This is a list of the etymology of street names in the
London district of
Mayfair, in the
City of Westminster. It utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Mayfair viz. Marble Arch/Cumberland Gate and Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the east, Piccadilly to the south and Park Lane to the west.
Aldford Street – after Aldford, a property on the Grosvenor family's Cheshire estates; it was formerly known as Chapel Street before 1886, as it led to the Grosvenor Chapel[7][8]
Archibald Mews – unknown; it was formerly John Court, after local landowner John, Lord Berkeley[9]
Audley Square, North Audley Street and South Audley Street – after Mary Davies, heiress to Hugh Audley, who married Sir Thomas Grosvenor, thereby letting the local land fall into the Grosvenors' ownership[10][11]
Avery Row – after Henry Avery, 18th century bricklayer who built this street over the Tyburn Brook,[12] or possibly after Ebury, the ancient manor here[13]
Balderton Street – after local landowners the Grosvenors, who also owned land in
Balderton, Cheshire; formerly George Street[14][15]
Balfour Mews and Balfour Place – after Eustace Balfour, surveyor for the Grosvenor estate 1890 – 1910[16]
Barlow Place – after either Thomas Barlow, builder and surveyor for the Grosvenor estate in the early 18th century[17] or
Arthur Balfour, politician and later Prime Minister in the early 20th century[18]
Brick Street – this area was formerly a set of fields used for digging brick-earth[35][36]
Broadbent Street – after
William Broadbent, physician to the royal family in the Victorian and Edwardian period, who lived nearby[37][38]
Brook Gate,
Brook Street, Brook's Mews and Upper Brook Street – Brook Street marks the path of the former Tyburn Brook[39][40]
Brown Hart Gardens – this was formerly two streets prior to 1936 – Brown Street, after 18th century local bricklayer John Brown, and Hart Street, probably after a local inn or resident[41][42]
Carlos Place – after
Carlos I of Portugal; it was formerly Charles Street but was renamed in 1886 to avoid confusion with other streets of this name[46][47]
Carpenter Street
Carrington Street – after 18th century local landowner Nathan Carrington[48][49]
Curzon Gate, Curzon Square and
Curzon Street – after Nathaniel Curzon (and his family), local landowner in the 18th century[65][66]
Davies Mews and Davies Street – after Mary Davies, heiress to Hugh Audley, who married Sir Thomas Grosvenor, thereby letting the local land fall into the Grosvenors' ownership[67][68]
Deanery Mews and Deanery Street – this land was owned by
Westminster Abbey in the 18th century; it was formerly known as Dean and Chapter Street[67][69]
Derby Street – after
Derbyshire, home county of local landowners the Curzon family[70][66]
Harewood Place – after Ahrwood House, residence of the Earls of Harewood in the 19th century[96]
Haunch of Venison Yard – after a former 18th century inn near here[97][98]
Hay Hill, Hay's Mews and
Hill Street – after the Hay Hill farm which formerly stood here; the farm was originally ‘Aye farm’, after the nearby Aye Brook[99][98]
Heddon Street – after William Pulteney (later also Baron Heddon), local 18th century landowner[100][101]
Hertford Street – after a former local inn named after the Seymours, Marquesses of Hertford[102][103]
Jervis Court
Jones Street – after William Jones, yeoman, who leased a large plot here in 1723[104]
Lees Place – after either Robert Lee (or Lees), owner of the Two Chairman pub which formerly stood here[106] or one Thomas Barrett of Lee, Kent, 19th century builder[107]
Lumley Street – after Sibell Lumley, wife of Victor, Earl Grosvenor, local landowner[108][109]
Lynsey Way
Maddox Street – after the local Maddox estate, purchased by William Maddox in the 1620s[110][111]
New
Bond Street, Old Bond Street and Upper Bond Street – after Thomas Bond, member of the consortium that developed the local area in the late 17th century; ‘New’ comes from the extension of the then ‘Bond Street’ northwards in the early 18th century[44][120]
North Row – after its location as the northernmost street on the Grosvenor estate[121][122]
Park Lane, Old Park Lane and Park Street – after the nearby
Hyde Park; Park Lane was formerly Tyburn Lane, after the Tyburn gibbet and stream, and Park Street was formerly Hyde Park Street[125][126]
Piccadilly,
Piccadilly Circus and Piccadilly Place – after Piccadilly Hall, home of local tailor Robert Baker in the 17th century, believed to be named after the pickadils (collars/hem trimmings) which made his fortune. Circus is a British term for a road junction; it was laid out by
John Nash in 1819[127][128]
Pitt's Head Mews – after a former pub on this site called the Pitt's Head, thought to be named after
William Pitt the Elder[129][130]
Pollen Street – after the Pollen family, who inherited the estate from the Maddox family[131][111]
Sackville Street – after Captain Edward Sackville, tenant of a house on the west side of the street in 1675; it was formerly known as Stone Conduit Close[143][144]
Saddle Yard
St Anselm's Place – former site of St Anselm's church, demolished 1938[145][146]
St George Street – originally George Street, after
George I, reigning monarch when the street was built; the ‘St’ was later added to link it to the nearby
St George's church[147][148]
Sedley Place – named after Angelo Sedley, local 19th century furniture salesman[152][153]
Shepherd Close,
Shepherd Market, Shepherd Place and Shepherd Street – after Edward Shepherd, local builder in the 18th century; Shepherd Place was built by his brother John Shepherd[154][113]
South Molton Lane and
South Molton Street – unknown; South Molton Lane was formerly Poverty Lane[155]
South Street – after its location as the southernmost street on the Grosvenor estate[155]
Stafford Street – after Margaret Stafford, local leaseholder in the late 17th century[156][157]
Three Kings Yard – after a nearby inn, demolished 1879[163][164]
Tilney Street – after either John Tilney (or Tylney), who was granted this land in the 18th century[165] or Ann Tilney, 18th century property owner; it was formerly Tripe Yard, after the butchery trade here[166]
Trebeck Street – after Reverend Trebeck, former rector of
St George's on Hanover Square in the 18th century[165][167]
Tyburn Way – formerly the site of the
Tyburn gallows, itself named after a deserted hamlet called Tiburne in the
Domesday Book, meaning ‘boundary stream’[168][169]
Vine Street – after The Vine, an 18th-century
public house,[174] which in turn may have been named after a
vineyard that existed at this location in Roman times[175]
Fairfield, Sheila (1983). The Streets Of London: A Dictionary Of The Names And Their Origins. Papermac.*Moore, Tim (2003). Do Not Pass Go. Vintage.
ISBN978-0-099-43386-6.