What's in a Prague street name

Every street in Prague, one by one.

  • Prague 4, day 303: Pod Lysinami

    Pod Lysinami was built in 1991. I did warn that there would be a bit of repetition in the next few days, so feel free to go and find out why this area was named Lysiny by clicking on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/28/prague-4-day-293-na-lysinach/ (which we already had to recycle on day 294). Pod Lysinami had the dubious opportunity Continue reading

  • Prague 4, day 302: K dubinám

    K dubinám was built in 1935. A ‘dubina’ is a forest dominated by oak trees, or ‘duby’. You could also call it an ‘oak grove’. Due to its surrounding vegetation, the area once here was once known as Na dubině. Unrelatedly, a long way to the west, a group of Czechs created a settlement called Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 301: K Zátiší

    K Zátiší was built in 1983. Around the mid-1870s, the settlement around here was called Klánov, on which see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/19/prague-4-day-284-klanova/. Klán was not alone – this had become a popular area for Prague people to go on trips, or stay a bit longer, and many a villa was built as a result. Klán himself started to Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 300: V lučinách

    V lučinách was built in 1925. Until 1952, the street was part of V Zátiší (coming up), but then it was separated and became its own street. A further portion of V Zátiší was given to V lučinách in 1979. A ‘lučina’ is a synonym for ‘louka’, i.e. a meadow. We’ve been on this topic Continue reading

    , , , , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 299: Večerní

    Večerní was built in 1973. Part three of the times-of-day series that started on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/14/prague-4-day-279-poledni/ and continued with https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/02/02/prague-4-day-298-jitrni/: ‘večer’ is ‘evening’. This reminds me of the first time I lived in Prague; I was an English teacher, and, in the practice lessons, I learned that Czechs learning English may get very confused if you ask Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 298: Jitřní

    Jitřní was built in 1965. When we were still in Braník, we started on what is a four-part set of streets named after times of day: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/14/prague-4-day-279-poledni/. ‘Jitro’ means ‘morning’, and I now have to sheepishly admit that I’ve been spelling it as ‘jítro’ until today. Ah well, we live and learn. Czechs will often look Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 297: Stavbařů

    Stavbařů was built in 1973. A ‘stavbář’ is a builder, or a construction worker. They would typically work on a stavba or a staveniště (a construction / building site). Without such people, these streets would either not exist or just be a bunch of paths, so fair play to whoever decided they deserved to have Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 296: Nad údolím

    Nad údolím was built in 1935. Keeping things geographical today: the street is above (‘nad’) a valley (‘údolí’). Anyone who thinks they’ve heard this one before is probably right: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/22/prague-4-day-267-udolni/ is nearby, but somehow a month has passed since I wrote about it. Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 295: Nad lesem

    Nad lesem was built in 1935. While we’ve established that parts of Hodkovičky are quite barren (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/28/prague-4-day-293-na-lysinach/), you can go a tiny bit further to the north and find yourself just above a forest. Or, in Czech, ‘nad lesem’. The forest is on the border between Hodkovičky and Braník. I mean, this is based on Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 294: Mezi Lysinami 

    Mezi Lysinami was built in 1935. The creativity is the equal of the vegetation today: Mezi Lysinami is named after the same barrenness as yesterday’s https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/28/prague-4-day-293-na-lysinach/, but is ‘between’ these patches of nothingness rather than ‘on’ them. To make today’s story about 0.1% more interesting, the street was called Mezi Lysinami I between 1938 and Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 293: Na Lysinách 

    Na Lysinách was built in 1925. When talking about humans and their heads, a ‘lysina’ is a bald spot. When talking about landscapes, a ‘lysina’ is a forest area without vegetation, and so the area around here was once known as such. Based on my walk around the area last weekend (and a new record for Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 292: V mokřinách

    V mokřinách was built in 1925, and separated from another street (V Zátiší) in 1938. ‘Mokřina’ means ‘marsh’, ‘fen’, or ‘bog’, and reflects the surroundings. The area got a bit of a glow-up in 2019: https://www.praha-priroda.cz/vodni-plochy-a-potoky/vodni-toky/zatissky-potok/revitalizace-a-opravy-na-zatisskem-potoce/revitalizace-v-mokrinach/. Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 291: Pod kopcem

    Pod kopcem was built in 1938. Its name translates as ‘under the hill’, and the hill in question is the one above Braník train station (as today’s post is brief, here’s a link to a little bit more about that station: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/15/prague-4-day-260-pikovicka/). Continue reading

    , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 290: V Náklích

    V Náklích was built in 1927. Until 1947, the street was called U kapličky (By the chapel), after the Chapel of St. Bartholomew on Modřanská (note to self to take a photo when I’m next there). ‘Náklí’ is young willow growth by a river, cut down annually so that it can be used to weave Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 289: Šífařská

    Šífařská was built in 1998. In Czech, a ‘ship’ is a ‘loď’. For those wondering, yes, ‘łódź’ is also Polish for ‘ship’, but there’s no consensus that that’s the reason why Łódź has its name. But it gives me a nice excuse to share some pictures of my 2013 trip to Łódź all the same. Continue reading

    , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 288: Branický most

    Branický most was named in 1969. In 1920, the Prague Railway Commission received a proposal for a railway bridge for freight transport. Construction began, somewhat abruptly, in 1949, before the design of the bridge had even been agreed on (this doesn’t sound like a great idea). It’s thought that part of the reason for the Continue reading

    , , , , , , , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 287: Barrandovský most

    Barrandovský most (Barrandov Bridge) was built between 1978 and 1988. In the 1700s already, there was a pontoon bridge here – a pontoon bridge being a bridge that uses floats, or shallow draft-boats to continuously support traffic. For those of you wanting to see an example and also dream of warmer weather, here’s a picture Continue reading

    , , , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 286: Vltavanů

    Vltavanů was named in 1998. In 1871, an association was formed in Podskalí (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-122-podskalska/). Its full name was ‘Vzájemně se podporující spolek plavců, rybářů a pobřežných Vltavan’, translating loosely as ‘The Mutually Supportive Association of Swimmers, Fishermen and Coastal Guards: Vltavan’. One of the founding members was František Dittrich, a Podskalí native who had once Continue reading

    , , , , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 285: Na dlouhé mezi

    Na dlouhé mezi was built in 1900 and, despite the pic, is partially in Braník. Until 1941, the street was called V Zátiší, which we’ll discuss in a few days. A ‘mez’ is a ‘limit’ or a ‘boundary’; it can also be translated as ‘balk’ or ‘baulk’ (a ‘narrow strip of uncultivated land between cultivated fields’). Continue reading

    , , , , ,

  • Prague 4, day 284: Klánova

    Klánova was built in 1925. Václav Klán was born in Černošice (nowadays in Prague-West) in 1839. He was working as a clerk in Zbraslav when an aunt left him some rocky land in Radotín (nowadays in Prague 16). He later sold this to a mining company (Radotín is famed for its limestone), making a nice Continue reading

    , , , , ,