A dead end for Church Street as nation moves to Green Close

“GREEN” has replaced “Church” as the most popular new street name, according to researchers.

And “Close” has replaced “Street” as the most common ending to an address.

The study compared modern figures obtained from councils with historic patterns from a range of sources, including the 1911 census.

It found that today more new street names begin with “Green” and end with “Close” than any other individual words. A century ago, “Church” and “Street” occupied the same positions.

The findings show a move away from what were common names last century. Historically Road, Street and Lane were the most popular road descriptors, but Mews, Close, Way and Court are now common choices – driven by the development of modern estates.

While Green, Church and Park remain popular names, Victoria, King and Station are in decline, thought to be because new stations are rarely built, and because there has been neither a Queen Victoria nor a King on the throne in recent times. Elizabeth, instead, has become a popular choice for new street names.

The study, by family history website Ancestry.co.uk, concluded naming conventions had also become less traditional, as new names are selected to stand out as individual or quirky, such as Featherwood, Birdhope and Azure Close.

Street names evoking cultural idealism are also increasingly common, including Liberty Court, Unity Drive, Diversity Avenue and Faith Close, as are streets named after sporting stars.