Here’s another in my occasional series of projects that one of the research councils ought to be funding, but hasn’t quite got round to.

Why is it that some street names are a delight while others simply fail to inspire, or sound positively dubious? I have just posted something to a Reindeer Road and for some reason – probably associations with Santa Claus and the like – I find it absolutely delightful. I love it. Yet Muskrat Close, or even Wallaby Street (West or otherwise) just doesn’t do it for me.

Equally, I don’t get a buzz out of Myrtle Gardens or Cloche Way which I’ve just found on the local street map, and I’m sure there are plenty more that are either dull or downright unpleasant. (How do you fancy living in Dumpers Lane, for instance, or Twitty Fee, or Titty Ho? All of these exist.)

Actually, there are two lines of research. ‘Why do some names really catch the fancy and others sound like the sort of place you just don’t want to live’ is one. The other is ‘why do developers give places such terrible names in the first place?’

In case you are wondering, the road I live in doesn’t have a name, which makes it difficult for delivery drivers, but at least saves me from the possibility of finding it excruciating.