Toponymy
Toponymy refers to names given to public sites, including streets, parks and other public places in the city. How does the city choose these names? Learn more about place-naming in Montréal.
Locate and honour
The first role of place naming is to allow people to quickly locate a site. Providing a name makes it possible to differentiate a place from others. The process must respect well-established rules.
By choosing place names, aspects of our culture are expressed, this is part of our collective heritage. These names provide public recognition of a cause, the memory of someone or of an event.
The name for a street or park is chosen to commemorate and to remember. Place names also have an emotional aspect, they add colour to the place and help provide a sense of belonging to the community.
Place-name heritage, a richness to be preserved
At the city, we apply the major principles set out by international organizations with regard to toponymy. We support the preservation of our place-name heritage in all its diversity, since it reflects the richness of our heritage. It preserves the memory of major people who have marked history, and reminds us of now-vanished realities.
A significant database of names
In Montréal, more than 6,000 roads, parks and public buildings have been named. Current and future spaces that remain unnamed are primarily located in outlying districts, e.g. in Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles.
We already have 900 names waiting to be assigned. New suggestions are added regularly. However, in the short-term, only a few places will be given a name.
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