Topic
Name-origins
5 stories, newest first.
Archive Desk
How Toronto's Streets Got Their Names: A Hub of Stories
From Yonge and Bloor to Bathurst and Davenport, nine Toronto street names with sourced origins, one honest disagreement, and where to dig deeper.
Archive Desk
History of Scarborough: How the Name Took Root
Scarborough's name came from a view of the bluffs in 1793. Follow it from a renamed township to village names, a baby-boom suburb and a civic centre.
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How Toronto Got Its Name: The Leading Accounts
Toronto's name is widely traced to Mohawk tkaronto, trees standing in the water, and to fish weirs near Orillia. Here are the accounts side by side.
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How Spadina Got Its Name in Toronto: Ojibwe Roots and DEE or DYE
Spadina comes from an Anishinaabemowin word for a high place. Follow the name from a ridge to Baldwin's estate and settle the DEE or DYE question.
Archive Desk
How Yonge Street Got Its Name, and Why It Shaped Toronto
Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe named Yonge Street for Sir George Yonge. Follow the military road from 1793 to the dividing line of Toronto's street addresses.