Christchurch Street and Place Names

This resource aims to give the origins of Christchurch street and place names. Information has come from a variety of sources including published works and anecdotal information. Major sources include Wise's New Zealand Post Office Directory, Stone's Canterbury, Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Directory, the Alexander Turnbull Library's New Zealand biographical clippings, Christchurch City Libraries' index to The Press, Electoral rolls, the Birth, Death & Marriage indexes published by the Registrar General's Office and information from Christchurch City Council records.

Definitive origins of many names are not possible. In some cases there may be more than one possible origin so all known possibilities are listed. Also, because of the way Christchurch evolved, the same street name was often used more than once. To overcome this duplication and the confusion it caused, streets were later renamed. References to these former and later names are included.

This resource will continue to develop as we find more information. If you would like to contribute, please contact us.

Currently this resource is offered as searchable pdfs:

• Christchurch place names [1.5 MB PDF]
• Christchurch street names A - E [2 MB PDF]
• Christchurch street names F - K [1.3 MB PDF]
• Christchurch street names L- Q [1.3 MB PDF]
• Christchurch street names R - Z [1.7 MB PDF]
• Christchurch street names vanished streets [79 Kb PDF]
• Miscellaneous [300 KB PDF]