Ever wonder why there are so many Main Streets? Or why every avenue seems to be named after a tree, a number, or a president? Are there just not enough words in the English language to name the 4.12 million miles of road in our country? Surely, the city planners of yesteryear could’ve been a bit more creative. It begs the question: Just how much copy-pasting happens on the street signs of America?
With some help from a 2015 analysis from The Washington Post, we’ve assembled a roundup of the most common street name for each state. In the Post‘s research, roads under the same name that have different regional attributes (like S. Main St. and N. Main St.) were counted as one street, if they’re connected. But name variations (like Park St. and Park Ave.) were counted separately, even if they are connected. Also, if they’re within a half mile of each other, streets with the same exact name were only counted once. And if a road crosses county lines, it was counted twice.
As you can see, road counting isn’t as straightforward as you’d imagine! So, without further ado, here are the results. Read on, and see if you live on the most commonly named street in your state.
Number of streets with the name: 240
While dogwood trees hold no official title in Alabama (the state tree is the Southern Longleaf Pine), they’re still an integral part of the state’s fabric—and history. Before it died in 2010, there was a nearly 120-year-old Dogwood tree located in the Botanical Gardens in Huntsville, Alabama.
Number of streets with the name: 73
Sorry First, but you can’t always be the front-runner. In fact, the street name Second is even more popular than First in the country as a whole: 8,323 streets in the country taking the name. However, it’s still in second place, nationwide, overall for street names (Park is the most common street name in the country with 9,640).
Number of streets with the name: 120
The Apache Native American tribe is native to the Southwestern United States, so it’s no surprise many streets are named as such. Currently, the Western Apache tribe resides in east and central Arizona.
Number of streets with the name: 199
While Oak is the most common street name in the state, it’s not Arkansas’ State Tree (that would be Pine—the fourth most common street name in the state). However, they’re not the only trees in the top ten street names. The tenth most common street name in Arkansas is Dogwood, while six through eight are held by Cedar, Elm, and Maple, respectively.
Number of streets with the name: 367
Park shows up the most in California street names, with more than 350 (!) individual occurrences. However, the fourth most common name is Sunset. And the most popular Sunset-named road is also one of the most popular roads in the state, if not the world: Sunset Boulevard, which stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu to the Sunset Strip in Hollywood.
Number of streets with the name: 187
This common street name also shares its title with other popular places in Colorado—from the town to the mountain. But Aspen is also a type of tree. The town of Aspen, Colorado, was named simply because there are a ton of aspen trees in the area.
Number of streets with the name: 78
While Park is the most common street name in Connecticut, the second most common is Laurel—the official state flower. In 1907, a group of 3,000 women signed a petition to urge the General Assembly to make the mountain laurel Connecticut’s State Flower, which legislators ultimately agreed to do.
Number of streets with the name: 31
In addition to being the most common street name, Holly is also the official Delaware state tree. And that’s because in 1939, Delaware was the leading exporter of holly. In fact, the town of Milton, Delaware, produced more holly wreaths than any other town in the world.
Number of streets with the name: 434
Looking at a list of the most common street names in Florida is perplexing enough to confound even the sharpest number whizzes. All ten of the most common street names in the state are numbers—but just one corresponds to itself. What do we mean? Well, Second is first, Sixth is second, Fourth is third, and then it goes Fifth, First, Third, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, and Ninth (in that order). In other words, Seventh is the only one in the proper position (seventh).
Number of streets with the name: 408
While many people assume some variation of “Peachtree Street” would take the lead in Georgia (given the fact that there are dozens in the capital alone), they’re really only concentrated in Atlanta. Dogwood streets, however, are found all over the state, and while not the official state tree (that’s the second most common street name, which is Oak), the tree still holds a significant place in Georgia. For more than 80 years, Atlanta has hosted the Annual Dogwood Festival, where people gather to view the beautiful blooming of the Dogwood trees.
Number of streets with the name: 20
Hawaii’s most common street name, Lehua, shares its name with the native Red Lehua flower. While the Red Lehua is not the state’s official flower, it is the official flower for The Big Island (each island in Hawaii designates an official flower). Kukui, the official flower for the Island of Moloka’i, is the second most common street name, while “Aloha” makes its way as the eighth most common.
Number of streets with the name: 108
Apparently, Idahoans love consistency: Idaho’s top three common street names are First, Second, and Third—in that order. Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth also find a place in the state’s top most common street names. However, they fall in fifth, seventh, and tenth place, respectively.
Number of streets with the name: 461
While Park is the most common street name in Illinois, close by in third is Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln is an important figure to the state of Illinois, as it’s one of the places he grew up in, and was also where he had his first brush with politics—after he won an election for the Illinois state legislature in 1834.
Number of streets with the name: 284
Park, County Line, and Maple are the top three most common street names in Indiana. However, also in the top ten, you’ll find Sycamore. Kokomo, Indiana is home to one of the world’s largest sycamore stumps, which has a circumference of more than 50 feet. When the tree was knocked down by a storm, it was said to be around 1,500 years old with some branches as large as eight feet in diameter. The stump has been preserved and is currently on display at Highland Park.
Number of streets with the name: 320
With First being the most common street name the state, most of the common street names in Iowa also revolve around numbers—for instance, 289 streets are named Second. However, there is probably only one “One Fun Place” street in Iowa, or all of the United States, for that matter. What’s even funnier is the road directly leads you to the Jolly Time Pop Corn Museum in Sioux City, Iowa.
Number of streets with the name: 272
It seems that Kansas wasn’t content with just naming an entire city after it’s state name, it also named many streets the same. The eighth most common street name in Kansas is just “Kansas” as well. But where did the name Kansas even come from? It actually originates from the Native American Kansa people—where “kansa” or “kanza” means “south wind”—who are native to the Kansas area.
Number of streets with the name: 202
When you think of things like “maple syrup,” one doesn’t typically think of Kentucky—most think of places like Vermont or Canada. However, in line with the fact that its most common street name is “Maple,” Kentucky has started to push its way into the forefront of the maple syrup making business—producing thousands of gallons of sap in the past few years. In 2017, the Kentucky Maple Syrup Association was created to promote maple syrup production in the state.
Number of streets with the name: 175
Native to eastern North America, the Magnolia is Louisiana’s State Flower. Since its designation as the official flower in 1900, it has spawned a multitude of “Magnolias” in the state—from schools, to neighborhoods, to, most commonly, streets. It also lends its name to the Magnolia Projects, a community housing project that housed thousands of people in Louisiana before Hurricane Katrina hit.
Number of streets with the name: 140
Big on originality, Maine’s most common street name is (*cue drum roll*) Main. Plenty of states use “main” as a street name identifier instead of “first,” which is also why Second is a more popular street name than First. Most of the municipalities in Maine have a Main Street, including Augusta, Rockford, Brunswick, and Belfast.
Number of streets with the name: 108
While Park is the most common street name in Maryland, Church is the eighth most common: 70 streets in the state have the name. Seeing as Maryland was founded as a haven for Catholics by George Calvert, that probably doesn’t seem unusual. The most interesting Church Street in Maryland is in Frederick, where the town’s first church was built in 1747. After that, many churches began popping up along the street, in hopes of creating a centralized location for church-goers to congregate every week. Currently, 30 churches exist on the one Church Street.
Number of streets with the name: 111
Massachusetts shares its most common street name “Park” with Maryland. One of the other most common street names in Massachusetts, “Pleasant,” also shares its name with Lake Pleasant in Massachusetts. Founded by the New England Spiritualist Campmeeting Association in 1870, Lake Pleasant is one of five villages in Montague, Massachusetts, and claims to be the oldest continuously-existing Spiritualist community in America.
Number of streets with the name: 424
While Maple takes the lead, it’s no surprise that “lake” shows up more than once in Michigan’s most common street names. The third most common street name is Lake, while the eighth most common is Lakeview. Sharing the name, Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States.
Number of streets with the name: 412
Minnesota is home to many First and Third Streets, but it’s home to only one Pig’s Eye Lake Road. Named after an actual man, Pierre “Pig Eye’s” Parrant (nicknamed so for his one blind eye), the road takes you to the biggest park in St. Paul, Minnesota: Pig’s Eye Regional Park.
Number of streets with the name: 172
Magnolia is Mississippi’s most common street name, but Jackson—the capital and the most populous city—shows up in sixth place. Mississippi was one of the last places to observe Prohibition (33 years after it was repealed) until a surprise raid in Jackson, Mississippi, found many prominent citizens, as well as the governor, celebrating Mardi Gras with illegal liquor—subsequently prompting the state legislature to change the law.
Number of streets with the name: 328
While Park is the most common street name in Missouri, most of the other common street names of the state revolve around trees. There are around 119 common species of native Missouri trees. Elm, Maple, and Walnut are all common tree species and common street names in the state. Oak and Hickory are also common street names in Missouri, and the most common trees you’ll find in the state—with about three-fourths of Missouri’s trees being one of the two.
Number of streets with the name: 192
Montana is known for having a lot of numbered street names—Second, Third, and First, mostly—but one Montana town decided to stray away from that tradition. All of the streets in Bozeman, Montana, are named after actual people, as an ode to keeping the town’s history alive. Mendenhall Street was named after John Mendenhall, Gallatin County’s first sheriff, while Story Street was named after Nelson Story, Bozeman’s richest man.
Number of streets with the name: 172
While most of Nebraska’s most common street names fall under the numbers category, the ninth most common street name in the state is simply “A.” It seems that Nebraska is a fan of one-letter street names—also being home to P Street and O Street. Estimated to be 59 miles long, O Street in Lincoln, Nebraska, claims to be the longest, straight, main street in the world.
Number of streets with the name: 37
Though Nevada shares its most common street name with Nebraska, some of its other common street names are more unique—like Canyon, Cottonwood, and Pioneer. Pioneer, the ninth most common street name in the state, shares its name with the abandoned town of Pioneer. The town originally flourished as a mining area, but after a fire destroyed much of the town in 1909, it never truly recovered and now little remains in what used to be Pioneer, Nevada.
Number of streets with the name: 61
While Maple it’s the most common street name in New Hampshire, the third most common is Hemlock…which also happens to be a current source of trouble for the state. In recent years, New Hampshire has experienced an infestation of hemlock wooly adelgid. First discovered in the state in 1999, the native Asian bug can now be found in 120 towns within the state (that’s more than half of all the towns). This insect can kill trees or leave them weak and susceptible to other damage.
Number of streets with the name: 184
New Jersey gives its fair share of road names to commonalities. Park, Pine, and Washington are all some of the most common street names found in the state. However, New Jersey also has its fair share of random and unexpected street names—like Random Road in Princeton, New Jersey or Unexpected Road in Buena Vista, New Jersey.
Number of streets with the name: 85
Not found in many other states, New Mexico’s second most common street name is Pinon. A piñon is a small pine tree with edible seeds, native to the country of Mexico and the southwestern United States. New Mexico also designated it as the official state tree in 1948.
Number of streets with the name: 451
Both Park and River are common street names in New York—not surprising, as you can find many of the nation’s most famous parks and rivers in New York. Of course, one of the most famous streets in New York is Park Avenue, a Manhattan street that, perplexingly, isn’t adjacent to Central Park.
Number of streets with the name: 328
While many of the common street names in North Carolina revolve around trees, the fifth most common street name is Ridge. North Carolina is home to the Blue Ridge Mountains, which cover most of the western part of the state. While the Blue Ridge Mountains extend from Georgia to Pennsylvania, the highest peaks can be found here near Asheville, North Carolina.
Number of streets with the name: 214
All of North Dakota’s most common street names are numerical—except for the eighth most common name, Main (which is basically numerical). Fargo, North Dakota, is known for its numbered streets, making it easy to find your way around town. However, many of the streets used to be named after Presidents—like Washington Avenue which is now First Avenue or Adams Avenue which is now Second Avenue.
Number of streets with the name: 418
Ohio’s most common street names typically associate with trees—there are many Maple, Oak, and Walnut streets in the state. Though, the state is home to some more uniquely named roads, like Seldom Seen Road in Powell, Ohio. Not very true to its name, however, Seldom Seen Road is a highway leading to many residential neighborhoods, as well as a park and a CVS.
Number of streets with the name: 241
Oklahoma’s most common street name is Oak, but some of the state other common street names are more unique like County Line and Broadway. While Broadway lends its name to many streets in the state, Oklahoma lends its own name to an iconic Broadway musical.
Number of streets with the name: 172
Most of Oregon’s most common street names are numbers—except for Park and Cedar. However, in Eugene, Oregon, one of the funniest street names in the state is Haviture Way. Not too sure why it’s so funny? Say it out loud. We would love to live on this road.
Number of streets with the name: 542
A popular tree in the state, Cherry also lends its name to many of the streets in Pennsylvania. It also shares a name with Cherry Springs State Park, a state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania. Cherry Springs State Park is said to have some of the darkest night skies on the east coast and is a hotspot for astronomers and night sky enthusiasts.
Number of streets with the name: 29
While Rhode Island is home to many common street names like Park and Maple, one of its most common street names is not actually all that common. Narragansett is a popularly reoccurring name in Rhode Island—with 20 streets named so in the small state. The name translates to “people of the small point” and is also the name of an American Indian tribe native to the area of Rhode Island.
Number of streets with the name: 165
Park and Dogwood take the top two spots when it comes to South Carolina’s most common street names. However, the third most common street name is Oak—a popular symbol in South Carolinian culture. The Angel Oak Tree is an estimated 500-year-old tree located on John’s Island in Charleston, South Carolina, and is thought to be one of the oldest living things in the entire country.
Number of streets with the name: 170
While many streets in South Dakota fall under the name First or Main, Sioux Falls has taken steps to stray away from that. In this town, most of the street names are named by developers who have built neighborhoods on the street—most who like to have fun by coming up with unique names. Some of the weirdest, and most unique, are Bittersweet Lane, Leprechaun Drive, and Mom’s Street.
Number of streets with the name: 227
Tennessee’s most common street names are mostly trees, which is not surprising considering its a huge mountain state. Dogwood, Oak, and Maple take the lead with the most common street names. However, more surprising, and a little confusing, is the more uniquely named intersection of Goodmorning Drive and Goodnight Court in Nashville, Tennessee. Which is it?
Number of streets with the name: 590
Park is the most common street name in Texas, but Pecan finds its way as the fifth. Texas is the largest producer of native pecans and through an act of the Texas Legislature in 1919, the Pecan Tree became the state’s official tree. Not only that, but the pecan was adopted as the state’s official health nut (get it?), and pecan pie was also designated the official state pie of Texas.
Number of streets with the name: 97
With Main in the lead, Utah’s third most common street name is Aspen. Fishlake National Forest in Utah is home to the most massive living thing on Earth—an enormous grove of aspen trees that are all technically one single organism. Nicknamed “The Trembling Giant,” around 47,000 aspen trees exist on the grove, and they are all genetically identical because they share a single root system.
Number of streets with the name: 55
Known for its maple syrup, Vermont’s fourth most common street name is Maple. Also on the list, however, is Birch, which is a newfound name in the syrup scene. Vermont entrepreneurs have recently started tapping birch trees for sap to create birch syrup—which producers say has a more raspberry taste compared to maple.
Number of streets with the name: 188
Virginia’s most common street name is Lee. (The state was the birthplace of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general.) Another common street name in the state is Jackson, which many credit to Lee’s fighting partner, Stonewall Jackson. Jackson was shot in Chancellorsville, Virginia. He lost his left arm and eventually dying just days later from weakened wounds and pneumonia.
Number of streets with the name: 255
All of Washington’s most common street names are numbers—except for the random 221 Park’s thrown in there. The most uniquely named street in the state, however, is Toe Jam Hill Road in Bainbridge, Washington. Thankfully, according to local historians, it was most likely named after one of the town’s first residents named Torjam and not for actual toe jam.
Number of streets with the name: 184
West Virginia has many tree-related names taking the top spots for common street names in the state—like Marple, Oak, and Pine. However, Walnut is the third most common street name in West Virginia. Black walnut are a common source in West Virginia, with evidence showing it to be a reoccurring food in the diets of the Native Americans who lived in the area previously. The state also hosts the Black Walnut Festival every year in Roane County, dating back to 1954.
Number of streets with the name: 377
Wisconsin shares many of its most common street names with other states—like Park, Maple, and Lake. However, one tiny neighborhood in Madison, Wisconsin, seemed to be very inspired by the Beatles. Roads in the neighborhood include Penny Lane, Yesterday Drive, Hey Jude Lane, and Imagine Street.
Number of streets with the name: 73
While Second takes the lead for Wyoming, the state’s tenth most common street name is Cottonwood. The cottonwood tree was made Wyoming’s official state tree in 1947. And for more state facts, check out The Most Hard-to-Believe Fact About Every State.
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