it's also a river in Georgia whose name Kura is derived from Kurosh, the Persian pronunciation of Cyrus the Great. To conclude, given its relative frequence in Estonia as farm or locality name (oikonyms), its historical use as personal name, e.g. Kurь, from Tohtkiri No.690 (see Tohu), ca. ≤14th-C, in Finland and Karelia, it may simply reflect a common tendency to point out the different, i.e. left-handedness, with a possible derogatory or condescending cousin in the sense of beggar (dialectical Finnish kurri, Estonian kerjus, both probably derived from *kura, left or left-handed. At the end of the day, however, it may simply refer to a farm "on the left" (to somewhere).
Kuradi torn (Johannes Grymme? 14th-C?): Tower known as Düwelsmoder in 1434 at least, formerly used as a munitions and powder depot, and said to be named after Johannes Düvelsmoder (or Düvel, Grimmedüvel, Grymmedüvel, etc.). He might have been Johannes Grymme, genannt Duvel (known as Devil), or curate of the Corpus Christi altar at Oleviste church, hence the nickname... On the other hand, the tower is about 600-odd metres from the church. Maybe he walked to work? Either way, düvel and mōder translate from Middle Low German, the dominant language of Hanseatic trade, as Devil’s mother, which, imported into Estonian, becomes Kuradiema (devil's mother's) or, more commonly, Kuradi from Kurat, devil. For the argotistically inclined, Kurat / Kurrrat / Kurrrrrat is also Estonia’s favourite ejaculations, the number of rolled R’s proportional to the degree of emotional intensity. Interestingly, from a phonetical point of view, the so-called alveolar trill, or rolled R, is also one of the rare sounds independent of the oral apparatus. According to one linquist to whom I expressed my admiration for the way she rolled her Rs, she said it was just the way she walked.
Kuramaa (Kuramaa): Courland, formerly western part of present-day Latvia, the Curonian Spit. Originally inhabited by the Curonians or Kurs, eventually assimilated by the Latvians and Lithuanians. Raided in the 10th-C by Egil Skallagrimsson, who acquired Naður [...] var það hið besta vopn, Adder, his best weapon (a sword), and other sundry plunder there (Suggestion: this is one of the greatest Icelandic sagas, certainly with the most enigmatic hero. Well worth reading). Mentioned too by Saxo Grammaticus, with Frotho I (Frode I), legendary king of Denmark fighting various battles and, in his attack of Handwanus, king of the Daugava valley, even cross-dressing for camouflage as a sköldmö or shield-maiden, one of those occasional but real female warriors that fuelled the Valkyrie myth...
Kure (Kurg): Crane and Stork. Four species breeding in Estonia: Must-toonekurg, Black Stork, Ciconia nigra; Neitsikurg, Demoiselle Crane, Grus virgo; Sookurg, Common Crane, G. grus and Valge-toonekurg, White Stork, C. ciconia. See Linnu. See also Käbliku.
Kuremarja (Kuremari): Cranberry, fenberry. Lit. crane berry, cf. German Kranichbeere, and Low German Kranebere. Alternative name for Jõhvika. See also Leesika.
Kurepõllu (Kurepõld): Crane’s field. Would the average building site have such a name.
Kurereha (Kurereha): Geranium, crane’s bill, Geranium spp.. Names comes from the shape of the spring-action fruit capsule causing the seed to be dispersed: Latin: Geranion from Greek: γερανος (geranos): crane. Ditto Estonian: Kure, crane & reha, rake (although why rake I’m not quite sure).
Kurikneeme (Kurikneem): Kurik’s Cape (point, headland, foreland) on Aegna island. See also Külaniidu.
Kuristiku (Kuristik): Gorge, gulch, gully, ravine, precipice. Settlements recorded as far back as the Bronze Age.
Kurmu (Kurm): Corner, nook, out-of-the-way place. Farm group. See also Lauripere.
Kurni (Kurn): Bit of a mystery this one, with neither solution matching its environs: 1) Game involving 6 wooden pins to be knocked down by a cudgel, the pin itself. Russian game of Gorodki; 2) Alternative name for filter or strainer.
Kuru (Kuru): Pass, gorge, defile, flume. Nothing to do with ballsports or other antisocial behaviour, just couloirs and gulches and stuff.
Kuslapuu (Kuslapuu): Honeysuckle, woodbine, Lonicera spp..
Kuu (Kuu): 1) Moon; 2) Month. Also Soviet Era renaming (1959-1991) of Kesk-Ameerika. See Komeedi. See also Pilve.
Kuuli (Kuul): Bullet, shot, ball or even pill.
Kuunari (Kuunar): Schooner.
Kuuse (Kuusk): Harilik kuusk, Norway Spruce, Picea abies. Parasitised by Ips typographus, one of the only bark beetles to feature in a blue movie alongside Marlene Dietrich, Der blaue Engel. But then the professor was boring too…
Kuusenõmme (Kuusenõmme): Spruce marsh or moor.
Kuusiku (Kuusik): Spruce wood, spruce grove.
Kvartsi (Kvarts): Quartz, silex, silica (for soil types)
Kõdra (Kõder): Hull, pod.
Kõivu (Kõiv): Alternative and/or dialectical term for Kase: Arukõiv see Arukaskede; Marokõiv see Kase, and Sookõiv see Sookaskede.
Kõla (Kõla): 1) Sound, tone, ring, resonance; 2) Instrument used in belt-weaving. Which one, not sure. Being next to Sanatooriumi, maybe the latter for occupational therapy.
Kõlviku (Kõlvik): Arable land, farmland.
Kõnnu (Kõnd): Wasteland, desert, desolate.
Kõrge (Kõrge): High, tall.
Kõrgepinge (Kõrgepinge): High tension, high voltage.
Kõrkja (Kõrkjas): Bulrush, club-rush, deer grass. Member of the Scirpus genus.
Kõrre (Kõrs): Stalk, straw. See Kaera. See also Luste.
Kõue (Kõu): Thunder.
Kõver (Kõver): Curved, bent, warped, devious - Naerust kõveras olema: to double up laughing.
Käba (Käba): Piece of bark used as float on fishing-line or net. See Abara. See also Landi.
Käbi (Käbi): Cone (e.g. pine- or other). (Also strobila, larval stage of jellyfish or segment of a tapeworm). Käbi ei kuku kännust kaugele, literally, the cone doesn't fall far from the stump, usually rendered: a chip off the old block, but with, perhaps, a slightly negative tone, since känd kännu also means old fogey. Note too the abundance of k’s, a letter occupying a special place in Estonian hearts. At least 15% of Estonian words start with K.
Käbliku (Käblik): Winter Wren (bird with the loveliest Latin name: Troglodytes troglodytes!). Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Käo.
Käia (Käi): Grindstone. See Hargi. See also Luisu.
Kännu (Känd): Stump, stub. Old fogey.
Käo (Kägu): Common Cuckoo, Cuculus canorus. Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Lagle.
Käokannu (Käokannus): Toadflax. Lit. Cuckoo’s spur, Linaria spp..
Käokeele (Käokeel): Platanthera, Butterfly-orchid, Platanthera spp;. Lit. Cuckoo’s tongue. Estonia has two species: Rohekas käokeel, the Greater Butterfly-orchid, P. chlorantha (chlorantha = green-flowered & rohekas = greenish), and Kahelehine käokeel, the Lesser Butterfly-orchid, Platanthera bifolia (bifolia = kahelehine = two-leafed).
Käokäpa (Käokäpp): Cowslip. Lit. Cuckoo’s claw. Seems to be one of the dozen or so names for the harilik Nurmenukk, Primula veris. According to Darwin: the “cowslip is habitually visited during the day by the larger humble-bees [...] and at night by moths”. I hope the cowslip enjoys it more than I.
Käolina (Käolina): Popular name for “Hair cap moss” (see Karusammal above). See Harusambla. See also Laaniku.
Kärberi K. (Kristjan Kärber): Builder, author of the illustrated 40-page classic Telliste kiirladumine ehitustel (speedy brick-stacking for the building trade), and worker-hero, nominated Honorary Citizen in 1972 for “recognising the special merits for Tallinn in the revolutionary movement in the struggle for the Soviet power, for gaining outstanding results in the economical and cultural work” (sic).
Kärbi (Kärp): Ermine, aka stoat. Native to Estonia is the Kärp, Ermine, Mustela erminea. See Hirve. See also Mägra.
Kärestiku (Kärestik): Cascade, rapids.
Kärje (Kärg): Honeycomb. Kärgkonn, Pipa pipa, the Suriname toad, owes its name to the pits formed on the female's back post semino-ovulo coital frottage out of which baby frogs emerge.
Kärneri (Kärner): Gardener.
Käru (Käru): Barrow, pushcart.
Käsperti J. (Johannes Käspert, 1886-1937): Asjaajaja [nice word - try saying this late one Friday night: majarajaja asjaajaja ja jalavajaja jama ajavad, meaning, if you’re really desperate to know, “the housebuilder’s records clerk and a legless man are bluffing”], or Secretary of the short-lived (about six months) Soviet of the Commune of the Working People of Estonia, presumably executed during Stalin’s Great Purge of 1937-38. Soviet Era renaming (1960-1987/90) of Kotzebue and Suurtüki.
Kätki (Kätki): Cradle.
Käänu (Kään): Turn, bend, crook.
Köie (Köis): Rope, cable.
Köismäe (Köismägi): Rope hill, named after a former suburb of the same name specialised in its manufacture.
Köleri J. (Johann Köler, 1826-1899): Painter, aka Ivan Petrovich Köler-Viliandi, worked mainly in St Petersburg. Noted for ‘Come to Me All Ye Who Labour’ (1879), a huge painting in the Tallinn Kaarli Kirik, attached to the wall, they say, by some 5000 nails.
Köömne (Köömen): Caraway, cumin.
Külaniidu (Külaniit): Village meadow. Street representing one-sixth of the highways of Aegna island. See also Tagamaa.
Külma (Külm): Cold, wintry, chilly, bleak. See Halla. See also Lobjaka.
Külvi (Külv): Sowing, freshly-sown field. One of a little group of three bucolic by-ways in the burbs See also Lõikuse.
Külmallika (Külmallikas): Cold spring, cold source.
Künka (Küngas): Mount, small hill, butte, knoll, hummock, usually up to 200 m high (see Mäe) - Künkakuningas, King of the Castle.
Künkamaa (Künkamaa): Hilly country. Hmm, these Estonians and their hills…
Künnapuu (Künnapuu): Called European White or Fluttering Elm by the Brits and Russian Elm by the Trans-Stagnantics, Ulmus laevis.
Künni (Künd): Ploughing. Appropriately, parallel to Põllu.
Küti (Kütt): Hunter, trapper.
Küüvitsa (Küüvits): Bog-rosemary, Andromeda polifolia, a slightly poisonous plant, may cause breathing problems, vomiting or diarrhoea. Named for its visual resemblance to the herb.
Laagna (Laagna): Small town close to Narva on the Russian border. Renamed (1986-1992) as Oktoobri during the Soviet Era.
Laagri (Laager): Camp. After the military encampment nearby.
Laaniku (Laanik): Mountain fern moss, Hylocomium splendens. See Harusambla. See also Palusambla.
Laane (Laas): Primeval forest.
Laari J. (Joosep Laar, 1905-1943): One of the 11 Estonians ever to receive a Gold Star of Honour by the Soviet Union. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1991) of Villardi.
Laboratooriumi (Laboratoorium): Laboratory, but not the test-tube and fragile glassware type: the artillery development lab behind the city-walls.
Laeva (Laev): Ship, boat, vessel.
Laevastiku (Laevastik): Fleet, shipping, poetical term for navy.
Lagedi (0): Manor house outside Tallinn first mentioned in 1397, name derived from German Laakt. Belonged in late 16th-C to Hans Wachtmeister, naturalised Swedish soldier, later Field Marshal and acting temporary vicegerent of Estonia, apparently born in Hiiumaa and adopted his name (lit. Watch sergeant) while in the German army before emigrating in 1569. Also great-great-nth-grandfather of a friend of mine.
Lageloo (Lagelood): Loo is the genitive of three words: lugu, story; loog, swathe (of grass); and lood, a synonym of Alvari, "limestone region covered with thin soil and stunted vegetation" to quote my dear friend Saagpakk. Since its nearest listed neighbour is the Alvari, mentioned above, since it is located atop the mournful marsh named Tondi Raba and since both this and its benighted other neighbour Rähkloo are not even on the map, we can extend the definition to include "but where roads haven't been bloody built yet".
Lagle (Lagle): Another genus of Goose (see Hane). Breeding in Estonia: Kanada lagle, Canada Goose, Branta canadensis; Mustlagle, Brent Goose, B. bernicla; Punakael-lagle, Red-breasted Goose, B. ruficollis and Valgepõsk-lagle, Barnacle Goose, B. leucopsis. See Linnu. See also Leevikese.
Lagendiku (Lagendik): Glade, due to its then proximity to… a glade. Street no longer exists.
Lahe (Laht): Bay, bight, gulf, cove, inlet.
Lai (Lai): Broad, wide. One of the oldest streets in Tallinn, with a long list of names to prove it. Initially identified after its salient residents, the nuns: susterstrate (1361), vicus monialium or platea (longa/sancti) monialium, loosely translated as “(holy) enclosed nuns’ (long) high street” (1364-1380), then platea sororum (1480). By the 1600s it was Süsterstraße or Schwestergasse and, in the 18th-C (1703), the S switched to C, Cisternstraße, (spelling influenced by the Cistercian movement?). At some stage, however, contemporary records of Cistern- sonst genandt breitstrasse suggest locals must have become aware of the human side of their angelic nature and that, if nothing else, nuns were still broads...
Laine (Laine): Wave, billow. Crosses Virve. Also woman’s name.
Lambi (Lamp): Lamp, light. See Juhtme. See also Lüli.
Landi (Lant): Trolling-spoon (spinning-bait for catching pike, etc.) or lure, older versions usually had fixed hooks, modern ones may have n sets of triple hooks. See Abara. See also Müta.
Laki (Lakk): Lacquer, varnish. Named after former factory. Also name for broad-brimmed hat.
Laose (Laos): Three possibilities: 1) Ruin, disintegration, decay; 2) Nursery, seed plot; 3) Laos, the country and/or language. Street made in 2003 so probably 3.
Lasteaia (Lasteaid): Kindergarden, nursery otr infants’ school. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1991) of Magdaleena.
Latika (Latikas): Common, carp, freshwater or bronze bream, Abramis brama. See Ahvena. See also Lesta.
Laulu (Laul): Song, singing, ditty, ballad.
Lauripere (Lauripere): Laur farm, family, household. Farm group. See also Mardipere.
Lauristini J. (Johannes Lauristin, 1899-1941): Estonian politician and communist. Serial prisoner, forced labour twice: seven years (1923-1931) then six until the (probably) Konstantin Päts amnesty of 1938. Died either during an evacuation or, some suggest, assassinated by the NKVD. Soviet Era renaming (1944?-1989) of Roosikrantsi.
Le Coq (Albert Le Coq): A. Le Coq Arena or Lilleküla Stadium, named after Estonia’s oldest brewery, today known as A. Le Coq, after a certain Belgian, Albert Le Coq, reputed to have set up shop in London, 1807. Entry given on an "as is" basis, compiler accepts no responsibility for totally misleading information, bunkum or alcoholic dependency.
Lee (Lee): Hearth. Part of a fire, fire-making and fireplace group. See also Lõuka.
Leberechti H. (Hans Leberecht, 1910-1960): Estonian writer, winner of the Stalin Prize in 1953, who once lived in this street. Soviet Era renaming (1960-1990) of Ugala.
Leediku (Leedik): Pyralid or snout moth. Numerous species, including the ubiquitous iniquitous Kirjuleedik (kirju meaning variegated, mottled, many-coloured, etc., see Kirilase), the Meal Moth, Pyralis farinalis. See Kannustiiva. See also Lumiku.
Leedri (Leeder): Aka Punane leeder, kooljapuu (corpse or dead person tree), kihvtimarjapuu (poison berry tree), etc., Red Elderberry, Sambucus racemosa.
Leesika (Leesikas): Bearberry,Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. See Jõhvika. See also Pohla.
Leevikese (Leevikene): Bullfinch. Four species breeding in Estonia: Karmiinleevike, Common Rosefinch, Carpodacus erythrinus; Kõrbeleevike, Trumpeter Finch, Bucanetes githagineus; Leevike, Common Bullfinch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula and Männileevike, Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator. See Linnu. See also Luige.
Lehiku (Lehik): Uncertain. Possibly another name for the Bastard toadflax (of which there are a number of pretenders), e.g. Thesium humifusum, but I’m not putting any money on it.
Lehiste (Lehised [pl.]): Larches. Sing. Lehis (also means Foliage). Two species introduced to Estonia: Euroopa lehis, the European Larch, Larix decidua; and Vene lehis, the Siberian or Russian Larch, Larix sibirica syn. L. russica. Popular source of food for the famous Processionary Caterpillar, Thaumetopoea pityocampa, so lovingly described by Jean-Henri Fabre. Each, but one, Processionary follows the animal in front, so Fabre led a column to the top of a flower pot, and when the circle was complete, removed the extras. The ones in the now circle followed each other round and round for a week. Popular food (larches, not processionaries) with humming-birds, though relatively rare in the subarctic distropics of Estonia.
Lehtpuu (Lehtpuu): Deciduous tree.
Leigeri (Leiger): Folk hero of Hiiumaa island and brother of Suur-Tõll (Big Tõll). Said to have attempted to build a bridge to Saaremaa to allow his brother to come and partake of his famous sauna and cabbages. Idea vetoed by a local golem with an interest in ferries.
Leina (Lein): Mourning, grief, weeping. A tristful name to give a street were it not next to the cemetery Hiiu-Rahu Kalmistu.
Leineri A. (Aleksander Leiner, 1902-1927): Estonian Communist “murdered” – according to Kivi who may well have been under a certain Damocletian influence to present a particular political correctness of thought – “by the bourgeois Estonian Security Police”. Soviet Era renaming (1940-1991) of Poska J..
Lembitu (Lembit): Lembit of Lehola: Estonian leader in fight against German Brethren of the Sword, died during Battle of St. Matthew’s Day, September, 1217. Poem written by Kreutzwald.
Lemle (Lemmel): Duckweed, gibbous or otherwise, but in Estonia probably Common Duckweed, Lemna minor. Other names include Konnaläätsed (frog lentils), Seauba (pig bean), Päevaseep (day soap), and, curiously, Tiigieile (yesterday or last-night pond), thus named due to it being a “short-day plant” requiring a critical minimum length of night to flower.
Leningradi (Leningrad): Soviet renaming of the city of Saint-Petersburg, and Soviet Era renaming (1948-1992) of Peterburi.
Lenini (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, 1870–1924): Born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, Russian revolutionary, Bolshevik, communist politician, and graphomaniac (55 thick volumes of writings published). Soviet Era renaming of Kaubamaja [?-1991] and Rävala [1950-1991])
Lennuki (Lennuk): 1) Airplane, aircraft; 2) Name of Kavevipoeg’s ship. Name also given to one of two Russian destroyers hijacked by the British and offered to Estonia during WWI. See Vambola. Also Soviet Era renaming (1936-1991) of Mardi.
Lepa (Lepp): Alder (also, when genitive leppa, fish or seal blood; or, in the Saare (island) dialect, a reddish colour); lepa is thought to be a primitive word designating red (today Punane), as seen, e.g., in lepatriinu, lepalind, the redstart; and lilacinone is a red pigment extracted from the lepariisikas toadstool, Lactarius lilacinus. Recent research suggests it may also be a very early loan-word from Indo-European meaning “paint” (neighbouring Lithuanian is said to be (one of) the most primitive Indo-European languages). Alder bark produces a reddish colour dye (Aldine Red). Two main species in Estonia: Hall lepp aka Valge lepp, Grey or Speckled Alder, Alnus incana and Sanglepa. Native Americans mixed part of the tree (leaves? flowers?) with powdered bumblebees as an aid for difficult labour. Where on earth did they get that one?
Lepatriinu (Lepatriinu): Ladybird (ladybug), see Lepa. These insects are among those with the longest Latin names. Lutsernitriinu, for example, the 24-spot ladybird, reportedly common in Estonia, is Subcoccinella vigintiquatuorpunctata. Just next door to Herilase.
Lesta (Lest): Flounder, Platichthys flesus. See Ahvena. See also Lõhe.
Lepiku (Lepik): Alder grove.
Liblika (Liblikas): Butterfly.
Liikuri (Liikur): Vehicle. Known until 1989 as Reindorffi G..
Liilia (Liilia): Lily, Lilium spp..
Liipri (Liiper): Sleeper, crosstie (railway). Derived from the English “sleeper” which, interestingly, travelled well, becoming chulipa in Brazil (see VPPV by same author). (Renaming, along with Ränduri, of former Raudtee.
Liiva (Liiv): Sand, gravel - Liiva Hannus, John o’Sand: death.
Liivalaia (Liivalai): 1) Sandy avenue, sandy channel; 2) Sandy expanse. (Nice muddle this one: Renamed (1944-1990/2?) as Kingissepa V. during the Soviet Era along with, interestingly, two other streets which shared the name but not the longevity [1974-1990]: Jõe and Pronksi, Liivalaia itself replacing [1974-1990] the German-sounding Juhkentali.
Lille (Lill): Flower. Part of a floral arrangement within the Tehnika, Paldiski, Endla triangle of Kristiine‘s Lilleküla (flower village) district. See also Kannikese.
Lilleherne (*Lillehernes): Sweet pea, probably Lõhnav lillhernes, lit. “fragrant sweet-pea”, Lathyrus odoratus, and I think the Street-Names Commission have tried to slip an “e” too many on us, although an “lh” combination would not flow easily off the Tallinn tongue.
Lina (Lina): Flax, sheet, linen. See Sitsi. See also Lõime.
Lillevälja (Lilleväli): Field of flowers.
Linda (Linda): Linda, wife of Kalev; hence mother of Kalevipoeg; also daughter of Taara. Having your country's symbolic matriarch raped by a foreigner speaks volumes about your self-perception. Sigmund would have had you couch it on the table long ago. See Kalevipoja.
Linnu (Lind): Bird, Fowl, Poultry - linnu viisil elama: to live from hand to mouth; lit. to live in the way of a bird. Joined together, Linnu tee becomes Linnutee The Milky Way, also sometimes also known as Piimatee, Milk Road, in Vigala county, Linnurada, Bird Path, in Emmaste, S Hiiumaa, as well as Kuretee, Stork Road, Taevapeenar, Heavenly Plant-Bed, etc., elsewhere. This is probably the largest street-name zone in Tallinn. It covers the sub-districts of Lilleküla, Mooni and parts of Tondi. See also Algi.
Linnuse (Linnus): Stronghold. Many Estonian towns began life as a one of these, Tallinn no less. Soviet Era renaming (1954-1987) of Toom-Rüütli.
Lobjaka (Lobjakas): Slush, slosh. See Halla. See also Pakase.
Lodjapuu (Lodjapuu): Aka Harilik lodjapuu, Õispuu (blossom tree), Hullukoeramarjapuu (crazy dog berry tree), etc., Guelder Rose, Water Elder, Snowball Tree, European Cranberrybush, Cramp Bark, etc., Viburnum opulus.
Lodumetsa (Lodumets): Wet peatland forest, swamp forest.
Loigu (Loik): Puddle.
Loitsu (Loits): Spell, charm, incantation. Renamed (1979-1994) as Oki F. during the Soviet Era. See also Lummu.
Lomonossovi M. (Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, 1711–1765): Russian polymath, scientist, writer and poet, born in a Pomor village close to Kholmogory, about 60 km S of Archangelsk and its now, sadly, dismantled 13-storey, 44-m high, reputedly world’s tallest, wooden house, the “Sutyagin skyscraper”, built by local racketeer. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1991) of Gonsiori.
Loode (Loe): North-west, northwesterly (also high tide, neap tide or, plural, looded, tide, ebb and flow). Also noordvest or nordvest among sailors. See Põhja.
Looga (Look): Arch, crook, horse-bow. See Joone. See also Nurklik.
Lossi (Loss): Castle, after Glehni N.v.‘s residence Hohenhaupt, today at the end of Trepi, WSW-bound prolongation of the same street. Renamed (1950-1990) Basseini during the Soviet clean-up.
Lubja (Lubi): Lime, quicklime. Named after the former kimekiln at No.11. See Killustiku. See also Pae.
Luige (Luik): Swan. Three species breeding in Estonia: Kühmnokk-luik, Mute Swan, Cygnus olor; Laululuik, Whooper Swan, C. cygnus and Väikeluik, Tundra Swan, C. columbianus. See Linnu. See also Lõokese.
Luisu (Luisk): Whetstone for scythes. See Hargi. See also Reha.
Lume (Lumi): Snow. Also Soviet Era renaming (1958-1991) of Hundipea.
Lumikellukese (Lumikelluke(ne)): Snowdrop (lit. Little snow bell), Galanthus spp., one of the first flowers to pop out in spring, certain species flowering even earlier in autumn the year before…
Lumiku (Lumik): Admiral butterfly. Two main species in Estonia: Haavalumik, the Poplar Admiral (see Nahhimovi P.), L. populi, and Väikelumik, the White Admiral, Limenitis camilla, whose numbers, oddly, have decreased considerably in France, mainly due to roadkill in forest areas, where in Estonia they have increased over the same period. Since both nations are equally savage in their sense of road proprietorship, it could be explained by higher respective degrees of urban flight and rural exodus. See Kannustiiva. See also Paabusilma.
Lummu (Lumm): Charm, spell, bewitchment, glamour. Renamed (1979-1994/5), along with Kahu, as Pusta A. during the Soviet Era. See also Arbu.
Luste (Luste): Brome grass. See Kaera. See also Maisi.
Lumiste J. (Johannes Lumiste, dates unknown): Gentleman whose claim to fame seems to be his having removed, in 1944, the black swastika on its white background from a Nazi flag and climbing to the top of Pikk Hermann to hoist the resulting red flutter of freedom for all to admire. Soviet Era renaming (1979-1995) of Varraku.
Lõhe (Lõhi): Salmon, Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar. See Ahvena. See also Maimu.
Lõikuse (Lõikus): Harvest, reaping. See Külvi. See also Saagi.
Lõhmuse (Lõhmus): Linden, Lime Tree. Alternative name for Pärnade.
Lõimise (Lõimis): Grading-curve, granulometric composition or grain size (if you really want a cool address to bring potential seduction partners to, this is the one: “Come back to my place for a drink, I live at 14b Granulometric Composition Rd...”).
Lõime (Lõim): Warp (of fabric). (Also the annual ring of a tree.) See Sitsi. See also Niidi.
Lõokese (Lõoke(ne)): Larks of various inclinations breeding in Estonia: Nõmmelõoke, Wood Lark, Lullula arborea; Põldlõoke, Sky Lark, Alauda arvensis; Sarviklõoke, Horned Lark, Eremophila alpestris; Stepilõoke, Calandra Lark, Melanocorypha calandra; Tuttlõoke, Crested Lark, Galerida cristata and Välja-väikelõoke, Greater Short-toed Lark, Calandrella brachydactyla. To imitate a skylark, the sound you make is Liiri lõõri so the nursery rhyme (Pöide region) goes like this:Liiri- lõõri lõokene,Piiri- pääri pääsukene,lenda üle meie kesa,Rääste alla punu pesa. See Linnu. See also Meika.
Lõo (Lõo): Short for Lõoke, Lõokene and Lõokannus, Yellow corydalis, hollowwort, Pseudofumaria lutea, which, for those curious enough, is called Flee yn thoo in Manx...
Lõuka (Lõugas): Various meanings revolving around stoves and fireplaces: essentially, the opening and/or part of the hearthstone protruding in front. In Viljandi dialect: the space in front of an oven opening. Its mouth-related cognates - lõug (chin, jaws, “mug”, French gueule) and lõugas (little bay, bight or creek) - strengthen the “opening to an oven” interpretation and, by metonymy, a fireplace, inglenook or stone ledge in front of oven used as seat. See Lee. See also Sädeme.
Lõuna (Lõuna): South, southern, southerly (also: lunch, noon, meridian). Also süüd among sailors. Known briefly as Auna from 1940-1941. See Edela.
Lõõtsa (Lõõts): Bellows. See Keevise. See also Sepapaja.
Lõosilma (Lõosilm): Forget-me-not, Myosotis spp.. The origin of the name dates back to about 3920 BCE when Adam and Eve were requested to leave the Botanical Gardens for making fashion statements with plant specimens. At the gate, a little flower is reputed to have cried out “Forget me not”, although why has never been acertained and, perhaps more to the point, the facts remain rather hazy.
Lätte (Läte): Source, spring, fountain. Renamed (1948?-1991) as Lätte A. during the Soviet Era.
Lääne (Lääs): West, western, westerly. Also vest among sailors. See Loode.
Läänekaare (Läänekaar): West, western point/quarter on the horizon. See Põhjakaare.
Lätte A. (Aleksander Läte, 1860–1948): Composer and Estonia’s first music critic. Name change due to fortuitous similarity? Either way, back to the fons in 1991. Soviet Era renaming (1948?-1991) of Lätte.
Läänemere (Läänemeri): The Baltic Sea. Lit. Western Sea. Interestingly, the Finns call it Itämeri or East Sea, but they based the name on the Östersjön of Swedish (their rulers until 1809, 200 years ago: “Happy Birthday!”) for whom it is the East Sea.
Lüli (Lüli): Link (IT, electrical, etc., but also vertebra, segment, etc.). Anyone still crazy enough to still be reading this will be fascinated to know that lülipuidumädanik means druxiness, i.e. decay of the heartwood or, less malevolent, decayed spots concealed by healthy timber. (Just thought I’d say...) Word not to be confused (despite link with vertebrae) with lüll, lülli, which, in some dialects, means gallows. See Juhtme. See also Oomi.
Maasika (Maasikas): Strawberry. Just next door to Vaarika.
Madala (Madal): Shoal, shallow. Renamed (1963-1995) as Nekrassovi N. during the Soviet Era.
Madara (Madar): Bedstraw, goosegrass, Galium spp., some 15-odd species in Estonia. Renamed (1963-1995) after Nikolai Nekrassov, .
Magasini (Magasin): Storehouse, warehouse, named after the military stores then at the end of the street. Renamed (1949-1990) as Tisleri A. during the Soviet Era.
Magdaleena (Magdaleena): Magdalene, after the former Magdalenium or Magdalenium und Trinkerinnen Asyl, Magdalene (institution for receiving repentant prostitutes) and Asylum for Inebriate Women which, of course, were non-existent during Soviet times, so re-labelled (1950-1991) as Lasteaia. Obviously, not all Magdalene churches were associated with fallen women, the 17th-C wood-frame Saint Magdalene church on Kihnu island (pop. 570) being one of the more obvious candidates.
Mahla (Mahl): Juice, sap.
Maikellukese (Maikelluke(ne)): Lily of the Valley (lit. Little May bell), Convallaria majalis lone species in the Convallaria genus, aka Lambakeel, sheep’s tongue.
Mailase (Mailane): Probably Harilik mailane (i.e. common or garden mailane), Heath or Common Speedwell, Common Gypsyweed, Paul’s Betony, Veronica officinalis, aka hundihamba rohi, wolf’s tooth medicine (see also Kassisaba).
Maisi (Mais): Maize, Indian corn. See Kaera. See also Nisu.
Maimu (Maim): Baby fish, stickleback, baby anything. See Ahvena. See also Merihärja.
Majakovski V. (Vladimir Mayakovsky, 1893–1930): Georgian-born Russian poet, playwright and producer of agitprop, committed suicide in 1930. Soviet Era renaming of Kari [1953-1995] and Sitsi [1953-1990])
Marana (Maran): Cinquefoil, Potentilla, herb of the rose family. Name comes from French: “five-leaves”, and may also be called “five-fingers”. Another name refers to the similarly in appearance but not taste of its fruit: “barren strawberry”.
Mardipere (Mardipere): Possibly Martin’s home(stead), former farm name. Farm group. See also Põllumäe.
Mardi (Diedrich Christian Martens, date unknown): Given its history of spelling change - Martena tn (1885), Martensgasse (1893), Martinstraße (1907), Мартенская ул. (1907), Martenstraße (1913) – the rumour it was named after a former landowner who had property on the corner of this street and Liivalaia (they no longer connect) may well be true. Apparently renamed (1936-1991) as Lennuki during the Soviet Era.
Marja (Mari): 1) Berry; 2) Roe (of fish). See Kirsi. See also Muraka.
Matrossovi A. (Alexander Matveyevich Matrosov, 1924-1943): Young lad, full of zeal, full of bullets. Hero of the Soviet Union, reported to have thrown himself in front of a German machine-gun to allow his comrades to advance, but apparently dragged there (for some arcane reason) by German soldiers. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990) of Tondi.
Meika (Meigas): Aka Kaelustuvi, Common Wood-Pigeon, Columba palumbus. Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Meleka.
Meleka (Melekas): Alternative name for õõnetuvi, stock dove or pigeon, Columba oenas (see Tuvi). Other names include: hall utt, hutt, huut-ütt, hütt, kuugitaja, kuutaja, kähklane, kühklane, küüklane, laanetuvi, lõigas, meelekas, meelikas, mehik(as), mehike, mehka, mehuk(as), mehuke, meigas, melgas, mellekene, meltsas, meokas, meoke, meos, metstui, metstuvi, metsutt, meukas, meuke, miegas, moigas, mõegas, mõigas, mõlsas, mõo, mõukas, mõõgas, mälakas, mältsas, mölsas, möltsas, puuk, põldpüü, põllutuvi, sootaja, tootaja, tuutaja, tütt, udutaja, uhkur, utikana, utt, utu, utukana, utukukk, utulind, utumargus, uudut, uuhütt, uurlup, and perhaps... meeliku. (But perhaps not.) Birds, like flowers, can have dozens of different names according to region, dialect, etc., sometimes hundreds, which can be quite a bugger. See Linnu. See also Metsise.
Meremehe (Meremees): Seaman, sailor, seafarer. See Jahimehe. See also Metsavahi.
Merihärja (Merihärg): Fourhorn sculpin, Triglopsis quadricornis. See Ahvena. See also Merinõela.
Merinõela (Merinõel): Broad-nosed pipefish, Syngnathus typhle, related to the sea-horse and looks (with a bit of imagination) like one that’s been pulled straight. See Ahvena. See also Nigli.
Merivälja (Meriväli): Open land by the sea.
Mesika (Mesikas): Melilot, Melilotus, also known as Sweet Clover.
Metsavahi (Metsavaht): Game warden, ranger. See Jahimehe. See also Metsniku.
Metsise (Metsis): Usual name for Western Capercaillie, Tetrao urogallus. Breeds in Estonia. Aka Mõtuse. See Linnu. See also Mõtuse.
Metsniku (Metsnik): Forester, woodman, gamekeeper. See Jahimehe. See also Rätsepa.
Mirta (?): No answer. Mirt is myrtle, but the gentive is Mirdi. Fidel Castro married a Mirta Díaz Balart in 1948...
Mooni (Moon): Poppy. At least ten genera of plants produce poppies, but the one referred to is probably the good old Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum, whose seeds are used in many a fine Estonian cake. See Lille. See also Tulbi.
Mitšurini I. (Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, 1855–1935): Russian geneticist, pomologist and plant hybridizer with a touch of the Lamarckian about him. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1987/9) of Wismari.
Moora (Moor): Moor, but with reservations: the only references to moora found are in compound words such as Mooramaa, Mooramees or Mooramaalane (Ethiopia, Blackamoor or Negro), so perhaps they were chosen during pre-CPPC (communist party politically correct) days to welcome the African communists invited to study in Soviet universities. Soviet Era renaming (1958-1994) of Nõva.
Moskva (Moskva): Moscow.
Mugula (Mugul): Bulb, tuber.
Muhu (Muhu): Island between Estonia and Saaremaa. Also muhk muhu, bump, swelling (chilblains are külmamuhud) and, for those who still remember them (Hi Mum!) bubonic boil, but one hopes the municipal naming authorities do not have quite so much imagination.
Mulla (Muld): Earth, soil.
Munga (Munk): Monk, friar. Renamed (1950-1987) as Müürivahe during the Soviet Era.
Muraka (Murakas): Blackberry, bramble. Three main varieties in Estonia: Põldmurakas, Dewberry, Rubus caesius; Mesimurakas, Arctic Raspberry, R. arcticus; and Rabamurakas, the Cloudberry, R. chamaemorus. See Kaarla, Kirsi & Mureli.
Mureli (Murel): Morello cherry. Commonly found in Estonia, along with the pomegranate and banana, in supermarkets. See Kirsi. See also Sõstra.
Muru (Muru): Grass, turf, sod, lawn. See Auna.
Musimägi (0): Common alternative spelling of Musumägi, musi may be a more childlike way of saying musu, kiss.
Mustakivi (Mustakivi): Black stone. See also Kivi. Renamed (1980-1989) as 21. Juuli during the Soviet Era.
Mustamäe (Mustamägi): Black hill, black mountain. Although use of the word “mountain” is questionable. Most capital cities have buildings taller than Estonia’s mountains. Right or wrong, the nominative Mustamägi is sometimes heard. Even saying “black” is questionable too. One of the only Estonian words which gives me a touch of urticaria is this one: must. It means black, but also dirty, and for people, a mustlane is a black person, gypsy, moor. Reminds me of scrubland in the Pantanal, Brazil, described by a local as sujo, literally dirty but to him meaning untamed, unfarmed, thus representing the dark, perhaps frightening, nature of tropical forest with its wild animals and insects. Simplest translation for both would be, for peoples of very much earlier or less civilised times: "bad".
Mustika (Mustikas): Bilberry, whortleberry, blaeberry, blueberry, Vaccinum myrtillus.
Mustjuure (Mustjuur): Black salsify, lit. black root, Scorzonera hispanica, aka Spanish salsify, Viper’s Grass, Serpent Root (Latin names derives from Italian scorzone, snake, itself from Low Latin curtio, viper, due to its (extremely) short, curtus, members), and Black Oyster Plant. Next door to Rõika.
Mustjõe (Mustjõgi): Black river. Known variously as Sarlote, Sarlotte, Scharlottentali, Scharlottentaler, Шарлоттентальская ул until 1939.
Muti (Mutt): Mole (not the facial sort). Also means old crone; type of dragnet; game of cards; and the holes for cord along the edge of a sail. Definitely a street to be divided in two. What may once have been a legitimate A to B is now separated by a mammoth 3-hectare block of buildings spanning a width of 100m through which few cars could negotiate without minimum distress to their no claims bonus. Change one of the names! Up-grade one of them to Vesimutt, Eurasian Water Shrew.
Musumägi (0): Kiss Hill, Snoggers’ Mountain or, perhaps closer to the sense, Petters’ Bulge…, informal name of Virumägi (see Musimägi).
Muuga (Muuk): 1) Tongue-tied, clumsy; 2) Harbour town a few miles east of Tallinn (to which they probably are referring).
Muuluka (Muulukas): Sometimes known as the Green Pine Strawberry, Fragaria viridis, unusual in that most strawberries are 7-chromosome haploid, while this one is 14-chromosome diploid.
Mõigu (Mõik): The word means “utricle” (either the plant, a “small bladder” or chamber of the inner ear…), but probably refers to Mõigu kalmistu (Ger. Friedhof / Kirchhof von Moik), the cemetery (now suburb) built for Baltic-Germans in 1774 as a result of Catherine the Great’s 1772 edict (just after the Moscow plague and riot) prohibiting burials in church crypts or within city walls. Razed by the Soviet army in 1950-51 along with the Kopli and Kalamaja cemeteries.
Mõisa (Mõis): Country estate, manor. This one probably referring to former Haabersti mõis across the road.
Mõisapõllu (Mõisapõld): Fields of a manorial estate.
Mõtuse (Mõtus): Alternative name for the Metsis: Western Capercaillie. See Linnu. See also Nepi.
Mõrra (Mõrd): Weel, fish snare, fish trap. Originally the fish basket made from withies or similar into which fish could swim but rarely escape, it now tends to mean the long tube tensed by rings looking like a single-ended lobster net.
Mõõna (Mõõn): Ebb, low tide, ebb and flow is mõõn ja tõus.
Mäe (Mägi): Mountain, hill, mound, molehill… Since the highest point in Estonia is Suur Munamägi (big egg hill), culminating at the giddy height of 317 m above sea level (318 at low tide), any toponym involving mägi or mäe can, at most, only refer to a hill. However, our natural generosity will allow the occasional mountain. There seems to be evidence that, a long, long time ago, mäe as a placename ending might have meant “on top of”, “over”, or “above”...
Mäealuse (Mäealus): Foot of the mountain, bottom of the hill.
Mäekalda (Mäekallas): Upper slope, upper bankside, one of the most beautiful streets in Tallinn, although going downhill somewhat since I moved out.
Mäekõrtsi (Mäekõrts): Hill tavern.
Mäeküla (Mäeküla): Village (lit. upper village) and lake in Viljandimaa, and village in almost every other county too.
Mäepealse (Mäepealne): On top of the mountain. Perhaps the most inappropriate street name in the entire country.
Mägra (Mäger): Badger. Native to Estonia is the Eurasian Badger, Meles meles. See Hirve. See also Naaritsa.
Mähe (0): Apparently derived from the name of a farm belonging to the Estonian equivalent of a yeoman, or small-freeholding farmer of status below that of gentleman, originally recorded (Swedish surveyor Johann Holmberg's Tallinn map of 1689) as Meheperre, the latter part of the compound possibly an early spelling of pere, farm, family, household.
Mähe-Kaasiku (Mähe-Kaasik): [Mähe district] Birch grove.
Mändmetsa J. (Jakob Mändmets, 1871-1930): Writer. Author of village-life short stories. Contributor to the Tartu Postimees and Tallinn's Uus Aeg". Editor (1906-1910) of Päevaleht. Died on Christmas Day. Not a nice present.
Mängu (Mäng): Play, game, hand, toy. Named after a nearby fairground area.
Männi (Mänd): Pine. Harilik mänd, Scots Pine, Pinus sylvestris. Commonest tree in Estonia: almost 40% of trees and stands are pine.
Männiku (Männik): Pine wood, pine grove.
Männiliiva (Männiliiv): Pine sand. What it is and why would anyone use it to name a street is anyone's guess.
Männimetsa (Männimets): Pine forest.
Männipark (0): Pine park.
Möldre (?): Village / Small town in Valgamaa and Võrumaa; perhaps a local farm name, maybe an Estionianisation of some Germanic name, possibly an erroneous genitive of mölder, miller (should be möldri), improbably Hugo-Johannes Möldre, 1896-1983, soldier and politician; and highly unlikelily Vassili Mölder-Proletaarlane, 1878-1943, poet and revolutionary with 8 years inside for agitprop. Suggestions?
Müta (Mütt): Long pole with hoof-shaped end used to scare fish (presumably equiphobic) into a net. Also wooden stirring stick, presumably the domestic forefather to the preceding hi-tech device. See Abara. See also Nata.
Müürivahe (Müürivahe): Between the (city) walls. Müüri, however, is singlular, so maybe “space behind the city wall” (i.e. the arcades) would be a better rendering, although it probably implies between the city wall and the row of houses opposite. Also Soviet Era renaming (1950-1987) of Munga.
Naadi (Naat): Goutweed, Ground Elder, Snow-on-the-Mountain, Bishop’s Weed, Aegopodium podagraria.
Nabra (Naber): Shock of corn, stook. See Aru. See also Orase.
Naaritsa (Naarits): Mink. Native to Estonia, wild in Hiiumaa, is the Euroopa naarits, European mink, Mustela lutreola. See Hirve. See also Nugise.
Nafta (Nafta): Mineral oil, petroleum, naphtha. See Bensiini. See also Petrooleumi..
Nahhimovi P. (Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov, 1802–1855): Famed 19th-C Russian admiral, commander at the Siege of Sebastopol during Crimean War. Soviet Era renaming (1953-1990) of Erika.
Naistepuna (Naistepuna): St. John’s Wort, Hypericum. Plant of medical interest. May cause serious problems in grazing cattle, ranging from debilitating photosensitivity and to even abortion. Use with caution.
Nata (Natt): Crawfish net, i.e. net affixed to circular structure (prob. wood), itself attached by cord to a long pole. See Abara. See also Nooda.
Neiuvaiba (Neiuvaip): Lit. maiden’s covering, carpet or tapestry, Epipactis, Helleborine, Epipactis terrestrial orchids with a fondness for wet environments. Yo Estonia!
Nekrassovi N. (Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov, 1821–1878): Russian poet, writer and critic. First editor of Dostoievsky. Publisher of literary magazine Sovremennik (The Contemporary, founded by Pushkin) from 1846 until 1866, publishing Turgenev, Tolstoy, and even Flaubert... Soviet Era renaming (1963-1995) of Madala.
Nepi (Nepp): Snipe. (It also means NEP, which, for any pre-geriatric still struggling through, mean New Economic Policy, a Soviet-devised method of self-impoverishment). Two species breeding in Estonia: Mudanepp, Jack Snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus and Rohunepp, Great Snipe, Gallinago media. See Linnu. See also Pardi.
Nelgi (Nelk): Pink, dianthus, carnation, Dianthus, from the Greek: God’s flower. Three species indigenous to Estonia: Nurmnelk, Maiden Pink, Dianthus deltoides, with dark red blossoms; Nõmmnelk, Sand Pink, D. arenarius, with white blossoms; Aasnelk, Large Pink, D. superbus, with pink blossoms. The name pink has nothing to do with colour, but refers to the fringed, or “pinked” edges. Pinking shears, as every needle-person knows, are scissors designed for cutting fabric and limiting fraying. The carnation is also one of Estonia’s favourite gift flowers. My wife hates them.
Nigli (Nigli): Lesser or small sand eel, Ammodytes tobianus, better known as väike tobias, little toby.. See Ahvena. See also Räime.
Niguliste (0): Nicolas, presumed dead around 350 CE, relics nicked by Italian merchants in 1087; patron of sailors, children, unwed girls, apothecaries, merchants, pawnbrokers and perfumiers, and patron saint of Russia. Saint’s day: Dec. 6, evolution into Santa Claus began during Middle Ages. Also Soviet Era renaming (1948-1987) of Kuninga.
Niidi (Niit): Thread, filament. See Sitsi. See also Puuvilla.
Niine (Niin): Bast, bass, phloem, inner bark of lime trees.
Nikonovi J. (Jevgeni Nikonov, 1920-1941): Heroic Russian marine who fought in the defense of Tallinn in 1941, and, according to legend, was burned alive by the Germans. Soviet Era renaming (1951-1991) of Soo.
Nirgi (Nirk): Weasel. As they say: Eagles soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
Nooda (Noot): Seine, sweep net, dragnet. See Abara. See also Piiritsa.
Nisu (Nisu): Wheat. Kivi puts this in the teraviljanimeliste, grain cereals, street name group, but should probably go in his kõrsviljanimeliste group. See Kaera. See also Rukki.
Nooruse (Noorus): Youth. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1987) of Suur-Kloostri.
Nugise (Nugis): Marten. Native to Estonia are the Metsnugis, Pine marten, Martes martes, and Kivinugis, Beech marten, M. foina. Named or Renamed (1927-2001) as Auto during the Soviet Era. See Hirve. See also Põdra.
Nulu (Nulg): Aka Siberi nulg, Siberian Fir, Abies sibirica.
Nunne (Nunn): Given, probably due to popular usage, by no less than KNAB (who ought to know better), Ehitusregister and Regio as Nunne, the correct form is Nunna, from Nunn: Nun, after one of its gates, Porta Monialium and, with 99.9% certainty, a onetime nearby nunnery. Recorded in the Middle Ages as susterstrate (1361) or platea sancti monialium (1364), and later as platea sororum (1480) and Süsterstrasse (1606), the Soviets, perhaps due to its ending up in front of another place of mass congregation, Balti Jaam, christened this and Väike-Kloostri with the slightly more pedestrian denomination of Vaksali (1950-1987).
Nurklik (Nurklik): Angular. See Joone. See also Otse.
(Nurmenukk): Cowslip, Primula veris, full name Harilik nurmenukk, literal translation uncertain: Common (yes) meadow (yes) projecting part (sort of, if you look at the flower). Other names, equally bizarre, include kanavarvas (chicken toe), käekaatsad (work trousers made from tow or linen), taevavõti (heavenly key, key to heaven?), saksapüksid (German, i.e. posh, trousers), kikkapüksi (trousers that stand up on their own?), piimapisarad (drops of milk), pääsulill (escape/salvation flower). As we see, consensus rules.
Nõmme-Kase (Nõmme-Kask): [Nõmme district] Birch. Renamed (1960-1990) as Tiivas A. during the Soviet Era.
Nõukogude (0, attributive): Soviet. Soviet Era renaming (1948-1989) of Falgi and Komandandi.
Nõva (Nõva): Gully, bed, channel. Renamed (1958-1994) as Moora during the Soviet Era.
Näsiniine (Näsiniin): Mezereon, spring-flowering shrub, Daphne mezereum, with poisonous berries. One of its alternative names, Surmalill, death flower, seems to drive the point home white well.
Oblika (Oblikas): Sorrel, dock, Rumex. Leaves of of the broad-leaved dock, Rumex obtusifolius, traditionally used to soothe brushes with stinging-nettles, and recent research has shown them to contain anti-histamines.
Ogaliku (Ogalik): Stickleback. Despite the importance of sticklebacks to the development of ethology, the street this name was given to in 1995 was spinelessly gutted and buried the raw concrete of modern urbanity six years later. Then, adding insult to injury, they gave it to another street and, less than 12 weeks later, binned it again! This is unacceptable. What do thay have against sticklebacks? They don’t even have Raudkiisk (cf. Kiisa), the sea stickleback or, is it's known in Ireland, 15-spined stickleback, only true marine Gasterostid so lovingly linnaeanised as Spinachia spinachia (raud, iron, spinach, Popeye...) All wrong: spinach, originally called “Spanish vegetable”, contains less available iron than cauliflower. The story has it that, way back in the 1870s, a certain German Dr. E von Wolf published a paper giving spinach’s iron content as 10 times higher than it was due to a misplaced decimal point. Maybe, but the certain German Doktor has proved remarkably elusive and the whole thing may well be an urban legend, perhaps created to exculpate the Sailor Man's creators for their blathering nonsense. Either way, a tricky piece of greenery. As the decidedly odd US lawyer Clarence Darrow once said: “I don’t like spinach, and I’m glad I don’t, because if I liked it I’d eat it, and I just hate it”). The stickleback is a noble fish, a close relative to the sea-horse and scaleless as a dolphin, it is a nest-builder and tender wetnurse of relatively cuddly sticklebabies cynically abandoned by an uncaring mother. See Maimu.
Oja (Oja): Brook, small stream. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990) of Uue Maailma.
Oki F. (Feodor Okk, 1898–1941): Sometime Secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia Tallinn City Committee. Commissar of a 1941 Soviet Destruction Battalion (See also Pasternaki M.). Name occasionally written as Okki in genitive. For once not a Soviet Era (1979-1994) renaming (of Loitsu), they seem to have built it.
Oksa (Oks): Branch, limb, bough.
Oktoobri (Oktoober): October: a nice month... and a nice wide road for any number of Oktoberfest tankards to come rolling in from the east… Soviet Era renaming (1986-1992) of Laagna.
Olevi (Olev): Short for Olevipoeg, Olev’s son. According to Kreutzwald, cousin and fighting companion of the epic hero Kalevipoeg, Kalev’s son, or, possibly, alliterative poetic variant of Kalev’s name, and/or giant and/or cryptic stranger who built St Olaf’s Church (Oleviste) in Tallinn (and died as he planted the spire). See also Sulevi.
Oomi (Oom): Ohm. See Juhtme. See also Vati.
Orase (Oras): Young crop, first shoots of grain. See Aru. See also Pebre.
Orava (Orav): Squirrel.
Oru (Org): Valley.
Osja (Osi): Equisetum, Horsetail, Equisetum, a remarkable survivor from the past. The only known living genus of its kind, this group of plants began evolving in the Middle Devonian (±400 M years ago), becoming a dominant species of the undergrowth of Carboniferous forests, and involuntary contributor to much coal, and still exists today with an almost worldwide distribution.
Oti (Ott): Old name for bear, although the genitive seems to be ote in Otepää, town and location of historical hillfort in southern Estonia and, hard to believe, not used to name a single Tallinn street.
Otse ((adverb)): Direct, straight. See Joone. See also Sirge.
Paabusilma (Paabusilm): Lit. peacock’s eye. Probably Päeva-paabusilm, the Peacock butterfly, Inachis io, although it could also be one of the saturnid moths: Kevad-paabusilm, Emperor moth, Saturnia pavonia or Hiid-paabusilm, Great Peacock moth, S. pyri, etc. All of which for nothing: street planned but never built... See Kannustiiva. See also Piksepeni.
Paakspuu (Paakspuu): Aka Harilik paakspuu, aka mõruuibu (bitter apple-tree), etc., Alder, Glossy or Breaking Buckthorn, Black Dogwood, Rhamnus frangula or Frangula alnus.
Paavli (Paavel): Paul, perhaps a common or garden first or family name but, given that the horrid agnostics across the border defrocked him (1950-1990) in favour of Popovi A., they too might have guessed the saint (feast day 25th January).
Padriku (Padrik): Thicket, coppice.
Pae (Pass): Limestone. See Killustiku. See also Paekivi.
Paekaare (Paekaar): Limestone point. Renamed (±1978-1991) Kindral Fedjuninski during the Soviet Era.
Paekivi (Paekivi): Limestone, flagstone. See Killustiku. See also Pallasti.
Paekalda (Paekallas): 1) Limestone bank or bluff; 2) Klint, glint. If you believe the back of a 100-krooni note, it also means “limestone shore”.
Paevälja (Paeväli): Limestone sheet (expanse of limestone???).
Paju (Paju): Willow, Withy. Thd willow has two main common names separating them in Estonian, although they’re both Salix, Paju and Remmelga. Lots of them: Halapaju, Violet Willow, Salix acutifolia; Hanepaju, Creeping Willow, S. repens; Hundipaju, Rosemary-leaved Willow, S. rosmarinifolia; Kahevärviline paju, Tea-leaved Willow, S. phylicifolia; Kõrvpaju, Eared Willow, S. aurita; Lapi paju, Downy Willow, S. lapponum; Mustikpaju, Swamp Willow, S. myrtilloides; Mustjas paju, Dark-leaved Willow, S. myrsinifolia; Punapaju, Purple Willow, S. purpurea; Tuhkur paju, Grey sallow, S. cinerea; Vesipaju, Almond Willow, S. triandra; Vitspaju, Common osier, S. viminalis; and a few less known outside Estonia; Härmpaju, S. daphnoides; Pikalehine paju, S. dasyclados and Verkjas paju, S. starkeana
Pajude (Pajud [pl.]): Willows, withies. (Sing. Paju)
Pajustiku (Pajustik): Willow plot, osier.
Pakase (Pakane): Severe cold, frost, Pakasetaat, lit. “old man frost”, is Jack Frost. See Halla. See also Rahe.
Palderjani (Palderjan): Valerian, Garden Valerian, Garden Heliotrope, Valeriana officinalis. Its other name, All-Heal, reflects its use as medicinal plant as mild sedative and anti-insomniac. Smell attracts cats.
Paljandi (Paljand): Denuded place.
Pallasti (Pallast): Ballast. Known as Ballasti until 1939, but genuine Estonian names do not (or should not) start with a B, D or G. See Killustiku. See also Sikupilli.
Paljassaare (Paljassaar): Bare, bleak island. Paljassaar is as much peninsula, district, road, harbour, bird reserve, as host to Tallinn’s primary sewage plant with 20 settling tanks and 200,000 m² of sludge-drying beds. Lastly, for its happy residents, it has a beach.
Palusambla (Palusammal): Feather Moss, Schreber’s Moss, Pleurozium schreberi. See Harusambla. See also Sambliku.
Paneeli (Paneel): Panel. See Armatuuri. See also Visase.
Papli (Pappel): Poplar. Berliini pappel, a cultivar we can probably call Berlin Poplar, Populus x berolinensis.
Pardi (Part): Duck, Teal, Pintail, etc. Numerous species breeding in Estonia: Ameerika piilpart, Green-winged Teal, Anas carolinensis; Ameerika viupart, American Wigeon, A. americana; Luitsnokk-part, Northern Shoveler, A. clypeata; Piilpart, Eurasian Teal, A. crecca; Ristpart, Common Shelduck, Tadorna tadorna; Rägapart, Garganey, A. querquedula; Rääkspart, Gadwall, A. strepera; Sinikael-part, Mallard, A. platyrhynchos; Sini-rägapart, Blue-winged Teal, A. discors; Soopart aka Pahlsaba-part, Northern Pintail, A. acuta; Tulipart, Ruddy Shelduck, T. ferruginea and Viupart, Eurasian Wigeon, A. penelope. See Linnu. See also Püü.
Paplite (Paplid [pl.]): Poplars. (Sing. Papli).
Pargi (Park): Park.
Parmu (Parm): Horsefly, gadfly, Tabanidae. Largest of the true flies, major pollinators but nasty biters. Estonia is home to 1% of the world’s 3000-odd species. See Kiili. See also Sipelga.
Partisani (Partisan): Member of a resistance guerrilla movement against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during WWII. Soviet Era renaming (1980-1994) of Raadiku.
Parve (Parv): 1) Flock, school, swarm; 2) Raft.
Pasternaki M. (Mikhail Fadeevich Pasternak, 1908-1941): Captain of the 1941 operational group of the Destruction (or Extermination) Battalions (Russian: Истребительные батальоны, Estonian: Hävituspataljonid) formed from “local” communists to fight Anti-Soviet partisans using, among others, an up-graded version of scorched earth tactics stretched to include farms, farmers, their wives, labourers and children. For some, a war criminal or perpetrator of crimes against humanity, for others (paraphrasing): “a hero whose name is inscribed in gold letters”. Please choose. No relation to Boris, author of Omar Sharif goes to town. See also Oki F.. Soviet Era renaming (1979-1995) of Pikri.
Pebre (Peber): Broken or crushed hay and seeds at bottom of hayrick. During Soviet times, collecting these perishables was rewarded by special travel permits, allowing many women and children to visit otherwise inaccessible destinations such as Siberia. See Aru. See also Ristiku.
Pedaja (Pedajas): Pine. Alternative name for Männi.
Petrooleumi (Petrooleum): Petroleum. Street created/named around 1904 after the Nobel Brothers’ petroleum depot. Albert did not make all his money from dynamite and gelignite: he and his brothers Ludvig and Robert and, later, Ludvig’s son Emanuel were among the world’s leading oil barons, with some 50% of global oil production coming from their company Branobel in Baku, Azerbaijan. See Bensiini.
Peterburi (Peterburi (+Peterburg & dozens of variants)): Saint Petersburg (1703-1914 & 1991-), capital of Russian Empire for over 200 years. Previously known as Leningrad (1924–1991) and Petrograd (1914–1924). Founded a few km upstream of Nyenskans, a Swedish fortress on the Neva captured at the end of the Great Northern War. No prizes for guessing the street was renamed Leningradi from 1948 to 1992.
Pihlaka (Pihlakas): Aka Harilik pihlakas, Rowan, Common or European Rowan, Montain Ash, Sorbus aucuparia. Its berries are an important food for many Estonian birds.
Pihlametsa (Pihlamets): Rowan wood, grove.
Piibelehe (Piibeleht): Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis, same family as Knautia arvensis (see Jaanilille and Tähtpea. Also alternative name for Maikellukese, Lily of the Valley.
Piibri (Piiber): Common name for the beaver, aka Harilik kobras, European beaver, Castor fiber, native to Estonia.
Piiritsa (Piirits): Net-making needle. See Abara. See also Poru.
Piiskopi (Piiskop): Bishop. Renamed (1948-1989) as Kallaku during the Soviet Era.
Pikri (Pikker): Thunder. Runs parallel to the slightly quieter Kahu. Renamed (1979-1995) as Pasternaki M. during the late Soviet Era)
Piksepeni (Piksepeni): Lit. Thunderstorm dog (peni is an alternative or dialect word for dog, more common in the southern half of E). Strictly, a woolly bear: caterpillar of the Arctiidae moth family, but also name of the Scarlet Tiger moth itself, Callimorpha dominula But probably used, as in English, for a variety of hairy caterpillars. See Kannustiiva. See also Päevakoera.
Pilve (Pilv): Cloud. See Komeedi. See also Saturni.
Pilviku (Pilvik): Russula, probably the Kollane pilvik, yellow swamp russula or brittlegill, Russula claroflava, an edible mushroom.
Pinu (Pinu): Pile or stack of (fire-)wood.
Pioneeride (Pioneerid [pl.]): Communist youth organization for elementary school children usually on their way to joining Komsomol. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990) of Toom-Kuninga.
Pirni (Pirn): 1) Pear; 2) Lightbulb - Kellelegi pirni panema: To play a practical joke on someone, make someone’s life miserable, take someone for a ride.
Ploomi (Ploom): Plum, prune.
Pohla (Pohl): Aka Harilik pohl (harilik = common), other names include paluk (± that which grows in heathy pine woodland), poolamari (Poland berry), kuradimari (devil's berry), this is the Cowberry, Lingonberry and sometimes aka Red Whortleberry, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, actually a false or epigynous berry, as are the banana, cucumber and melon. See Jõhvika, or, why not, Kirsi.
Pojengi (Pojeng): Peony, Paeonia.
Poru (Poru): Stone used as anchor. Also alternative spelling for porro, leek, rarely used in fishing. See Abara. See also Selise.
Popovi A. (Alexander Stepanovich Popov, 1859-1906): Russian physicist who first demonstrated the practical application of electromagnetic waves (some say inventor of the radio), but failed to apply for a patent. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990) of Paavli.
Poska J. (Jaan Poska, 1866–1920): Main signatory to the Treaty of Tartu on 2nd February 1920 between Estonia and the Russian SFSR recognising Estonia de jure, the latter relinquishing (Art.2) ‘for ever all rights of sovereignty formerly held by Russia over the Esthonian people and territory...’ (sic), Mayor of Tallinn 1913-1917. Known as Liiva from some time in the first half of the 19th-C until 1927. Soviet Era renaming (1940-1991]: Leineri A..
Prii (Prii): Free, gratis and for nothing. Except when it wasn't, e.g. Rahnu, from rahn, boulder, block or megalith, (1940-1941) and Kalju (1929-±-1959). This was in the Nõmme, Rahumäe, district. The other Prii, in Põhja-Tallinn, Kalamaja, seems to have enjoyed a bizarre Estonian stability, its prime pen pals being Freistraße and Свободная.
Priimula (Priimula): Primrose, primula, apparently any member of the large Primula family, along with the auricula, cowslip and oxlip.
Pronksi (Pronks): Bronze. Renamed (1974-1990], along with Jõe and Liivalaia, as Kingissepa V. during the Soviet Era. See Hõbeda. See also Raua.
Puhangu (Puhang): Gust, puff, blast, outbreak. Renamed (1953-1995) as Herzeni A. during the Soviet Era.
Puhma (Puhm(as)): Clump, tussock
Puju (Puju): Mugwort, Artemisia vulgaris, plant with a long and… legendary past. Alternative names tell interesting stories. English: Sailor’s Tobacco (fairly obvious), Naughty Man (used in the Middle-Ages to flavour beer,and perhaps for to its hallucinogenic properties), Old uncle Henry (pass). Estonian: ema-rohi, mother medicine, because reputed to rotate breach foetuses or, perhaps more useful on occasions, abort them; langetõverohi, epilepsy medicine, the plant contains thujone, found in absinthe believed to cause epilepsy; and sala-koi-rohi, mysterymonger drug or secrecy-fogey-drug (hallucinogen again). It also gave its name to the city of Chernobyl (Ukrainian: Чорнобиль = mugwort, literally, чорний, black, билля, grass/stalks). Lastly, modern-day witches use it for astral travel, saving considerable sums of money in airport taxes.
Punane (0): Red. Street in the nominative, in other words, instead of being the “street of X” typical of Estonian, this is “X street”. Why, not sure. Perhaps being abstract, unlike “street of the leg” / “street of the hill”, etc., makes it simply sound odd: “street of the red”? On the other hand, there is a Halli (grey) in nearby Viimsi, but being next to a Katlamaja (boilerhouse) could suggest something else. See also Roheline.
Pune (Pune): 1) Oregano; 2) Twist, twisted yarn, strand of string of rope. The genitive of both these acceptations should be puneme, although pune seems to persist.???
Punga (Pung): Bud, shoot, burgeon.
Pusta A. (August Pusta, 1904–1971): Colonel (polkovnik, from polk [Ru. полк], regiment, nothing to do with dancing) of the Soviet Army’s 8th Estonian Rifle Corps. Soviet Era renaming (1979-1994/5) of Kahu and Lummu.
Putke (Putk): Mixed collection of plants including members of the Apiaceae family such as the niitputk, Cachrys sp.; nokkputk, Scandix sp.; or hiid-karuputk, Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum, which can cause severe dermatitis if sap gets on the skin; or the carrot family such as nurm-ogaputk, Field Eryngo, Eryngium campestre; or again nuusk-anniputk, Dorema ammoniacum) from which the resin gum ammoniac (nuusksool is smelling-salts, i.e. ammonium carbonate with lavender) is obtained.
Puu (Puu): Tree, wood.
Puuvilja (Puuvili): 1) Fruit; 2) Windfall.
Puuvilla (Puuvill): Cotton. See Sitsi.
Põdra (Põder): Moose, Elk, Alces alces, native to Estonia. See Hirve. See also Rebase.
Põhja (Põhja): North, northern, northerly. Also noord or nord among sailors. See Kirde.
Põhjakaare (Põhjakaar): North, northern point/quarter on the horizon. See Vesikaare.
Põdrakanepi (Põdrakanep): Willowherb (lit. elk’s hemp), Epilobium. Some species, such as the Small-flowered Willowherb E. parviflorum is reputed to improve erectile dysfunction, although the opposite may be more useful.
Põldma (?): Possible farmname, põldmaa would be arable land and it as not uncommon for the last “a” to be dropped in farm/family names.
Põldmarja (Põldmari): Alternative name for Põldmurakas, Dewberry, Rubus caesius. See Murakas.
Põllumäe (Põllumägi): Hillfield. Farm group. See also Taludevahe.
Põõsa (Põõsas): Bush, shrub.
Päevakoera (Päevakoer): Lit. day dog (cf. Piksepeni). Garden tiger moth, Arctia caja, or cream-spot tiger moth, A. villica. See Kannustiiva. See also Pääsusaba.
Pähkli (Pähkel): Nut, hazelnut.
Päikese (Päike(ne)): Sun.
Pärja (Pärg): Wreath, garland. Known before 1925 as Шаховская чл, probably after Prince Sergey Vladimirovich Shakhovskoy (1852-1894), governor-general of Estonia from 1885 to 1894, chairman of the committee in charge of building the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and patron of the Pühtitsa Convent (Kuremäe Jumalaema Uinumise nunnaklooster), 40 km WSW of Narva. Known also, temporarily (1940-1941) as Jänese, hare. See also Vaniku. Street gave part of its length to Tammepärja in 1989.
Pärnade (Pärnad [pl.]): Aka Harilik pärn, Small-leaved Lime, Little-leaf Linden or Greenspire Linden, Tilia cordata. Its fragrant flowers are very popular with bees and makers of herbal tea. The bottom layers of bast used to be used for mats, cord, and viiskud, shoes/slippers made from bast. One of its other names is Niinepuu, lit. bast tree.
Pärniku (Pärnik): Lime grove.
Pääsusaba (Pääsusaba): Swallowtail (butterfly). Like Paabusilma, street planned but never built. See Kannustiiva. See also Silmiku.
Pääsusilma (Pääsusilm): Bird’s-eye primrose, Primula farinosa, aka Jaanilill.
Pöögelmanni H. (Hans Pöögelmann, 1875-1938): Poet, translator and Member of the Soviet of the Commune of the Working People of Estonia. Death in 1938 suggests a less than favourable review of his verse by the NKVD… Soviet Era renaming (1959-1990) of Kaupmehe.
Pühavaimu (Pühavaim): Holy Spirit, after its nearby church. With a long history of name change: retro ecclesiam sancti spiriti e. capellam (1363) or strate achter dem hilghem gheeste (1389) (both meaning behind the Holy Ghost church and chapel) and later variants such as Hiiligöösti ulits (1732), etc. Renamed (1948-1987) as Säde during the Soviet Era.
Püü (Püü): Ptarmigan. Both Laanepüü, Hazel Grouse, Bonasa bonasia and Rabapüü, Willow Ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus breed in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Ronga.
Raadiku (Raadik): Stony, unproductive ground. Renamed (1980-1994) as Partisani during the Soviet Era.
Raamatukogu (Raamatukogu): Library, public library, lit. Book collection Soviet Era renaming (1950-1989) of Kiriku.
Rabtšinski I. (Ivan Vasilyevich Rabchinsky, 1879–1950): One-time Chairman of the Military Revolutionary (Communist) Committee and, later, editor of various Estonian partisan newspapers. Name lives on on Russian cargo ship tramping the seven seas. Soviet Era renaming (1964-1990) of Vabriku.
Raekoja (Raekoda): Town hall. Lit. council house, the rae part comes from German raten, to advise. TT
Rahe (Rahe): Hail. See Halla. See also Räitsaka.
Rahu (Rahu or Rahk): Tricky: given it’s location next to Raudtee, the possible translation (from nominative rahu) of quiet, tranquility, calm, peace or truce may seem like misleading advertising. On the other hand, Hiiu-Rahu kalmistu (cemetary), a place of quiet, tranquility if ever there was one, is just across the track. Then again, the equally possible translation (from nominative rahk) of shingle, gravel, rubble or scree seems quite appropriate too. Despite nearby hospitals, we will exclude kidney (also from nominative rahu), and, checking Kivi, find it was known as Friedenstrasse in 1922, so quiet it is. Renamed (1987-1991) as Hiiu-Rahu during the Soviet Era.
Rahukohtu (Rahukoht): Place of quiet. Renamed Rahvakohtu, people’s place, by the Soviets (1950-1989), but what the point of it was is beyond me.
Rahumäe (Rahumägi): Quiet hill.
Rahvakooli (Rahvakool): State primary or elementary school.
Rahvamaleva (Rahvamalev): People’s army. Soviet Era renaming (1959-1994) of Hiiu-Maleva. With a history of chronic name change: Started as Ohvitseri (officer), split up into Maleva and Tamme (which used to be Walkre after local houseowner Mr Walker) in 1922 with an interlude as Ava (opening, orifice), and brief flirtations with Taru (see Asula) (1940) and Käolina (1959).
Raie (Raie): Cutting, hewing, chopping trees, lumbering. Previously Kuldnoka. Temporarily Meika (1940). Fleetingly Ristnoka (crossbill). Anciently, Ивановская ул (KKK).
Raku (Rakk): 1) Bladder, air-bladder (in fish), cell in beehive, blister; 2) Small wooden pail.
Randla (Randla): Shore (alternative form of rand), or place by the beach. Renamed (1953-1995) as Tšaikovski P. during the Soviet Era.
Rangu (?): There is a tiny village in Marjamaa, but I don’t think it’s that. Perhaps another odd partitive plural (see Kilde): from rank (genitive ranga), meaning (here) cumulus or dark rain cloud. This would match the notion of stacked volume among its neighbours. See Kahlu.
Ranna (Rand): Beach, strand.
Rannamõisa (Rannamõis): Manor by the beach, stately home in Keila, Harjumaa (German name: Strandhof). Village in Harku. Formerly Tiskre and Fišmeistri.
Rannamäe (Rannamägi): Slope to the beach, beach hill.
Rannaniidu (Rannaniit): Meadow near the sea.
Rao (Raag): Leafless or dead branch. Previously known as Oksa, then, 1940-1941, Okka, from oga or okas, both meaning thorn.
Rapla (Rapla): County town of Raplamaa, 48 km south of Tallinn.
Rataskaevu (Rataskaev): Wheel well, well with windlass for winding up water. Well originally named Sternsot aparently derived from Middle Low German for hard (as in water) well. In the twenties, along with standard hotel names such as Kuld Lõwi (golden lion), Commerz, Tsentral, etc., Tallinn was also seemingly francophile (this was before the EU of course), hosting hostelries such as Franzia, Belgia, and, in this street, to the delight of B&W film buffs, an Hôtel du Nord. Also Soviet Era renaming (1950-1987) of Rüütli.
Raua (Raud): Iron. Renamed (1952-1989) as Gogoli N. during the Soviet Era. See Hõbeda. See also Tina.
Raudtee (Raudtee): Railway, lit. “iron road”. Road split up and renamed (2008) as Liikuri and Ränduri.
Ravila (Ravila): Health establishment, sanatorium. Lit. Place of healing.
Rebase (Rebane): Fox. Native to Estonia is the Punarebane, Red fox, Vulpes vulpes. See Hirve.
Rebasesaba (Rebasesaba): Any one of the Foxtail grasses, Alopecurus.
Reha (Reha): Rake. See Hargi. See also Vigla.
Rehe (Rehi): Drying barn or large room in old farmhouse where grain is kiln-dried and threshed. The ambient damp and need to keep it dry is said to have given Hansa-period Estonian bread its distinctive and much-appreciated flavour. Modern-day Estonian bread is the best-tasting I've ever eaten.
Reimani V. (Villem Reiman, 1861-1917): Sometimes spelled Reimanni. Clergyman, poet and co-founder of Tartu-based newspaper Postimees. Soviet Era renaming (1957-1991] along with Kivisilla as Anveldi J..
Reindorffi G. (Günther-Friedrich Reindorff, 1889–1974): Estonian typographer and graphic designer. In 2008, the Estonian State bank issued a 10-krooni collector banknote (i.e. was desperate for cash) featuring an identical copy of the front of its pre-war granddaddy designed by Reindorff. Street seems to have existed from 1982-1989.
Remmelga (Remmelgas): Willow. A seemingly less common name for Paju, used for these four species: Hõberemmelgas, White Willow, Salix alba; Raagremmelgas, Goat Willow, S. caprea; Rabe remmelgas, Crack Willow, S. fragilis; and Raudremmelgas, Bay Willow, S. pentandra.
Reseeda (Reseeda): Mignonette, reseda Reseda spp., formerly used as a yellow dye. Interesting street: exists since 13/06/1958, but on paper only, just in case...
Riida (Riit): Stack or pile of (fire-)wood.
Ristiku (Ristik): 1) Clover, trefoil (lit. three-leaf), although the etymology from rist, cross, suggests the supposedly luckier four-leafed variety; 2) Perpendicular; 3) Grating; 4) very archaic: Name for a cow born on Ascension Day (Ristipäev). Once (before 1939) named Oskari after local alderman Oskar Gregory. See Aru. See also Rohu.
Risti (Rist): 1) Cross; 2) Clubs (card suit). Named after Risti kõrts, local source of spiritual succour: the Cross Inn, presumably on the other side of the road. Renamed (1950-1990) as Silikaadi during the Soviet Era.
Rivi (Rivi): Row of trees in a stand. Also rank, file, etc. In computing, a pushup list.
Roheline (0): Green. See Punane. See also Valge.
Rohu (Roht): Herbal, grassy, graminaceous. See Aru. See also Roo.
Ronga (Ronk): Also known as Kaarna, the Common Raven, or just plain Raven, or Corbie, Corvus corax. See Linnu. See also Rähni.
Roo (Roog): Given the zone, Reed, cane, suchlike material used for thatching. Also designates the rasping final note of a cockcrow (that’s Doo to you.) and (nominative Rood) fishbone or bony framework of the nose (yes, they have a word for that). See Aru. See also Söödi.
Roosi (Roos): Rose, a flower. 3000
Rukki (Rukis): Rye. See Kaera.
Rukkilille (Rukkilill): Cornflower (lit. rye flower), Bachelor’s button, Bluebottle… Centaurea cyanus, Estonia’s national flower. Once concidered a weed in cornfields, a generic term for any field containing corn, rye, wheat, etc. 96
Rõika (Rõigas): Radish, horse radish, black radish. Next door to Mustjuure.
Räga (Räga): Brush heap, tangle caused by fallen trees in a forest.
Rähni (Rähn): Woodpecker. Breeding in Estonia: Hallpea-rähn aka Hallrähn, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Picus canus; Laanerähn aka Kolmvarvas-rähn, Three-toed Woodpecker, Picoides tridactylus; Musträhn, Black Woodpecker, Dryocopus martius; Suur-kirjurähn, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major; Tamme-kirjurähn, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Den. medius; Valgeselg-kirjurähn, White-backed Woodpecker, Den. leucotos and Väike-kirjurähn, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Den. minor. See Linnu. See also Rästa.
Rähkloo (Rähklood): "Shingly limestone region covered with thin soil and stunted vegetation" (see Lageloo). The shingly bit we can only assume is due to freeze fracture.
Räime (Räim): Baltic herring, Clupea harengus membras. Along with Jõeoti, street renaming a section of Tiskre in 1995. See Ahvena. See also Ründi.
Räitsaka (Räitsakas): Large wet snowflake, moist snow. See Halla.
Ränduri (Rändur): Given its position alongside the railway: traveller or wayfarer, but perhaps vagabond or vagrant if they don’t buy tickets. Pilgrims would just use the track as route indicator… Renaming, along with Liikuri, of former Raudtee. The original choice was Relsi, from Relss, a colloquial term for rail, rejected by rancorous railway riparians.
Rästa (Rästas): Thrush. Breeding in Estonia: Hallrästas aka Paskrästas, Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris; Hoburästas, Mistle Thrush, T. viscivorus; Kaelusrästas, Ring Ouzel, T. torquatus; Kivirästas, Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Monticola saxatilis; Laulurästas, Song Thrush, T. philomelos; Mustpugu-rästas, Dark-throated Thrush, T. ruficollis; Musträstas, Common Blackbird, T. merula and Vainurästas, Redwing, T. iliacus. See Linnu. See also Räägu.
Rätsepa (Rätsep): Tailor. See Jahimehe.
Räägu (Rääk): Aka Rukkirääk, Corn Crake or Corncrake, Crex crex. Breeds in Estonia. Where Roman or English corncrakes go crex crex, Estonian ones präägutavad. See Linnu. See also Siidisaba.
Ründi (Rünt): Gudgeon, groundling, Gobio gobio gobio. See Ahvena. See also Siia.
Rävala (Rävala): Or Revalia, historical (±12/13th-C) county of Estonia, later used as name for Tallinn: Reval. Renamed (1950-1991, along with Kaubamaja (?-1991), as Lenini during the Soviet Era.
Rüütli (Rüütel): Knight, cavalier. Renamed (1950-1987) as Rataskaevu during the Soviet Era.
Saagi (Saak): Crops, harvest. By extension, it also means yield, returns, plunder, booty, catch or haul according to your perception of the nature of the universe. See Külvi.
Saadu (A) Saadu; B) Saad; C) Saat): 1) Acquisition, something got - kuidas saadud, nõnda läinud: easy come, easy go; 2) Cock, stack, rick; or 3) Suite, entourage; 4) All totally irrelevant since the street is now buried beneath a housing development, kuidas saadud, nõnda läinud…
Saarepiiga (Saarepiiga): Island girl, Saaremaa or island girl: piga is a dated term for girl, maid in Swedish, although this one was probably The Isle Maiden that Kalevipoeg frightened into drowning herself in Canto IV. Renamed (1979-1995) as Kangelaste during the Soviet Era.
Saarepuu (Saarepuu): Alternative name for Harilik saar, Ash, European or Common Ash, Fraxinus excelsior.
Saarma (Saarmas): Otter. Native to Estonia is the Harilik saarmas, European otter, Lutra lutra.
Saarvahtra (Saarvaher): This is a N American tree, Acer negundo, commonly known as Box Elder, Ash-leaved Maple, Maple Ash and variants such as Black Ash, Cutleaf Maple, Red River Maple, Stinking Ash, Manitoba Maple in Canada and, in Russia, American Maple.
Saiakang (Saiakang): White bread passage (or vaulted archway). Temporarily divested of its Germanic consonance and renamed Saia käik from 1950-1987.
Salve (Salv): Bin, hopper. Named after a onetime nearby silo.
Sambliku (Samblik): Lichen, or mossy place. See Harusambla. See also Soovildiku.
Sambla (Sammal): Moss.
Sanglepa (Sanglepp): Aka Must lepp or Mustlepp (black alder), emalepp (mother alder), seatamm (pig oak), Black, European or Common Alder, Alnus glutinosa. 3% of Estonian stands consist of this. Used in furniture and curing fish and meat.
Sarapiku (Sarapik): Hazel wood or coppice.
Sarra (Sard): Field trestle or scaffold for drying flaxseed or hay. Also skeleton.
Sarapuu (Sarapuu): Harilik sarapuu, Common Hazel, Corylus avellana. Turkey is the world’s No.1 country for hazelnuts: some 650,000 tonnes per year, roughly 75% of world production, and about 10% of all this goes into Nutella.
Saturni (Saturn): Saturn. Known as Päikese from 1929-1959. See Komeedi. See also Videviku.
Sarve (Sarv): 1) Horn, antler; 2) French horn, English horn, Estonian coathook. A rhinoceros, for those still not converted to alcoholism, is ninasarvik, a nose-behornèd, and to sow your wild oats is oma sarvi maha jooksma, the allusion to horns should be clear enough. Next to Hirve and Põdra, obviously the former.
Seedri (Seeder): Cedar, Cedrus spp., any in Estonia are introduced.
Selise (Selis): 1) Headrope (leading rope on a net); 2) Bolt-rope (roped sewed around a sail to prevent tearing). See Abara. See also Sikuti.
Seli (0): Uncertain. Obviously from the Seli Mets, Seli wood, the sub-district includes, but the origin of the name is still obscure. Some 16 km SE of Tallinn there is a village and/or farm named Seli. Within a few hundred metre radius there is also a Siili (from siil, hedgehog, although siil siilu could also mean drill-harrow, a device for weeding between furrows, or even a wedge-shaped field or plot of land, any of which could apply to the actual cadastral forms, but I digress), Siilimetsa (h. wood) and Siilimäe (h. hill), as well as a Selimäe and Seli turbaraba (Seli peat-bog, peat moss) and, interestingly, a Selli (journeyman, chap, pal and all the way down to scoundrel). All of these plots are contiguous. Various solutions come to mind: 1) originally, a German name which became distorted in its Estonianisation; 2) as land gets split up, the name might shift in emphasis where each new owner wishes to retain the original while standing apart from its neighbours. As usual, I could be totally wrong. I could also have asked but, hey, why bother when you can come to wild conclusions all on your own? Also name of manor house about 30 km south of Tallinn. (Soviet Era renaming [1982-1994]: Jüriöö)
Sepapaja (Sepapaja): Smithy, blacksmith’s shop or forge. See Keevise. See also Sepise.
Sepapere (Sepapere): Possibly former name of blacksmith’s farm, family, household.
Sepise (Sepis): Wrought-iron object, forging. See Keevise. See also Valukoja.
Sihveri J. (Jaan Sihver, 1879-1918): Soldier, communist, and member of the Estonian Provincial Assembly, Eestimaa Kubermangu Ajutine Maanõukogu. Soviet Era renaming (1959-1991) of Vana-Lõuna.
Siidisaba (Siidisaba): Aka Viristaja, Bohemian Waxwing, Bombycilla garrulus. Breeds in Estonia See Linnu. See also Talviku.
Siia (Siig): Whitefish, laveret. Two sorts, salt and freshwater: Merisiig, Common or European whitefish, Coregonus lavaretusand Peipsi siig, Peipsi whitefish, C. l. maraenoides. See Ahvena. See also Silgu.
Sikupilli (Sikupill): Bagpipe(s), lit. goat’s instrument. Named after nearby inn. What is a shopping centre today was a prison in the late-19th-C. Prior to that, it was a hospital, but its damp limestone walls didn’t do the patients’ health much good, which didn’t seem to be an issue for the next occupants. It also had its own loop of railway passing in and out, which allows the reasonable deduction that the favoured occupation of, or rather for, convicts - breaking stones - was not to provide ballast for ships which, Tallinn being a port, naturally lends itself to sensible explanation but, rather, to providing ballast for stabilising railway lines. Local by-ways add weight (no pun intended) to this argument. On the other hand, it was a women’s prison... Maybe they broke smaller stones? Renamed (1960-1990) as Killustiku during the Soviet Era. See Killustiku. See also Tuha.
Sikuti (Sikuti): Aka sikuska (or sometimes, and perhaps incorrectly, tirk). Combined rod (short, and very short for trolling through ice holes in winter), line and trolling spoon. See Abara. See also Sumba.
Siire (Siire): 1) Transfer, transmission. Also Pn-siire, PN junction in transistors. 2) Enjambment (värsisiire or stroofisiire), poetic device “straddling” a phrase over two lines. One of those litigious words: generally considered as a Saagpakk 261 group noun or ÕS 1999 group 31 (siire, siirde), elsewhere (http://www.eki.ee/cgi-bin/qs76.cgi?sona=siire) it is given a siire, siire declension, stating that the siirde form is tüveerand (irregular root). Here, we assume the street name commission wished to disagree with the men in dust.
Silgu (Silk): Baltic herring, small and/or salted or otherwise - olla nagu silgud pütis: to be packed like sardines. See Ahvena. See also Silmu.
Silikaadi (Silikaat): Silicate. Soviet Era renaming (1939; 1950-1990) of Risti. Why? For symmetry? There is a street called Silikaltsiidi next to Liiva kalmistu (sand cemetary) and this is next to Juudi kalmistu (Jewish cemetary)...
Silmiku (Silmik): Satyr, Wood-Nymph (sorry to raise your hopes: a satyrid, or more prosaically known as Brown butterfly), something with eyes, See Kannustiiva. See also Sinitiiva.
Silmu (Silm): Lamprey. Two sorts: the European river lamprey: Jõesilm, Lampetra fluviatilis, and Ojasilm: European brook lamprey, L. planeri. Interestingly, aged 21, Sigmund Freud wrote a paper on the anatomy of the lamprey’s notochord (Über den Ursprung der hinteren Nervenwurzeln im Rückenmark von Ammocoetes Petromyzon planeri, name since corrected). See Ahvena. See also Säina.
Sinika (Sinikas): Bog Whortleberry, Bog Bilberry or Northern Bilberry, Vaccinium uliginosum.
Siniladva (Sinilatv): Jacob’s Ladder, or Greek Valerian, Polemonium caeruleum. Lit. Blue Top.
Sinilille (Sinilill): Hepatica, Liverleaf, Hepatica. Various of its names reflect the liver-shaped three-lobed leaves: maksalehed, liver leaves; Hepatica, “of the liver”, as is its need for cold and snow: keltsalill, frozen-ground flower, lumelill,, snow-flower, etc.
Sinirebase (Sinirebane): Blue Fox, aka Polaarrebane, Arctic, or Jäärebane, Ice Fox, Vulpes lagopus. Next to its cousin, the Hõberebase.
Sinitiiva (Sinitiib): Take your pick: Kevad-sinitiib, Holly Blue, Celastrina argiolus; Kukeharja-sinitiib, Chequered Blue, Scolitantides orion; Liivatee-sinitiib, (Eastern) Baton Blue, Pseudophilotes vicrama; Lutserni-sinitiib, Green-underside Blue, Glaucopsyche alexis; Niidu-sinitiib, Mazarine blue, Cyaniris semiargus; Siilak-sinitiib, Short-tailed Blue, Everes argiades; Tähnik-sinitiib, Large Blue, Maculinea arion). Attentive readers will have already gathered I have a soft spot for butterflies. See Kannustiiva. See also Sirptiiva.
Sipelga (Sipelgas): Ant. One clever building company decided to entice buyers with the tempting residential name of Sipelgapesa, ants’ nest. See Kiili. See also Vaablase.
Sirbi (Sirp): Sickle. Where we’d say hammer and sickle, they say Sirp ja Vasar.
Sireli (Sirel): Lilac, Syringa.
Sirge (Sirge): Straight, upright, erect, lank. See Joone.
Sirptiiva (Sirptiib): Hook-tip moth, dozens of ’em. Kase-sirptiib, Pebble Hook-tip, Drepana falcataria; Hambune-sirptiib, Scalloped Hook-tip, Falcaria lacertinaria, and many more... See Kannustiiva. See also Suru.
Sitsi (Sits): Derived, they say, from Hindi: printed cotton or calico. Renamed (1953-1990, along with Kari, as Majakovski V. during the Soviet Era. Belonging to the group of the tekstiilitoorainetenimeliste “textile raw material named” streets in Sitsi, Põhja-Tallinn. See also Kanepi.
Soo (Soo): Swamp, march, bog. Two streets called Soo: 1) in the Kalamaja district , Renamed (1951-1991) as Nikonovi J. during the Soviet Era, and formerly occupying parts of both Uus-Kalamaja and Tööstuse; 2) formerly in Mustamäe district with roughly this lineage: Luha (?-1922), Soo (1922-1940), Kaisla (1940-1941), Soo (1941-1991), and finally Alliksoo (1991-till next time).
Sookaskede (Sookased [pl.]): Aka Karune kask (hairy birch), Sokikask (sock birch), Sookõiv (marsh birch), Suukõiv (mouth birch), Downy, White, European White or Hairy Birch, Betula pubescens. This must be the one that younger Estonians use to flagellate themselves in the sauna.
Soovildiku (Soovildik): Ribbed Bog Moss, Aulacomnium palustre, aka Tufted Moss or Glow Moss. See Harusambla.
Soovõha (Soovõhk): Bog Arum, Marsh Calla, Calla palustris.
Suislepa (Suislepp): Apple cultivar presumed originating on the Uue-Suislepa estate in Viljandimaa.
Sule (Sulg): Feather (pen and nib). They were probably starting to run out of names. See Linnu. See also Tiiva.
Sulevi (Sulev): Short for Sulevipoeg, Sulev’s son. Note: where Kalev probably derives from kala, fish, Sulev probably derives from sulg, Sule, feather. According to Kreutzwald, cousin and fighting companion of the epic hero Kalevipoeg, Kalev’s son, or, possibly, alliterative poetic variant of Kalev’s name. See also Alevi.
Sumba (Sump): Corf, the well in a fishing-boat. See Abara. See also Ujuki.
Suru (Suru): 1) Swarming of gnats; 2) Press, throng; 3) Hawk-moth (Sphingidae). Has to be No.3. Who would foist the others onto their tenants? During the collective apartment period, perhaps No.2 might have been apt, but No.1? See Kannustiiva. See also Sügislase.
(0): Great coastal gate. Named Suur-Rannavärava tänav, [Great-] coastal gate street, until 1987. Eliminating the tänav to call it Suur Rannavärav, Great coastal gate, loses it its dash.
Suur-Ameerika (Suur-Ameerika): [Greater, Upper] America. Renamed (1950-1991) as Komsomoli during the Soviet Era.
Suurevälja (Suur väli): Big field (“the great outdoors” maybe?).
Suur-Karja (Suur-Kari): [Greater, Upper] Cattle (also flock, pack, troop, crowd), once leading to pasture outside town. Earliest recorded names in a mix of various languages included vee strate, MLG for cattle or livestock street (1362), Kariestrate, Esto-MLG for cattle street (1365), Lat. Platea or Strata Pecorum, Cattle gate, with the attempted later gentrification and touch of condescension of strata pecorum vulgaritur vestrate, i.e. Lat. Street of the cattle, commonly known as (MLG) cattle street (1363-7). Known for a while as Michaelis-Straße / Михайловская ул. (1776), apparently after Russian victories of 1710 in the Great Northern War and a procession through the gate on Michaelmas day. Maybe. See also Väike-Karja.
Suur-Kloostri (Suur-Klooster): [Greater, Upper] Abbey (convent, monastery, cloister…). Renamed (1950-1987) as Nooruse during the Soviet Era.
Suurtüki (Suurtükk): Cannon. Big gun. Soviet Era renaming along with Kotzebue (1960-1987): Käsperti J.
Suve (Suvi): Summer. See also Sügise.
Suvila (Suvila): Summer cottage, house (nothing to do with villas, lit. summer place).
Suvorovi A. (Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, 1729–1800): One of Russia’s, and the world’s, finest generals: brilliant, charismatic, and a remarkable tactician. Never lost a battle, seriously wounded six times, decorated more often than a shop window, more titles than your average bookshelf. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1989) of Kaarli puiestee.
Sõle (Sõlg): Brooch, pin, ouch (not an onomatopoeic consequence of mishandling, “ouch” is derived from French, nouche, by a process called deglutination, as in orange from the Spanish naranja shifting from “a norange” to “an orange”). Often silver, ranging from an almost-closed horseshoe shaped fastener to the >15-cm circular boss worn by women on the chest when attired in traditional dress. Renamed (1968-1990) during the manifestly communist period as Karl Marxi.
Sõnajala (Sõnajalg): Fern (lit. leg- or foot-word). Oddly, Estonian does not differentiate foot from leg (both jalg) or hand from arm (both käsi), then again the English seem unable to distinguish the stomach (part of the digestive tube) from the abdomen. Hungarian, Estonian's... German cousin, on the other hand scinds kéz, hand, from kar, arm, but, like a well brought up language, keeps its legs together: láb = leg and foot. If it really wants to be nice, it says lábfej, literally the "head of the leg", for foot. Doctor, Doctor, my feet smell and my nose is running Am I upside down?
Sõstra (Sõstar): Currant. Three varieties indigenous to Estonia: Mage Sõstar ("bland" currant, it is rather tasteless), the Alpine Currant, Ribes alpinum; Must Sõstar, the Blackcurrant, R. nigrum, and, rarer, Karvane Sõstar ("furry" currant), the Wild or Downy Currant, R. spicatum. See Kirsi, or, why not, Jõhvika.
Sädeme (Säde): Spark, sparkle. See Lee. See also Taela.
Säde (0): Spark, Estonian translation of Lenin’s (Oops, the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party’s) short-lived newspaper of that name, Iskra. (As the joke went: Lenin called Stalin and asked: “How do you like the latest Iskra?” - “Very good paper, Vladimir Ilyich, very soft.”) Presumably to emphasise the titular nature of the spark in question, the Estonian Säde was in the nominative, not the genitive Sädeme. Soviet Era renaming (1948-1987) of Pühavaimu.
Säina (Säinas): Ide, or orfe, Leuciscus idus. Alongside Orfe, Germany may well set the record for alternative names, with at least 46 ranging through Gängling, Gänzling, Göse, Häwt, Jesen, Juntling, Mähne, Münne, Nennen, Nerfling, Tapar, Topar and all the way to unechter Goldfisch, or unreal (OK, false) goldfish. Spawning occurs towards the end of Q1, with small eggs, ±2 mm, attached to gravel, weed and stones in shallow water. For ecological reasons, swimmers, therefore, beware the ides of March. See Ahvena. See also Tursa.
Särje (Särg): Roach (fish), Rutilus rutilus.
Särjesilma (Särjesilm): Pond crowfoot, Water crowfoots, Ranunculus subgenus Batrachium, related to buttercups and grow in still or running water.
Sääse (Sääsk): Gnat, midge or mosquito. A pedant or a hair-splitter (and why do I know this one?) is a sääsekurnaja, literally a gnat-strainer or gnat-distresser… Although the name is on the list, it was swatted in 1984. Revenge.
Söödi (Sööt): 1) Feed, fodder, bait; 2) Fallow land. See Aru. See also Timuti.
Sügise (Sügis): Autumn, fall. See also Talve.
Sügislase (Sügislane): Autumn silkworm moth, Lemonia dumi, rare in Estonia, although a bit more common on the western coastline. See Kannustiiva. See also Täpiku. Before the street was built, this was the name the original land-owner wanted. The street-names commission, following guidelines, proposed the historical toponym of Potissepa (potter) after the name of a farm on the site: rejected. They then proposed a list of butterfly names already reserved for the zone: rejected too. So the street-names commission is not always to blame ;o)
Süsta (Süst): Canoe, folding-boat.
Taela (Tael): Tinder, touchwood. See Lee. See also Tuki.
Taara (Taara): Supreme god in Estonian folklore, also known as Uku, or Tharapita (possibly related to the Norse Thor), related to various other Finno-Ugric cognates, probably derived from a word meaning “high”. Also poetic name for Tartu: Taaralinn (Taaratown). See Haldja. See also Uku.
Taevakivi (Taevakivi): Lit. Celestial or sky stone - meteorite perhaps? Also title of story by Jaan Kross involving, guess, a meteorite. See also Kivi.
Tagamaa (Tagamaa): Hinterland, back country, heartland. Southern part of Aegna island. See also Eerikneeme.
Taludevahe (0): Between the farms. Farm group. See also Tedrepere.
Talve (Talv): Winter. Alternative genitive is tali. Leads onto Helbe. See also Kevade.
Talviku (Talvik): 1) Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, a member of the bunting family. Nominative often Talvike, also known (in earlier times perhaps) in vernacular or dialect forms as jõhviklind, kadakasass, kaerasööja, kollane varblane, külmatihane, talitsiitsitaja or tsiitsilind. Also means Umbellate wintergreen and, for non-hibernating agriculturalists, Cow born in winter. See Linnu. See also Tedre.
Tamme (Tamm): Oak. Harilik tamm (common oak), Hiiepuu (sacred oak), Talitamm (winter oak), Suvitamm (summer oak), Oak, Pedunculate or English Oak, Quercus robur. See also Tõru.
Tammede (Tammed [pl.]): Oaks.
Tammepärja (Tammepärg): Oak wreath, oak garland. (I think we’re talking leaves here.) Streetname replaced that of the eastern half of Pärja in 1989, but for what possible reason I cannot fathom.
Tammiku (Tammik): Oak grove.
Tammsaare A.H. (Anton Hansen Tammsaare, 1878-1940): One of the most outstanding Estonian novelists, author of the 5-volume masterpiece, Tõde ja Õigus (Truth and Justice, 1926-1933). His portrait in on the 25-krooni note. Clearly, there’s never much money in it for writers... but then again, embryologists get even less. Karl Ernst von Baer (1792–1876) - first to establish that mammals develop from eggs - is only worth a 2 krooni banknote. Then again, he was one of Darwin's major critics.
Tarna (Tarn): Sedge, carex, a species of grass immortalised by Edgar Valter, humorous illustrator and creator of the Pokus (ask you local bookseller).
Teaduspargi (Teaduspark): Science park.
Tedre (Teder): Black Grouse, Tetrao tetrix. Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Tihase.
Tedrepere (Tedrepere): Family of black grouse. But possibly name of former farm/family/homestead. Farm group. See also Teisepere.
Teatri (Teater): Theatre.
Teisepere (Teispere?): Possibly old farm/family name. Also means neighbours (although most people say naaber these days: Idanaaber, for example, “eastern neighbour”, is another way of saying “Russian”); lit. second or other family. Farm group. See also Toomapere.
Tehumardi (Tehumardi): Village in Saaremaa where a brutal battle between Russians and Germans was the beginning of the end of German presence on the island. Monument erected in 1967. Soviet Era renaming (1979-1995) of Vilisuu.
Teivi (Teib): Common dace (fish), Leuciscus leuciscus.
Tihase (Tihane): Tit. Breeding in Estonia: Kukkurtihane, Eurasian Penduline Tit (although this one raises the occasional eyebrow), Remiz pendulinus; Lasuurtihane, Azure Tit, Parus cyanus; Musttihane, Coal Tit, P. ater; Põhjatihane, Willow Tit, P. montanus; Rasvatihane, Great Tit, P. major; Sabatihane, Long-tailed Tit, Aegithalos caudatus; Salutihane aka Sootihane, Marsh Tit, P. palustris; Sinitihane, Blue Tit, P. caeruleus; Taigatihane, Siberian Tit, P. cinctus and Tutt-tihane, Crested Tit, P. cristatus. See Linnu. See also Tildri.
Tihniku (Tihnik): Thicket, coppice, copse.
Tiiva (Tiib): Wing (also flank, blade, or vane). Which just about brings us to an end to birds in Lilleküla and environs. See Linnu.
Tildri (Tilder): Redshank, Greenshank, Sandpiper. Breeding in Estonia: Hallkibu aka Kibutilder, Terek Sandpiper, Xenus cinereus; Heletilder, Common Greenshank, Tringa nebularia; Lammitilder, Marsh Sandpiper, T. stagnatilis; Metstilder, Green Sandpiper, T. ochropus; Mudatilder, Wood Sandpiper, T. glareola; Punajalg-tilder, Common Redshank, T. totanus; Tumetilder, Spotted Redshank, T. erythropus and Vihitaja aka Jõgitilder, Common Sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos. See Linnu. See also Varese.
Timuti (Timut): Timothy grass, cat’s-tail. See Aru. See also Õle.
Tina (Tina): Tricky word, ranging from (or commonly used to mean) Tin to Lead through Pewter. The “Pharus-Plan Reval” street map of Tallinn 1918 gives Blei, German for lead, but Elements 50 & 82 are, respectively, Tin (Eng.), Tina (Est.), Zinn (Ger.) and Lead, Blii, Blei. Discussing tina, the Tallinn Linnamuuseum website (06/2009) translates it as pewter, where tinasulam, tin alloy, would be better. ÕS does give blii as a possible acceptation for tina along with adages like Jalad on tina täis (lit. “the legs are full of tin” ≈ “my legs feel like lead”), but adds argikeelne: in common parlance. Well, we’re not commonly parlancing here so Tina is Tin. See Hõbeda. See also Vase.
Tiivase A. (Alma Tiivas, 1893-1942): Farmer’s daughter from Rakvere, player in the Estonian revolutionary movement, secretary of the Tallinna Tööliste ja Sõjaväelaste Saadikute Nõukogu (Tallinn Workers’ and War Orphans’ Government Delegatation). Soviet Era renaming (1927-2001) of Nõmme-Kase.
Tindi (Tint): Ink; smelt - Täis kui tint: as drunk as a lord (possibly related to the ink cap mushroom, aka the “lawyer’s wig”, which rapidly deliquesces to release its spores, spilling a lot of ink along with its seed. Tallinn, city of multiple delights and trivially-priced vodka, is a routine destination for stag weekends with all its attendant rutting behaviour. One Londoner, hauled before the courts for creating a disturbance, attempted to dodge responsibility by describing his state as "drunk as a judge", not perhaps the most ingratiating parallel to express under the circumstances. Blasé, the magistrate asked: “Don't you mean 'drunk as a lord'?” - “Yes, my lord.”
Tirgu (Tirk): Aka Lõunatirk, Common Guillemot, or Murre, Uria aalge. Breeds in Estonia.
Tiskre (Tiskre): Residential area some 12 km west of Tallinn. Parts of this street renamed (1995) as Jõeoti and Räime.
Tiskrevälja (Tiskreväli): Area/land outside/around Tiskre estate.
Tisleri A. (Alice Tisler, 1893-1918): Who once lived in this street. Daughter of a farm labourer, tulihingeline kommunist (ardent, lit. “fire-bespirited” communist), member of the Tallinn Red Guard, killed in the Battle of Keila, February 23, 1918. Soviet Era renaming (1949-1990) of Magasini.
Tohu (1) Toht 2) Tohk 3) Tohu): 1) Birch bark. The earliest-known written document in Finno-Ugric - Tohtkiri (birch bark letter) No.292 - was carved on birch bark in the first half of the 13th-C in a dialect of the Olonets Karelia region. Although its meaning is far from clear, it seems to involve God and arrows, and may well be a "thunder spell"; Tohtkiri No.403 is believed to be a “Finnic–Slavic business travellers lexicon”; Also 2) Stern of small boat 3) Mist, haze. Street forms a loop off Kase, so 1) is the most likely.
Tolmuka (Tolmukas): Stamen.
Tombi J. (Jaan Tomp, 1894–1924): Communist who earned the unhappy distinction of being the only person sentenced to death in the 1924 149 protsess (Trial of the 149). Reincarnated nautically as an Ecuadorian tanker. Soviet Era renaming (1940-1991) of Vilmsi.
Tondi (Jobst Dunte, 1569-1615): Disappointingly, not from tont, ghost or spectre, as local lore would have it but from the summer estate of Jobst Dunte, landowner and trader, member of the "Mustpea", Brotherhood of St. Maurice, or Blackheads, organisation, and alderman (raehärra). (See Dunteni and Vaimu). Soviet Era renaming (1950-1990): Matrossovi A.
Toomapere (?): Thomas’s farm, family, household. Farm group. See also Tõnu.
Tooma (Toomas): Named after the lake (and/or historical farm?), Tooma, it runs by. Probably derived from the name, Toomas (Thomas), but vaguely possible from toom (bringing or fetching), the sort of thing people used to do with pond water, although the only lugging they'll be doing these days is stone from what looks like a 280 ha quarry.
Toome (Toom(ingas)): Toome is generally the genitive of cathedral hill, but here, in the middle of a sea of trees (scuse mixed metaphor), it is a short form of Toomingas.
Toomiku (Toomik): Bird cherry grove.
Toominga (Toomingas): Bird cherry tree, Prunus padus, sometimes known as Hagberry with its fruit known as hags. See Toome.
Toom-Kooli (Toom-Kool): Cathedral School, school founded in 1319.
Toom-Kuninga (Toom-Kuningas): [Cathedral-district] King. Renamed (1950-1990) as Pioneeride during the Soviet Era.
Toompuiestee (Toompuiestee): Cathedral avenue. Renamed under Soviet rule (1961-1989): Gagarini J.
Toom-Rüütli (Toom-Rüütel): [Cathedral-district] Knight. Renamed (1954-1987) as Linnuse during the Soviet Era.
Toonela (Toonela): Realm of the dead, exact location uncertain.
Tormi (Torm): Storm.
Torni (Torn): 1) Tower, steeple, turret; 2) Rook (castle) in chess. Same reasons as Tähetorni.
Tornide (Tornid [pl.]): Plural of Torn (above). Following the 1857-1864 levelling of various earthworks, became known as Näituse Väljak, exhibition square for its agricultural shows.
Tornimäe (Tornimägi): Although it means Tower Hill, there’s neither one nor tother in sight. Apparently named after a certain Adam Tornimäe (or Adam X from Tornimäe in Saaremaa), a worker who rented a property from St John’s Almshouse, Jaani Seek, in the early 17th C, long enough for it to become known as Tornimäe Maja (house). In the 19th-C, Tornimäe was also the place to go for autopsies.
Torupilli (Torupill): Bagpipes. Slightly nicer name than Stadt Schlachthal, municipal slaughter valley.
Trahteri (Trahter): Public house, tavern. Saagpakk suspects this comes from the Russian or German. I wonder whether it may also come from French traiteur, historically a restauranteur, purveyor of food, now more or less a delicatessen.
Trepi (Trepp): Staircase, flight of stairs, doorsteps. Once known as Sunte Nyclawes stegel, and later switched to the name closer to the German heart of Unter den Linden (1890), Russified and Estonified as Подъ Липовая (1890) and Väike-Niine (1913), the Trepi tänav off Harju was destroyed in 1944. It seems to have been re-built, -named and -opened on 20 August 2007 as either Trepi tänav again, in which case it now competes with the existing Trepi tänav in Nõmme, or Nõelasilma, in which case this must be understood to include both.
Trummi (Trumm): Drum, but not the sort you play on: one of the large drainage “pipes” or flues used in culverts.
Tšaikovski P. (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1840-1893): No introduction needed I hope. But interesting family history: his great-great-grandson’s younger brother’s daughter is Britney Spears. Soviet Era renaming (1953-1995) of Randla)
Tuha (Tuhk): Ash, cinders, and cinders = Cinders = Cinderella (Tuhkatriinu, ash Katie, but also means slattern). Street built over limestone quarries filled with oil-shale ash. See Killustiku.
Tuhkru (Tuhkur): Polecat. Native to Estonia is the Metstuhkur, European polecat, Mustela putorius.
Tuki (Tukk): Firebrand, piece of smouldering wood (not to be confused with tukk > tuka, tuft of hair, bang [US], forelock, or tukk > tuku, nap, forty winks, or tükk > tüki, piece, lump, chunk, etc. See Lee. See also Tulekivi.
Tulbi (Tulp): Tulip, Tulipa spp.. In the chapter on “Tulipomania” in 17th-C Holland, Charles Mackay’s Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds relates the story of a sailor who pocketed an “onion” he saw lying about, to go with his lunch. When, half an herring later, he was eventually discovered, he found he’d eaten a tulip bulb valued, at the then grossly inflated rates, at about 25 oxen or 30 tons of butter. See Lille. See also Tulika.
Tulekivi (Tulekivi): Flint (lit. firestone). See Lee. See also Kivi. See also Tuleraua.
Tuleraua (Tuleraud): Fire steel, fire iron, for striking fire from flint. See Lee. See also Tuluste.
Tulika (Tulikas): Buttercup, Ranunculus spp.. Also name of Tallinn’s largest and oldest taxi company. See Lille. See also Ülase.
Tuisu (Tuisk): Snowstorm, blizzard.
Tuluste (Tulused [pl.]): Flint and steel (pl.). See Lee. See also Lee.
Tulimulla (Tulimuld): Scorched earth. More, I suspect, in the slash and burn than military sense.
Turba (Turbas): Peat.
Tursa (Tursk): Cod, Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua. See Ahvena. See also Uime.
Turu (Turg): Market. Also Soviet Era renaming (1954-1991) of Keldrimäe. KKKTT
Tuukri (Tuuker): Diver, of the diving suit, bronze helmet, concrete knickers, variety.
Tuulemaa (Tuulemaa): Collection of poetry written by Gustav Suits (1883-1956) in 1913 where he portrays Estonia, literally and metaphorically, as a “land of wind”. Renamed under Soviet rule, along with a street that doesn’t exactly join it, Vihuri (1953-1995), as Belinski V.
Tuulemurru (Tuulemurd): Windfall, wind breakage (in a wood).
Tuuleveski (Tuuleveski): Windmill. See also Tuuliku.
Tuuliku (Tuulik): Windmill. See also Veskimäe.
Tuuslari (Tuuslar): Wise man, sorcerer or witch who knows how to raise the winds (tuul = wind), possibly by whistling; sorcerer from Finland who tried to rape Kalevipoeg’s mother Linda. See Kalevipoja.
Tuvi (Tuvi): Pigeon, Dove. Street named after local saddler called Taubenheim, dovecot (Taube / Heim, German for pigeon, dove / home). From 1882 to 1959, traumatised by the horrendous Rechtschreibungsschmerz, Tallinn dodged and weaved between Tuvi, Tui and its plural Tuide. Similar situation in Pärnu ended up opting for Tui, which only goes to show. The following species breed in Estonia: Kaelus-turteltuvi aka Pargi-turteltuvi, Eurasian Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto; Kaelustuvi aka Meigas, Common Wood Pigeon, Columba palumbus; Kodutuvi, Feral Pigeon, C. livia; Suur-turteltuvi, Oriental Turtle Dove, S. orientalis; Turteltuvi, European Turtle Dove, S. turtur and Õõnetuvi, Stock Pigeon, C. oenas.
Tõllu (Tõll): After Suur-Tõll (Big Tõll), legendary character who lived on the island of Saaremaa and spent much of his time throwing rocks at people, notably Vanatühi, Lord of the Underworld, literally “Old Empty” although sometimes translated as “useless old bugger”. Parallel to Leigeri, his island brother.
Tõnismäe (Tõnismägi): St Anthony’s mountain or hill. Confusingly, Tõnismäe, the hill/district, is in the genitive while the street, uncluttered by any street type (tänav, tee, etc) is nominative... Not to be confused with Tõnis Mägi (b. 1948), singer & pop musician. Here too, the Estonian subconscious Angst about the size of its mountains claims that Tõnismägi was much higher before the bloody Swedes came along and made local peasants cream off its towering peaks to use as building material for the city earthworks.
Tõnu (0): Tony, Anthony. Apparently an old farm or farming-family name. Farm group. See also Uuepere.
Tõru (Tõru): Acorn. Named after the oak trees in the neighbourhood. See also Tamme.
Tõrviku (Tõrvik): Torch. Think dungeons, think Olympics. An electric torch is a taskulamp, or pocket lamp.
Tõusu (Tõus): 1) Flood tide, rising tide; 2) Rise, upsurge, advance, boom.
Tähe (Täht): 1) Star; 2) Letter. Street known as Romanovi after a neighbouring dynasty (1613-1917) until 1922. Its switch to stellar symbolism may not be unrelated to changing political fortunes of the times, a message hammered home by its renaming as Vasara from 1940-1941.
Tähetorni (Tähetorn): Observatory (lit. star tower). After the Tallinn Observatory, former watch tower on the Glehni N.v. estate. The cupola of Tallinn’s earlier observatory can be seen at Estonia 15.
Tähtpea (Tähtpea): Scabious, gipsy rose, mournful widow, flowers all. Scabiosa spp., genus of the Dipsacaceae family, flowers named for their use in treating scabies and other skin disorders, not to be confused with related genera such as Knautia (see Jaanilille).
Täpiku (Täpik): Dotted or speckled. But probably short for, in order, Väike-täpikpunnpea, the Grizzled Skipper (as the late French sailor Eric Tabarly once wrote: a man overboard should never have been on a boat in the first place...), Pyrgus malvae; Täpikpõrnikas, a chafer or dung beetle which the Maltese call the White-spotted barbary bug, and the French the Drap mortuaire, or winding sheet, Oxythyrea funesta; Kase-täpikvaksik, the Birch Mocha, Cyclophora albipunctata. Which one, your guess is as good as mine. See Kannustiiva. See also Udeselja.
Tööstuse (Tööstus): Industry, manufacture; workshop, plant, factory. A former industrial part of town. Part of this street once known as Soo.
Tüki (Tükk): Piece, bit, lump, fragment, clod, etc. Short-lived (02/07/1987-04/12/1987) name of Hiiu-Suurtüki.
Ubalehe (Ubaleht): Buck or bog bean, Menyanthes trifoliata, a flowering plant of bogs and marshes.
Udeselja (Udeselg): Lit. Downy-back, moths of the lutestring (nothing to do with lutes, from lustrine, and old term for silk derived from Italian lustrino, a Genoa-made silk fabric) and related families: Ahhaat-udeselg, Buff Arches, Habrosyne pyritoides; Hall-udeselg, Poplar Lutestring, Tethea or; Kevad-udeselg, Yellow Horned, Achlya flavicornis; Silmik-udeselg, Figure of Eighty, T. ocularis; Vaarika-udeselg, Peach Blossom, Thyatira batis. All of which known to the local police. See Kannustiiva. See also Uneliblika.
Ugala (Ugala): One-time province of south-eastern Estonia, otherwise known as Ugandi, Ugania, Ungannia or, most accurately, Ugaunia, present-day counties of Tartu, Põlva, Võru and Valga. The Latvian for Estonia is Igaunija. Soviet Era renaming (1960-1990]: Leberechti H.
Ujuki (Ujuk): Float, floater, bob (fishing or otherwise). See Abara. See also Unna.
Uime (Uim): Fin. Not the sort across the bay, but the thingumajigs that stick out of fishes. See Ahvena. See also Viidika.
Ujula (Ujula): Public swimming pool or baths, named after the one at the end of the street. Soviet Era renaming (1958-1987) of Aia.
Uku (Uku): Mythological character: possibly a sky or thunder god, a weather and lightning sprite, or an alternative name for the more fictional mythological supreme god Taara, possibly related to Thor. See Haldja. See also Vanemuise.
Unna (Und): Trimmer or bank runner, essentially a device allowing the business end of a fishing line to remain dangling in the water for extended periods (e.g. all night for pike, while you go and cook sausages for ice-fishing). Could be a disk-shaped block of wood that floats, or one too large to pass through the hole in the ice, a spring-action system planted into the snow... See Abara. See also Vaalu.
Uneliblika (Uneliblikas): Lit. Sleep-butterfly. Large Chequered Skipper, Heteropterus morpheus (someone in the Tallinn Street name commission really likes butterflies). See Kannustiiva. See also Vaksiku.
Urva (Urb): Catkin, a tube-like cluster of flowers, usually but not always male, found on various plants: alder, birch, hazel, mulberry, oak, poplar, sweet chestnut, willow, etc. The other, perhaps more usual or technical, term, is õisik.
Ussilaka (Ussilakk): Paris, Truelove, or Herb Paris (not the city Paris, but from Latin par, paris, equal), due to its regular leaves, poisonous. Lit. Snake’s umbrella. NB: uss also means worm, although more commonly heard in the term vihmauss, rain worm/snake.
Uuepere (Uuepere): New farm, family, household. Probably old farm name. Farm group. See also Uustalu.
Uue Maailma (Uus Maailm): New world. Suspected due to proximity to an inn called Ameerika, Wirtshaus America. Renamed (1950-1990) as Oja during the Soviet Era.
Uus (0): New. Also used as qualifier.
Uus Maailm (0): New world. Note nominative form for name of district as opposed to street, see Uue Maailma above.
Uustalu (Uustalu): New farm, farmstead. Farm group. See also Vahepere.
Vaablase (Vaablane): Sawfly, hornet. Probably the European hornet, Vespa crabro common in Estonia. See Kiili.
Vaalu (Vaal): Wing of a (seine) net. See Abara. See also Vabe.
Vaari (Vaar): Grandfather, old man. The expression Vaar ja moor suggests it comes from Swedish: far and mor is father and mother. Street, interestingly, next to Hallivanamehe. See Äia.
Vaarika (Vaarikas): Raspberry. Just next door to Maasika.
Vabaduse (Vabadus): Freedom, liberty. Built over part of the former city walls and bastions (perhaps the 1686 Berghi Ravelin), today’s Freedom Square, Vabaduse väljak, has gone through many, many changes, the full dating of which I shall spare everybody, not least myself. The name sequence seem to have been: Новая пл., New Square (±1767, see Harju), followed (in approximate order) by Palgi turg, Timber market; Heina turg, Hay market (Ger. Heumarkt, Rus. Сенной рынокъ [old spelling]) and/or Puu- ja Heinaturg, Wood and Hay market (Ger. Holz- und Heumarkt) until around 1875; then Peetri plats, Peter’s square, after Peter I (Ger. Peterplatz or Peters-Platz, Rus. Петровская пл.) from 1910 till around 1922; with an interlude as Harju turg (±1921) and ending up with some 80-odd years of dodging and weaving between Vabaduse plats, Vabadusväljak (Ger. Freiheitsplatz. Note, väljak [square] is more Estonian than the German-sounding plats [square]), Võiduväljak (Victory Square by the Soviets in the 40s), later revamped to Võidu väljak and back at last to Vabaduse väljak in 1989. The manufacture of street-signs is clearly a good business to be in in Estonia.
Vabarna (Vabarn): Alternative name for raspberry (see Vaarikas). Street in the Mähe horticultural zone.
Vabe (Vabe): Pole, paling or picket-fence upon which nets are hung to dry. See Abara. See also Võrgukivi.
Vabriku (Vabrik): Factory. Renamed (1964-1990) as Rabtšinski I. during the Soviet Era.
Vahepere (Vahepere): Apparently, the name of a former local farm/farming-family. Lit. “the farm in between”. Farm group. See also Eevardi.
Vahtra (Vaher): Maple. Harilik vaher, sometimes known as Pikaninapuu (long nose tree), Norway Maple, Acer platanoides.
Vahtriku (Vahtrik): Maple forest. Also family name.
Vahulille (Vahulill): Milkwort, or Snakeroot, Polygala spp..
Vaigu (Vaik): Resin, pitch, gum.
Vaikne (0): Unsure. Being a nominative adjective it could, like Punane, be simply quiet, restful, peaceful (it is next to a park and a graveyard), but it also means the Pacific.
Vaimu (Vaim): 1) Spirit, ghost, apparition (word also means: mind or mental power as well as a woman farm labourer on corvée duty). Earliest records (17th-C) give the German name Spukgasse/Spukstrasse (ghost or revenant street). The Russians knew it as Страшная улица (Strashnaya ulitsa: Scary street). The Soviets, anti-superstitious and prosaic to the last, Renamed it Vana (Old) [1950-1987].
Vainu (Vain): Grassplot, village green or common. Renamed 1940-1941 as Mõrra, either weel or fish trap (from mõrd, a bottle-neck net affixed to a handle), or crack, flaw, from mõra.
Vainutalu (Vainutalu): Farmstead or place by the common. Or Vain’s farm, Vain being a family name.
Vakmanni R. (Rudolf Vakmann, 1894-1937): Estonian revolutionary. Involved in the attempted 1924 Estonian coup d’état, for which he was definitively thanked in 1937. Soviet Era renaming (1959-1991) of Kauka.
Vaksali (Vaksal): Railway station. Like Vaksiku, word probably derived from vaks, meaning a span. If the -al ending is from ala, area, the whole could be roughly translated as “place of pacing”, similar to the French Salle des pas perdus, station concourse or, more literally, “hall of lost footsteps”, where both languages seem to reflect the impression of railway passengers everywhere that you spend more time waiting than travelling. But then again it does give you a wonderful opportunity to read exciting little tomes like this. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1987) of Nunne [Vaksali tänav] and Väike-Kloostri [Vaksali põik])
Vaksiku (Vaksik): Looper, caterpillar (and adult) of the Geometer moths. Bit complicated this one: vaksik comes from vaks a span. So possibly a translation from German, Spanner (word also used for shoe-trees and peeping-toms). But since the name in Latin (Geometer, lit. land-measurer), English (looper, spanworm or inchworm), French (chenille arpenteuse, lit. measurer, surveyor or geometer caterpillar), Swedish (Mätarlarv, lit. measuring-larva), Hungarian (Araszolóhernyók from arasz span, although, peeving its neighbours, Hungary has two spans: one from tip of the thumb and to the tip of the index, the kisarasz or small span, and th'other, presumably the one we have looping around at the back of our minds despite the fact the distance spanned is probably small, but hey, from tip of thumb and to tip of little finger, the nagyarasz, or large span, b) oló an "-ing" ending, and c) hernyók, caterpillars. Interestingly, the Etruscan meχl, believed to be derived from Sumerian mah, “(to be) great”, which gave Hunnic madü = big (nagy in Hungarian), also gave magyar, “Hungarian” in Hungarian. And Méricskélő, cutting to the chase, a small measuring agent), Japanese shakutorimushi (hiragana: シャクトリムシ, kanji: 尺取虫), the "shaku taking bug", shaku being an archaic (officially out in 1966 but still used in carpentry...) Japanese measurement equal to 10/33 m, or about 30.3 cm, or the average distance between two nodes of bamboo, although most inchworms are incapable of such refinement, and a mile-long list of other names all imply a similar notion. The interesting point about all this is we (I) still don't know whether the name is due do obvious (i.e. simply observing their typical looping gait) convergent naming or from a perhaps late-19th-C spread of international zoological nomenclature. I could look it up, but do you really want me to? Family includes Biston betularia of English “pollution as evolutionary agent” fame. See Kannustiiva. See also Villkäpa.
Valge (0): White. Name given (2001) to the NE section of former Lasnamäe. See Punane. See also Halli.
Valdeku (Valdek): Said to be derived from an inn, Waldecki kõrts (from German Waldeck, corner of the woods) on the corner of this street and Männiku. Known as Punatähe, Red Star, from 1940-1941.
Valgevase (Valgevask): Brass (lit. white copper). Name due to local foundry. See Vase.
Valguse (Valgus): Light, daylight, flame, blaze, lighting, illumination.
Valukoja (Valukoda): Foundry, forge, ironworks. See Keevise. See also Ääsi.
Valli (Vall): Wall, rampart, earthwork. May also mean halyard, but not in this particular instance. Previous name of walliwahe (±1913) rejected for sounding too much like a Scotsman arguing with porridge.
Valve (Valve): Watch, lookout, surveillance, duty. Named for the local level-crossing watch.
Vana (Vana): Old. Also used in compound street-names. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1987) of Vaimu.
Vana Tooma (Vana Toomas): Old Thomas. Named after the character on the weather-vane on top of the Raekoda spire. Soviet Era renaming (1963-1987) of Dunkri, although what they were aiming at politically is not sure.
Vana turg (Vana turg): Old market. One of the oldest parts of Tallinn, the point at which all the main roads to/from the Islands (Saaremaa & Hiiumaa), Riga, Pärnu, Narva, Viljandi, Tartu, Novgorod and Rome converged.
Vana-Kuuli (Vana-Kuul): [Old] Bullet, Shot, Ball.
Vana-Liivamäe (Vana-Liivamägi): Old Sand Mountain. Trouble here: given the Reynolds number - or, strictly speaking, angle of repose - of sand, it should be called the “Old Sand Dune” and, indeed, from 2003 to 2008, an attack of municipal modesty caused the thoroughfare’s qualifier to be changed from “old” to the more realistic “little” but an Estonian will relinquish a mountain only under the greatest of duress and so, on 22nd Oct. 2008, they switched back to Vana.
Vanalinn (0): Oldtown.
Vana-Lõuna (Vana-Lõuna): [Old] South, Southern, Southerly. “Old Lunch”, Lõuna, one hopes, is less likely. Renamed (1959-1991) as Sihveri J. during the Soviet Era.
Vana (Vana):
Vana-Posti (Vana-Post): [Old] Post, or Mail. Tallinn post office build on corner in 1870s. Known as vicus / platea quappenstrate (1367-73), lutso ulits (1732), or Quappenstraße (1737) apparently for the burbots in the basin behind nearby Karjaveski, probably Suur-Karja, watermill.
Vanaturu kael (0): Neck of the old market. (Replaced part of Raekoja tänav in 1987)
Vanemuise (Vanemuine): God of music created by Faehlmann and Weizenberg in their Estonian mythology, name borrowed from Finnish Väinämöinen of folklore and Kalevala fame, giving its name to theatre in Tartu. Probably derived from a word for “old”, vanha in Finnish and vana in Estonian. See Haldja.
Vaniku (Vanik): Wreath, garland, ranging from the traditional garland of flowers to the increasingly popular garland of autumn leaves draped below the window, to woven headdress-wreathes. Renamed by its synonym Vaniku in 1959.
Varese (Vares): Crow. Two species breeding in Estonia: Künnivares, Rook, Corvus frugilegus and Vares, Hooded Crow, C. corone. See Linnu. See also Vindi.
Varjulille (Varjulill): Woodruff, Squinancy Wort, Asperula spp.. Name due to former use in treating quinsy, or peritonsillar abscess, a sometime complication of tonsillitis or, for George Washington, possible cause of death.
Varraku (Varrak): 1) Character from the Kalevipoeg: the Lappish sage who agrees to take Kalevipoeg to the end of the world. Name derived from Varjaag, Estonian for Varangian (Old East Slavic: Varyag), the Viking traders, pirates, mercenaries (to 11/13th-C Kievan and Novgorodian princes among others), known mainly as bodyguard to the Byzantine Emperors. Renamed (1979-1995) as Lumiste J. during the Soviet Era. See Kalevipoja.
Varre (Vars): Stalk, stem; handle, stock, pole. Aka vart or koot also meaning shinbone suggesting the more rudimentary tools available to our first agronomists.
Varsaallika (Varsaallikas): Foal’s/Colt’s/Filly’s source/spring. Named after a spring used by stud farm to water its, er, draught horse foals. Spring feeds a river which once drained into the Tallinna Laht, Tallinn Bay or Bight.
Vase (Vask): Copper. See Hõbeda.
Vati (Vatt): I first thought this was 1) wadding, padding, cotton wool (from the French ouate) or, by extension, a short jacket or clothes, and seeing it next to “Lamb street” sort of confirmed it. But no, false friend. A Vatt is a Watt, so be careful with your abbreviations. See Juhtme.
Vasara (Vasar): Hammer. Which also, appropriately, crosses Sirbi.
Veduri (Vedur): Locomotive, iron horse. Interesting: vedama means to draw or pull, and vedu from veo means draught or conveyance, but vee is water and, in many countries, the traditional course of long-distance haulage was the river. So instead of using the sluggish meandering motorway, they took an infinitely small proportion of its water, made steam, and shunted tons of metal along an unbending iron road. Etymology is the paleontology of words: fractured glimpses of one-off usages out of the infinite variations of the collective idiolect.
Vee (Vesi): Water. After the tower supplying trains on the Tallinn-Väike railway line.
Veerenni (Veerenn): Channel, gutter, lit. water groove, channel. Records record a 4-km canal supplying water from Ülemiste lake for moats and watermills dating back to 1345.
Veerise (Veeris): Pebble.
Veeriku (Veerik): 1) Roller, something that rolls (today’s classical musicians the Rolling Stones would be Veerevad Kivid); 2) Edging, binding of a (traditional) skirt; or 3) if you believe Kreutzwald, a blood blister (from vere, blood) Kalevipoeg got between the toes from dancing too much. See Kalevipoja.
Veetorni (Veetorn): Water-tower.
Veimeri A. (Arnold Veimer, 1903-1977): Communist - oxymoronically - economist. Head of the Stalinist puppet state (1944-1951). Enabled the 1949 “March Deportation” of some 20,000 mainly women and children critical of the regime to Siberia. Awarded “Hero of Socialist Labour” in 1973. Soviet Era renaming (1981-1995) of Kivila.
Weizenbergi A. (August Weizenberg, 1837-1921): Sculptor and wide-ranging artist, writing fiction, poetry, composing songs, etc. His 17 years in Rome gave him his taste for classical aesthetics. Formerly Salongi after a Mr Witte’s bathing establishment.
Velikije Luki (Velikije Luki): City in Pskov Oblast, Russia (about 150 km SE of Estonia), where the Red Army wiped out a German force of some 7000 in the Battle of Velikiye Luki (1942-3). Also burial place of Matrossovi A.. Soviet Era renaming (1979-1995) of Virbi.
Vene (Vene): Russian (also archaic term for a dugout canoe). There is a hypothesis that the term Vene shares the same origin as Wend (see Kanuti) and/or Vend (although debated, see also Ümera), as well as Vandal and perhaps even Vote/Votic (see Kingissepa V.), and may once have designated peoples living in or coming from the east (from German-Danish point of view), even including the Finns. Similiarly, a tribe called Vends are said to have settled near the present-day city of Ventspils on the Venta River in the 11th- or 12th-C before setling in the Wenden area around 12-16 C. Some say they were the Western Slavic Wends speaking a Slavic language, others that they were related to the Livonians and Votes and spoke a Baltic-Finnic language. Further suggestions include the possibility that Wends of the 8th-C Slavic migrations were behind the founding of Venice. Far be it for me to say “yay” or “nay”. Let’s say a vast open question. The fact that modern Estonian doesn’t differentiate V from W doesn’t help matters either.
Vesikaare (Vesikaar): West-northwest. Interesting… literally “water bearing” (direction of the water), this compass point, along with Idakaar (E), Läänekaar (W), Põhjakaar (N) is present on Tallinn maps while Lõunakaar (S) is absent. Is there some atavistic collective subconscious migratory lodestone here? The direction proto-Estonians travelled before coming to a sudden (or at least very wet) halt at the edge of the Baltic Sea as they wended their way toward their Maker (north-west is Loe, Loode, variant of Loe, Looja, which also means Creator or, adverbially, setting, as of suns in the evening). And Vesikaare lies along a NW not WNW axis anyway (but see Edela). Or are Estonians just “out” to lunch? See Lõuna which, although claimed to be thus named because it points south, actually starts SSE and ends up SSSE. Or are we getting a bit too pedantic? Perhaps not, previously called Loode... and briefly, 1940-1941, Loo.
Versta (Verst): Russian distance, about 1 km (1.067 to be exact).
Vesikupu (Vesikupp): Water lily, Nenuphar, Nuphar spp., aquatic plant of the Nymphaeaceae family. Common name of Water lily or Waterlily shared with other genera in same family, and Nenuphar might better be suited to Nymphaea alba, aka European White Waterlily or White Lotus.
Vesioina (Vesioina): Hydraulic ram.
Vesiravila (Vesiravila): Hydropathic, hydropathy establishment. See Ravila.
Vesiveski (Vesiveski): Watermill.
Vesivärava (Vesivärav): Watergate, named after the lock and sluice controlling water-supply to the harbour. Odd, at first glance, but not, apparently, à la coals to Newcastle: even harbour-masters have to wash their hands.
Veski (Veski): Mill: See on vesi tema veskile: that’s grist (lit. water) to his mill.
Veskimetsa (Veskimets): Mill woods, woods near/by the mill. Host to a mini-group of windy streets. See also Tuuleveski.
Veskimäe (Veskimägi): Mill hill. See also Veskimetsa.
Vesse (Vesse): Vesse (or Wesse), one of the leaders of the Jüriöö ülestõus (St. George’s Night Uprising) against the German invaders, beginning 23rd April 1343. Vesse was from Saaremaa where the uprising lasted about two years, and was relieved of his life in 1344. Street named after a children’s novel about the hero as young boy by Aadu Hint: Vesse Poeg, Vesse the boy.
Vete (Veed): Waters, singular: vee: olema vee ahjus, to have water in the oven, to be on your uppers, to be hard up.
Videviku (Videvik): 1) Twilight, gloaming, dusk, owllight; 2) Accordiing to Kreutzwald, the Moon’s spouse; 3) One of the world’s creator’s three servants, a cowmaid, with whom the moon fell in love with and lay, “mouth to mouth and lip to lip”, as a result of which, one of her oxen was eaten by a wolf. See Komeedi. See also Virmalise.
Viadukti (Viadukt): Viaduct. Carrying the Tallinn-Väike narrow-gauge railway line.
Vigla (Vigel): 1) Pitchfork; 2) Primitive gimlet. See Hargi. See also Vihu.
Vihu (Vihk): 1) Sheaf (of leaves, etc.; 2) Part, fascicle. See Hargi.
Wiedemanni F.J. (Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, 1805-1887): Linguist, the first to describe Estonian’s peculiar opposition of three phonological quantities (for more details, ask a native, they probably won’t know either); compiler of various dictionaries or grammars: northern coastal Estonian, Võru, Livonian, Syjranisch…
Vihuri (Vihur): Whirlwind. Renamed under Soviet rule along with Tuulemaa [1953?-1995] as: Belinski V.. Oddly, the streets join the same road, Kari, but don’t actually meet. Perhaps the wind and the lack of connections merited its association with a literary critic?...
Viige (?): Unlikely to be viig viigi (Whig) or viik viigi (fig), but what? Viige exists/ed in the Harjumaa Juuru dialect form of viigi from viik, crease, but that's definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel. Possibly an old farm name? Palun viige ta asjaga kurssi means "Fill her up please", but that's not much help...
Viidika (Viidikas): Bleak (a fish, Alburnus alburnus, for those in doubt). Known in Welsh as Gorwyniad . See Ahvena. See also Vimma.
Viimsi (Viimsi): Name of a manor house (German: Wiems) located a few km east of Tallinn, first mentioned in 1471.
Viirpuu (Viirpuu): The Hawthorn, none of the Estonian species seem to have an English name, so I’ll create some and see what happens: Kuramaa viirpuu, Courland Hawthorn, Crataegus curonica; Daugava viirpuu, Daugava Hawthorn, C. dunensis; Eesti viirpuu, Estonian Hawthorn, C. estonica; Kupfferi viirpuu, Trouty Hawthorn, C. kupfferi; Lindmani viirpuu, Lindman’s Hawthorn, C. lindmanii; Rand-viirpuu, Strand Hawthorn, C. maritima; Saaremaa viirpuu, Saaremaa Hawthorn, C. osiliensis; Lääne-viirpuu, Booty Hawthorn, C. palmstruchii; Harilik viirpuu, Pfläumchen Hawthorn, C. rhipidophylla and Viidumäe viirpuu, Hillside Hawthorn, C. viidumaegica.
Vikerkaare (Vikerkaar): Rainbow.
Vikerlase (Vikerlane): Estonian viking. Vikerlased (Vikings), was the first Estonian opera to be written, premièred in Tartu’s Vanamuise theatre on 8th Sept. 1928. Renamed (1979-1995) as Kuramaa during the Soviet Era. And the point of that was?...
Viki (Vikk): 1) Common vetch; 2) limestone paste; 3) bung, spigot; 4) All that for nothing, street no longer exists...
Vilde E. (Eduard Vilde): Prolific writer (33 volumes of novels, stories, plays, travelogues and humorous pieces), considered the first modern European in Estonia, and acclaimed as one of its greatest writers. There is a sculpture of him sitting next to his namesake Oscar Wilde outside the former Wilde printing house now pub in Vallikraavi (moat, counterscarp) in Tartu.
Vilisuu (Vilisuu): Now rarely-used bogey-man type threat for children: Ära mine õue, vilisuu tuleb!, Don’t go out, the (literally) fruit-mouth is coming! Renamed (1979-1995) as Tehumardi during the Soviet Era.
Viljandi (Viljandi): Town in southern Estonia first mentioned in 1283, although hill-fort mentioned by al-Idrisi in 1154. Formerly known as Fellinn. Major fortification of the Hanseatic Livonian Order, today home to the annual July Viljandi Folk Music Festival. Local settlements date back to 5th millennium BCE. Nearby Võrtsjärv (lake) is the largest natural eel breeding location in Europe.
Villardi (?): Uncertain, known as Willase in 1875 after local peasant farmer Karl Willase (< willane/villane, woollen) or Wilas, but recorded as Villari in an 1885 Tallinn guide book. Later, the Germans used Willarstrasse and Willertstrasse believing it named after local landlord Willert (wrong, he wasn’t around then). The street appeared as Villardi in a gazeteer of 1923, one year after a physical map of Estonia drawn by a certain Ad. Villard was published in Tallinn, suggesting a logical sequence of minor copying errors. Soviet Era renaming (1950-1991]: Laari J.
Villkäpa (Villkäpp): Probably Hele-villkäpp, the Pale Tussock moth, Calliteara pudibunda. What's pudibunda about it I'm not sure, perhaps because its caterpillar, once known in hop-picking times as the "hop-dog", may curl up into a round hairy little thing with a hole in the middle, although that seems rather tenuous. See Kannustiiva. See also Öölase.
Vilmsi J. (Jüri Vilms, 1889-1918?): Along with former President Konstantin Päts (no street named after him, although see Kentmanni) and Konstanti Konik, one of the three members of the “Rescue Committee” which proclaimed Estonian independence on the 24 February 1918, assumed executed in Helsinki by German Expeditionary Forces in April the same year. Renamed (1940-1991) as Tombi J. during the Soviet Era. Street called Riisenkampfi before Mr Wilms earned his early retirement, probably calqued on an earlier variant of the German Riesenkampfstraße, great struggle street, perhaps referring to the "Great War".
Vilu (Vilu): Cool weather; cool, chilly, shade.
Vindi (Vint): Finch. Also means 2) Endless screw (probably not what you think); and 3) Card game. Breeding in Estonia: Suurnokk-vint aka Suurnokk, Hawfinch, Coccothraustes coccothraustes; Rohevint, European Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris; Põhjavint, Brambling, Fringilla montifringilla; Koldvint, European Serin, Serinus serinus and Metsvint, Chaffinch, F. coelebs. See Linnu. See also Viu.
Vimma (1) Vimb 2-4) Vimm): 1) Vimba, or Vimba Bream, a species of Eurasian carp (Vimba vimba), also known as vimm, vimmakala, vemmakala, sirt, sirk, kottsuu (bagmouth), podust, podus. Also means 2) Grudge, ill-feeling; 3) Incubation (disease); 4) Hunch (e.g. on the back). See Ahvena. See also Vähi.
Vineeri (Vineer): Plywood, veneer. Named after former veneer and furniture plant, Tallinna Vineeri ja Mööblikombinaat.
Vinkli (Vinkel): Corner, angle (from German).
Virmalise (Virmaline): Aurora borealis, northern lights (usually plural in Estonian too, Virmalised). See Komeedi.
Virbi (?): Name (probably of Swedish origin) of a marsh/bog on Saaremaa (the street does cross Saarepiiga), or point on N tip of Naissaar (island off NE coast of Tallinn known, optimistically, by Adam of Bremen as Terra feminarum, land of women; birthplace of Bernhard Schmidt [1879–1935], Esto-Swedish optician and inventor of the Schmidt telescope), site of lighthouse dating back to 1788. Renamed (1979-1995) as Velikije Luki during the Soviet Era.
Viru (väljak) (Viru): Formerly known as Stalin Square, Russian market, Flea market... The name Viru is, obviously, very deep-rooted in the Estonian consciousness. Virland is mentioned in various Icelandic sagas, Viro is Finnish for Estonia, and Finnish vireä means lively, vivacious, hale and hearty, etc., so it may well have originated from self-designation as “true/real beings/people” (as opposed to the next-door neighbours) or, going further back, the Finno-Ugric proto word for “live”, “life”, *elä (questionably [i.e. quite possibly not] related to the Etruscan “vital”, “lively”, ala), cf. too, Hungarian elev-en, “lively”. The name of the Võru people/language in SE Estonia may be derived from the same source. The two present-day counties of Ida-Viru and Lääne-Viru cover the approximate original homeland of the Vironians.
Viru (värav) (Viru): Earliest records (1362) give this as Leymstrate or Lemstrate, clay street or, confusingly, porta lapidae, dictus argillae, stone street, known as clay street, evolving through to German Lehmpforte (Clay gate) which, with lehm meaning cow / cattle in Estonian, and this street leading into Suur-Karja, should have led to at least some more confusion but, confusingly, didn't. Spelled wirro wärraw in the 18th-C (1732).
Virumägi (0): Viru Hill.
Viruväräva mägi (Viruväräv): Viru gate.
Virve (Virve): Flicker (sound, light or wave), wavering, ripple. Crosses Laine, so probably ripple.
Visase (?): Uncertain. Possibly a name: Kallas (1921) lists a Viisas; and Mägiste (1929) Visa as a Finnish name. Elsewhere, in the coastal reagion of Kuusalu, visane means pus-producing, suppurating or weeping (as in wounds) but the Street-names Commission, even at their most obscure, would not, I hope, use this. The only other Estonian locations including Visase in their names are two very exciting fields in Pärnumaa (regretably fallow some of the time): Ülem-Visase (upper-Visase) and Alem-Visase (lower-Visase). Ours, being close to a skipful of building-material street-names, cannot claim such bucolic simplicity. So, with no pretensions to exactitude, we suggest a possible derivative of visa (meaning tough, tenacious, gritty or, in the case of diseases: obstinate, not too far in meaning from from our festering sore above, etc.), with *visane being either the robustness required to prevent seven-storey car-parks collapsing on top of recently-acquired SUVs or, why not, a sort of support tool? See Armatuuri.
Vismeistri (Vismeister?): From Fischmeister or “fishmaster”, named, apparently, after the corresponding municipal official, a position dating back to at least 1515. In nearby Maardu there is a street caled Teemeistri, inspector of roads, although some very dodgy pan-Gaian linguistico-bimbonerds claim this should be "tea-master" (tee is both road and tea) due to the putative parentage of Estonian and Japanese. One may legitimately suspect wishful thinking: Lipton's haven't been around that long...
Viu (Viu): Buzzard (also interjection Viu! meaning Whew! Whiz! Ping! or other onomatopoeia of your choice). Breeding in Estonia: Herilaseviu, European Honey-Buzzard, Pernis apivorus; Hiireviu, Common Buzzard, Buteo buteo and Karvasjalg-viu aka Taliviu, Rough-legged Buzzard, B. lagopus. See Linnu. See also Vuti.
Wismari (Wismar): Baltic Sea port in Germany dating back to pre 12th-C, one of the earliest Hanseatic League towns. City used as setting for Nosferatu, the 1922 Dracula film. Renamed (1950-1987/9) as Mitšurini I. during the Soviet Era.
Volta (Volta): After the “Volta” electrotechnical factory (on the corner of Volta and Tööstuse, most of the remaining buildings unused by Volta AS these days) founded by the Carl and Christian Luther brothers in 1899.
Voolu (Vool): 1) Stream, flow, current, tide; 2) (Electrical) current; 3) Trend. Vastuvoolu against the current, upstream, pärivoolu with the current, downstream.
Voorimehe (Voorimees): Cabman, coachman, carrier (voor = cart, waggon, etc.). Apparently where cabmen of the past used to wait.
Vuti (Vutt): AkaPõldvutt, Quail or Common Quail, Coturnix coturnix. Breeds in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Västriku.
Vormsi (Vormsi): Fourth largest island in Estonia, between Hiiumaa and mainland. Along with neighbouring mainland region of Noarootsi (Sw. Nuckö), historical colonial homeland to Swedes known as Rannarootsi (coastal Swedes or, in Sw. Estlandssvenskar, Estonian Swedes) until WWII when most were evacuated or escaped to Sweden. Its original Swedish name, Ormsö, Snake/Worm island, with possible influenced of its German name Worms, seems to have generated its Estonian through vernacular pronounciation of foreign words. Previously also called Hiiurootsi saar, Swedish Hiuumaa island.
Võidu (Võit): Victory, success, triumph, achievement… Soviet Era renaming (1948-1989) of Vabaduse.
Võidujooksu (Võidujooks): Footrace, race. Named after the Tallinna Ratsaspordi Selts Tallinn Equestrian Club. First race: 1884.
Võistluse (Võistlus): Competition, rivalry. Named after the Komsomol Stadium, now known as Kalevi Keskstaadion. Formerly known as Aafrika for its fields of shifting sand (or quicksand?), reminiscent of Africa.
Võlvi (Võlv): Vault, arch. New street, barely a year old (22/10/2008), presumably inhabited by babes, almost inevitable in Tallinn.
Võra (Võra): Top of a tree, crown of a forest.
Võrgu (Võrk): Net (also mesh, network, web, grid, plexus, etc.). Named after a nearby net-making factory. Renamed (1980-2002) as Kalasadama during the Soviet Era.
Võrgukivi (Võrgukivi): Small stone used as weight for fishing-net, or large stone used as anchor. See Abara. See also Kivi. See also Västra..
Võrgu V. (Vassili Võrk, dates not dicovered: damnatio memoriae?): Colonel of the 8th Estonian Tallinn Rifle Corps (or Lieutenant-Colonel of the 300th Rifle Regiment), commandant of Tallinn for three days in September 1944, the story of him converting three Red Army gentlemen attempting to acquire high-discount vodka from the Rosen (now Liviko) distillery into definitive teetotallers may well be apocryphal. Soviet Era renaming (1979-1995) of Arbu.
Võrse (Võrse): Shoot, sucker, sprout, twig, sapling.
Võru (Võru): Town, region and dialect in south-eastern Estonia. Although võru also means ring, band, hoop or collar, it is unlikely to be the origin of this street name, see Viru.
Võsa (Võsa): Brushwood, scrub, coppice, bosquet.
Võsu (Võsu): 1) Shoot, sprig, outgrowth; 2) Offspring, descendent.
Vägiheina (Vägihein): Mullein, Verbascum spp., aka Adam’s flannel, Aaron’s rod, shepherd’s club, & hag-taper (black mullein), member of the figwort family.
Vähi (Vähk): The noble, European or broad-fingered crayfish, Astacus astacus, aka Jõevähk, harilik jõevähk, väärisvähk (vääris = noble, costly…), not a fish, a crustacean, but parked with its finny friends anyway. See Ahvena. Or see Abara.
Väike (Väike): Small, little.
(0): [Small, Lesser, Lower] Coastal gate. Known as Väike-Rannavärava tn (since they now call it a värav, gate, instead of a tänav, street, the dash disappears) until 1987.
Väike-Ameerika (Väike-Ameerika): [Small, Lesser, Lower] America. Renamed (1950-1991) Kiire during the Soviet Era.
Väike-Karja (Väike-Kari): [Small, Lesser, Lower] Cattle gate. Written Veike-Karja in 1885, and known from 16th-19th-C as am, im or auf dem Schilde, by/in/on the shield, although why is unclear. TT suggests a shield-shape configuration of the Müürivahe and Karja streets, or signs (also Schild in German) indicating Kuradi torn or a nearby watch-house (Schildhaus) as possible reasons. Recorded also as
Väike-Kiire (Väike-Kiire): [Small, Lesser, Lower] Quick, fast, swift, nimble, urgent… Soviet Era renaming (1950-1996) of Kiire.
Väike-Kloostri (Väike-Klooster): [Small, Lesser, Lower] Abbey, Cloister, Monastery, Convent. Renamed (1950-1987], oddly, since it doesn’t lead there, along with Nunne [1950-1987], as Vaksali during the Soviet Era.
Väikese Illimari (Väike Illimar): After the eponymous hero of Väike Illimar, ühe lapsepõlve lugu (Little Illimar, a childhood tale), by Friedebert Tuglas (1886-1971) who lived at No.12 (then known as Veere < Veer, border, edge, brink), now a museum devoted to him and Marie Under, another previous writer-occupant.
Väike (Väike): Small, Lesser, Lower, any term designating a street or road with a big brother somewhere, usually nearby.
Väina (Väin): Strait (as in Dover), sound, pass.
Välgu (Välk): Lightning. Useful expression: Välk ja pauk! ≈ “Damn it!”? lit. Lightning and crash/bang!. Readers of Pratchett's earlier Discworld novels will be please to know that one possible translation of "to coruscate" is välkuma. Soviet Era renaming (1960-1989) of Glehni N.v.
Välja (Väli): Field, plain, green. In compound words, it can also mean “without” (as in outside), “outside” or “beyond”.
Väo (Väo): Name of a lesser manor house in Väo (German: Faeht), Harjumaa, about 3 km E of Tallinn. Settlements recorded as far back as the Bronze Age.
Väomurru (Väomurd): Metonym (murd = break) for the quarry on Väo.
Värava (Värav): Gate, gateway.
Värsi (Värss): 1) Verse; 2) Steer, young bull. From 1940-1941, renamed after Juhan Liiv, poet, dark romantic and, during certain phases of his muddled mental existence, son of Tsar Alexander II, King of Poland etc. Died after being thrown from a train in mid-winter for not having a ticket. They took it so much more seriously in those days.
Västra (Västar): Fishing-spear. See Abara. Or see Ahvena.
Västriku (Västrik): Wagtail, probably Linavästrik, White Wagtail, Motacilla alba, rather than Jõgivästrik, Grey Wagtail, M. cinerea , more common in the south-western part of Europe, although both are known to breed in Estonia. See Linnu. See also Ööbiku.
Värvi (Värv): Colour, paint, dye, tint, hue.
Vääna (Vääna): Named after former narrow-gauge railway of that name: town, river (väänama is to twist, as many rivers do in flat countries like Estonia), and stately home (mõis) in various locations south and west of Tallinn. Once called Raadio after another sort of station.
Õhtu (Õhtu): Evening.
Õie (Õis): Flower, blossom. Name changed to Tõdva from 1940-1941, but what this word means I have no idea.
Õilme (Õile): Flower, blossom. Possibly also a Virumaa dialect form of Õie, perhaps a plain variant of the same, the plural perhaps representing the figurative blossom.
Õismäe (Õismägi): Flower hill.
Õle (Õlg): Straw or, when plural, chaff or thatch. Õlg õla, on the other hand, is shoulder, hence any coleopteran antero-lateral elytral protuberance although I have my doubts that this would spontaneously appeal to a street-naming committee anyway. See Aru.
Õitse (Õitse): Inflorescence.
Õnne (Õnn): Luck, fortune, happiness - Palju õnne: Happy Birthday! Lit. Much happiness, full version is Palju õnne sünnipäevaks. Name changed to Selja during those unhappy days of 1940-1941.
Õpetajate (Õpetajad [pl.]): Teachers (Sing. Õpetaja). Named after a former teachers’ housing association.
Õuna (Õun): Apple.
Ädala (Ädal): Aftermath, second hay.
Äia (Äi): Father-in-law. Although in the Võru dialect it (äi äio) also means "devil" (and all its adjectival consequences: damn, bloody, fuck(ing)...), shedding a jaundiced light on in-law affinities. See Hõimu.
Äigrumäe (Äigrumägi): Town about 7 km NE of Tallinn.
Ääre (Äär): Edge, border, brim, margin.
Ääsi (Ääs): Forge. See Keevise.
Ööbiku (Ööbik): Nightingale (with a great stretch of the imagination and very soggy elastic, this word can be extended to contain one of if not the longest sequence of identical vowels in Estonian. Follow me: töö is work and öö is night so töööö is night-work, so a tööööööbik is a night-working (i.e. -singing) nightingale. Of similar linguistic value to this is, perhaps, the 13-letter word for constipation in English, beginning and ending with “n”. Two species breeding in Estonia: Rubiinööbik, Siberian Rubythroat, Luscinia calliope and plain old Ööbik, Thrush Nightingale, L. luscinia. See Linnu. See also Sule.
Ülase (Ülane): Anemone or Windflower, Anemone spp.. The name, from the Greek Άνεμος, wind, is due to popular belief that the flower flowers because of the wind. See Lille.
Öölase (Öölane): Noctuid owlet moth (numerous species). See Kannustiiva.
Ülemiste (Ülemiste): Lake, now reservoir, in Tallinn; mythological character: the old man of Ülemiste, Ülemiste Vanake.
Üliõpilaste (Üliõpilased [pl.]): University students (Sing. Üliõpilane).
Ümera (Ümera): Another (the last!) Tallinn street that looks like a badly-knotted bootlace. Estonian name for then river Jumara in present-day Latvia. Here, near Cēsis, aka Wenden, or Võnnu in Estonian (see Vene), the Estonians fought and beat Teutonic Knight invaders during the Livonian Crusade in 1210, described in Mait Metsanurk's historical novel Ümera jõel (On Ümera River).