The A-Z story of Melbourne's suburbs
HAVE YOUR SAY: FROM Toorak toff to Broady bogan, your postcode identifies you as much as your looks and social circle. But what's behind the name of your suburb?
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SO where do you live?
From Toorak toff to Broady bogan - your postcode identifies you in the same way as your appearance, income and social circle.
Aside from your suburb's proximity to cafes and transport options, have you ever wondered where its name comes from?
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British colonial rule influenced the names of many Melbourne suburbs, as did our indigenous heritage.
Politicians, heads of state, early settlers and successful businessmen also played a major part.
In several cases there's more than one story to a suburb's name.
Among the several hundred suburbs in greater Melbourne some names are more literal - Box Hill reflects the number of yellow box trees in the area, while gold prospectors named Cockatoo after the birds in the nearby creek
Suburbs with Aboriginal origins include Nunawading which means "battlefield" or "ceremonial ground" and Eumemmerring - to "express pleasure or agreement".
Early records refer to Koo Wee Rup as "The Great Swamp" and Mont Albert is named after Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert.
Scroll down and have your say on this list below
Below is an A-Z list of Melbourne suburbs and their origins. Check it out - you might be surprised by what you find.
*Suburbs without information about origin of name have been left out.
Abbotsford
Abbotsford was named after a shallow water crossing used by the Abbot of Melrose Abbey in Scotland. It is also thought to derive from the Aboriginal words "Carran-Carranulk", meaning prickly myrtle.
Aberfeldie
James Robertson bought Crown land in the area in 1845 and called his home by the Scottish name Aberfeldie, which later became the name of the suburb.
Airport
Named after its proximity to Melbourne Airport.
Airport West
See Airport.
Albert Park
Took its name from the adjacent park after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort in 1862.
Albion
Albion was established in the 1850s and was the ancient poetic name for Britain. The suburb cemented its name with the establishment of Albion Quarrying Co. in 1888.
Alphington
Named by NSW solicitor-general Sir William Manning after his birthplace in Devonshire, England.
Altona
Pastoralist and early settler Robert Wrede named Altona after a village on the River Elbe in Germany.
Altona Meadows
Refer to Altona.
Altona North
Refer to Altona.
Amstel
This former locality in Waverley was named after the farming property of merchant and Dutch consul Daniel Ploos van Amstel.
Ardeer
Takes its name from Ardeer in Scotland, where Nobel's Explosive Co. of Glasgow had its works. The Australian subsidiary of the Glasgow firm, Nobel (Australasia), took over the Australian Explosives and Chemicals Co. in 1925 and renamed the site.
Armadale
Armadale comes from "Armadale House". This was the residence of politician and real estate agent James Munro. He named "Armadale House" after the Scottish village where he went to school.
Arthurs Seat
Acting Lieutenant John Murray named the suburb in 1802 after its resemblance to Edinburgh Hill in Scotland.
Ascot Vale
Ascot Vale is believed to have been named after the English racecourse Ascot due to its association with the racing industry.
Ashburton
Ashburton is thought to be named after the ship Lord Ashburton which arrived in Australia from Great Britain in 1850. Another view is that the suburb is an offshoot of Ashburton Terrace in Cork, Ireland, the birthplace of local politician and ex-councillor Dillon.
Ashwood
Ashwood was named after its border suburbs - Ashburton and Burwood.
Aspendale
In 1891, James Robert Crookes opened Aspendale racecourse and named it after a champion mare, Aspen. An adjacent railway station that served the racecourse was called Aspendale Park, but shortened to Aspendale in 1905.
Aspendale Gardens
Refer to Aspendale.
Attwood
Named after James Gordon Attwood who owned a property in the area from 1929 to 1964.
Auburn
Formerly a residential area of Hawthorn, the district was known as "Red Gum Flat" before the building of two local residences, the Reverend Henry Liddiard's Auburn Lodge and John Collings' Auburn House.
Avondale Heights
This suburb by the Maribyrnong River became one of Melbourne's newest residential areas in the late 1950s. It took its name from the old Avondale property which was subdivided in the 1920s.
Avonsleigh
Avonsleigh was originally known as East Emerald, but was renamed in 1911 after a guesthouse that was built to the east of Emerald in about 1900.
Badger Creek
This area south of Healesville is reportedly named after a horse called Badger that became bogged in the local creek.
Balaclava
Named after a Crimean War battle in 1854. Several streets in the area including Inkerman, Sebastopol and Raglan are also named after battles and towns.
Balnarring
The Meyrick brothers used the name, taken from Aboriginal words meaning "gum tree" and "little", for their pastoral station established in 1840. In the late 1860s, a general store and hotel opened at the junction of three major peninsula tracks and the village became Balnarring. There are also reports of a European origin of the name including "Ballymerang", "Irish Bally" and "Land belonging to".
Balnarring Beach
Refer to Balnarring.
Balwyn
Balwyn was named after the 1858 vineyard and rural retreat of The Age editor Andrew Murray. The retreat was located on Balwyn Road and according to Mr Murray, the name was Gaelic for "wine-house".
Balwyn North
Refer to Balwyn.
Bangholme
Bangholme (variously spelt Bigning, Baungan, Barnham, Bangano) took its name from a waterhole on Joseph Hawdon's early pastoral run. Its origins are based on an Aboriginal word thought to mean hut.
Banyule City
This inner north-eastern municipality was created in 1994 by merging the City of Heidelberg with sections of Eltham and Diamond Valley shires. Thought to be an Aboriginal word for hill, the name was originally given to an 1848 homestead built by early settler Joseph Hawdon.
Baxter
Baxter was originally called "Baxter's Flat" after its owner, pastoralist Captain Benjamin Baxter, was appointed Clerk to the Bench of Magistrates and Postmaster in January 1838.
Bayswater
Bayswater was originally known as Scoresby North. In 1879 the district was renamed Bayswater after bookmaker and publisher J.J. Miller's nearby property at The Basin, so-called because of his birthplace in England.
Bayswater North
Refer to Bayswater.
Beaconsfield
Reportedly named after the Earl of Beaconsfield and former United Kingdom prime minister Benjamin Disraeli.
Beaconsfield Upper
Refer to Beaconsfield.
Beaumaris
Originally called Spring Grove after the natural springs the Boonwurrung people tapped along the base of the coastal sandstone cliffs. The name Beaumaris appears to have first been used in 1888 when the Beaumaris Park Estate was offered for sale. The name was based on a Welsh coastal resort where Edward I built Beau Marais Castle.
Beenak
The rural locality of Beenak is thought to take its name from an Aboriginal word for "hand-basket".
Belgrave
Belgrave, the name of an English town in Leicestershire, was named after the property of a local councillor, E.W. Benson.
Belgrave Heights
Refer to Belgrave.
Belgrave South
Refer to Belgrave.
Bell
Created in 1889 when a railway station was opened in Bell Street, Bell was named after either John Pascoe Fawkner's Coburg estate, or 1870s landowner Francis Bell. Use of the name declined from the 1920s with the growth of Preston.
Bellevue
A locality in North Balwyn, Bellevue's local street names (including Bellevue, Jolie Vue, Mountain Vue, Hillview, Highview, Viewpoint) reflect the area's views to Melbourne and Mount Macedon.
Bennettswood
The name is derived from early settler brothers George and Edward Bennett, who occupied land on Gardiners Creek from 1845 and purchased small holdings from 1850.
Bentleigh
Named in honour of the late Sir Thomas Bent, former premier of Victoria and prominent landowner.
Bentleigh East
Refer to Bentleigh.
Berwick
Berwick was established on part of early European settler Captain Terence O'Connor Gardiner's original Cardinia Creek run, which he is thought to have named after his hometown of Berwick-upon-Tweed in northern England.
Beveridge
Named after Peter Beveridge, who created a cattle station in the area in 1840. The area was originally called Mercer's Vale.
Big Pats Creek
Named after Partick O'Hannigan, an Irish miner who found gold there in 1860.
Bittern
Bittern is named after the Australian bittern (official name Botaurus poiciloptilus) that inhabited nearby marshland.
Black Rock
Black Rock is named after "Black Rock House", built in 1856 by Charles Hotson Ebden who had made a fortune from real estate in Melbourne.
Blackburn
There is much debate about the origin of Blackburn. Some reports suggest it was named after G. Blackburn, a property owner in the area, while others say a man named Blackburn owned sawpits near the creek. There are also claims the name came from a suburb northeast of Liverpool in England or after ex-convict architect and civil engineer James Blackburn (1803-1854) who was a Melbourne City Council surveyor and designer of Melbourne's Yan Yean water supply system.
Blackburn North
Refer to Blackburn.
Blackburn South
Refer to Blackburn.
Boneo
The Meyrick brothers, who were early settlers in the area, are credited with establishing the name. It is also known as Boniong, Boniyong and Bonio.
Boronia
Local councillor A.E. Chandler was asked to name the district in 1915. He chose Boronia, after the flower cultivated at the family nursery nearby at The Basin.
Box Hill
This name was selected at a meeting of residents in 1861. Box Hill was chosen because of the large number of yellow box trees growing among local forest.
Box Hill North
Refer to Box Hill.
Box Hill South
Refer to Box Hill.
Braeside
Braeside was named in 1909 by Arthur Syme (son of The Age proprietor David Syme) who established a horse stud and training establishment of the same name.
Brandon Park
The name comes from a grazing property bought by Sir George Steward (1865-1920) about the time he became secretary to the Governor-general in 1902.
Braybrook
From Bray in Berkshire, England.
Brighton
Brighton was developed privately in 1842 as a result of a special survey by Henry Dendy. The name is thought to mean "place of sorrow", after an apparent attack on Boonwurrung clans people by the Ganai tribe, which resulted in many deaths.
Brighton East
Refer to Brighton.
Brimbank City
An early Brimbank settler, Mary Dodd, is said to have named the location by describing her house as being on the brim of the bank of the Maribyrnong River.
Broadmeadows
A government survey laid out plans for a town along the Moonee Ponds Creek valley in 1850. The area was named Broadmeadows after the local landscape. After the relocation of shire offices and the suburban transformation of the area, the old town was renamed Westmeadows in 1964.
Brunswick
Brunswick may have taken its name from the estate of Thomas Wilkinson and Edward Stone Parker in the east of the suburb. Or Mr Wilkinson could have named the suburb after Princess Caroline of Brunswick, the estranged wife of King George IV. Alternatively, Brunswick could be named after Captain George Brunswick Smyth of the 50th Regiment. He was in charge of the mounted military police in Port Phillip in 1839.
Brunswick East
Refer to Brunswick.
Brunswick West
Refer to Brunswick.
Bulla
The first official mention of Bulla was in 1837 when Governor Bourke visited the area, meeting the Brodie brothers who had settled by Deep Creek, a tributary of the Maribyrnong River. In 1854, seven years after the village was surveyed, its name was officially shortened to Bulla. "Bulla bulla" was an Aboriginal term meaning either "two" or "good".
Bulleen
In 1841 Sydney solicitor Frederic Unwin bought 5120 acres including the area of Bulleen - which was named after the nearby Bolin Bolin billabong. The Aboriginal translation is "lyrebird".
Bundoora
Bundoora was first known as Springfield, the name of Irish immigrant William Forde Cleeland's nearby property. The area was also known as Prospect Hill and Janefield, which was derived from the field where James Miller Brock's wife was buried in 1851. The name "Bundoora" is thought to come from an Aboriginal word meaning "the plain where kangaroos live".
Bunyip
The area was originally known as "Buneep Buneep" or "Bunyip Bunyip", an Aboriginal name for a mythical swamp-dwelling creature.
Bunyip North
Refer to Bunyip.
Burnley
Burnley was named early settler and local councillor William Bust Burnley.
Burwood
In 1879 the Nunawading Shire Council renamed Ballyshanassy, named in 1858 after prominent politician Sir John O'Shanassy, to Burwood. Burwood was named after businessman and politician Sir James Palmer's residence Burwood House (now Invergowrie) in Hawthorn.
Burwood East
Refer to Burwood.
Buttlejorrk
The Parish of Buttlejorrk, between Melton and Sunbury, was named in 1839 by surveyor William Darke using an adaptation of Aboriginal words.
Caldermeade
Local landowner Archibald McMillan named Caldermeade after "Calder' in Scotland. He used the Gaelic words "calder" (wood by a stream) and mead (meadow).
Cambarville
Timber mill owners A Cameron and FJ Barton named Cambarville. They established the mill to salvage timber from trees destroyed in the 1939 bushfires.
Camberwell
Named after early settler George Eastaway's Camberwell Inn (which he named after the London district of Camberwell).
Campbellfield
Campbellfield takes its name from Charles and James David Lyon Campbell who settled in the area in the 1840s.
Canterbury
Named in honour of Sir John Henry Manners-Sutton, Governor of Victoria (1866-1873), who became Viscount Canterbury in 1869 after the death of his elder brother.
Cape Schanck
Lieutenant James Grant named Cape Schanck after Captain John Schanck, who explored the Victorian coastline in 1801.
Cardinia
An early squatting run taken up by Terence O'Connor near Cranbourne in 1838 was named Cardinia. It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word "Kardinia", meaning "looking towards the sun", or "sunrise".
Carlton
Reports suggest it was named after Carlton Gardens in London or Carlton House, the residence of the Prince of Wales.
Carlton North
Refer to Carlton.
Carnegie
Carnegie was originally known as Rosstown after William Murray Ross bought 1000 acres in the area between 1850 and 1870. In 1908 the area was renamed Carnegie, believed to be in the hope that the American millionaire philanthropist Andrew Carnegie would donate money for a local library.
Carrum
The name Carrum was originally used by Europeans to describe the swampy land and coastal ridges on Port Phillip Bay between Mordialloc and Frankston. The word is thought to be an adaptation of "Karrum Karrum", an Aboriginal term for boomerang.
Carrum Downs
Carrum Downs was built on the former Carrum Swamp, which adjoins Carrum. Carrum Downs now shares boundaries with Frankston North, Langwarrin, Skye, Bangholme, Patterson Lakes and Seaford.
Caulfield
Mystery surrounds the origin of the name. Although the area is thought to have been named after John Caulfield, a Melbourne pioneer who helped establish the School of Fine Arts and Mechanics Institute (now the Melbourne Athenaeum) in Collins Street in 1839, he had no direct connection to the Caulfield district. Caulfield may be named after the Earl of Charlemont (family name Caulfield) who owned land in nearby Elsternwick.
Caulfield East
Refer to Caulfield.
Caulfield North
Refer to Caulfield.
Caulfield South
Refer to Caulfield.
Chadstone
Chadstone is thought to be named after Chadstone farm. Chadstone farm is named after Chad's stone church near Malvern Hill in England.
Chatham
Chatham is named after a town in England.
Chelsea
Chelsea was named after a London borough. The name was first used in 1907 for a new railway station on the Frankston line.
Chelsea Heights
Refer to Chelsea.
Cheltenham
Cheltenham comes from the Cheltenham Inn, which was established by local landowner Charles Whorral in 1853. He named the inn after his home town in England.
Chirnside Park
Chirnside Park was originally known as West Lilydale until it was subdivided in 1962. It was renamed after George Chirnside, who purchased local property Mooroolbark Park in 1921.
Christmas Hills
Named after a shepherd called David Christmas.
Clayton
Clayton is named after Melbourne solicitor John Hughes Clayton who lived on a rural block on the south-eastern corner of Clayton and Centre roads between 1865 and 1877.
Clayton South
Refer to Clayton.
Clematis
Clematis, settled in 1864, was known as Paradise Valley before it was renamed after the climbing plant.
Clifton Hill
Early land speculator JH Knipe named Clifton Hill after Clifton, England.
Clyde
Named after "Clyde Creek" or the "River Clyde" in Scotland.
Clyde North
Refer to Clyde.
Coatesville
Coatesville was named in 1955 after Councillor Leslie Robert Coates, a member of Moorabbin Council and former Australian Labor Party MLA.
Coburg
Originally called Pentridge, the suburb was renamed Coburg in 1870 in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh who was also Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha. It was also renamed to remove the stigma associated with Pentridge Prison.
Coburg North
Refer to Coburg.
Cockatoo
Gold prospectors named the area in the 1850s after the Cockatoos in the nearby creek.
Coldstream
Coldstream was named after a local 1850s estate of Kerr and Black. Coldstream is a British town.
Collingwood
Melbourne's earliest suburbs Collingwood and Fitzroy were first known as Newtown. In 1842, Newtown was renamed Collingwood, possibly after the Collingwood Hotel, which was named after the British admiral who succeeded Nelson at Trafalgar.
Coolaroo
The name is believed to derive from an Aboriginal word for brown snake.
Coonans Hill
Coonans Hills was named after local labourer Michael Coonan and his wife Ellen, who came from Tipperary.
Cottles Bridge
Cottles Bridge is named after a crossing over the Diamond Creek which gave access to the rural hinterland of Arthurs Creek.
Craigieburn
A group of Scots who settled in the area in the 1840s are thought to have named the suburb after a town in the former Scottish country of Dumfries. Craigie is Gaelic for "rocky".
Cranbourne
Cranbourne is named after the son of the Marquess of Salisbury, or an English town. Before European settlement, the Boonwurrung people knew the Cranbourne area as "Mar-ne-bek" meaning excellent country.
Cranbourne East
Refer to Cranbourne.
Cranbourne North
Refer to Cranbourne.
Cranbourne South
Refer to Cranbourne.
Cranbourne West
Refer to Cranbourne.
Cremorne
The name Cremorne dates back to the establishment of the Cremorne Gardens in 1853. The suburb's name became official with the opening of Cremorne Station in 1859.
Crib Point
Fishermen's huts or "cribs" located on the shore were possibly the source of Crib Point's name. It also means "sheltered harbour".
Croxton
This locality in Northcote took its name from the Croxton Park racecourse and hotel, in turn named after the Croxton racecourse in England.
Croydon
The area that is now Croydon was initially called "White Flats". When the railway from Melbourne was established in 1882, the local station was called Warrandyte. The shire of Lilydale and the Railway Commissioner called for a more suitable name as Warrandyte was 7km away. As the railway line bisected Gregory Lacey's property, he suggested that the new name be Croydon after his wife's home town in England.
Croydon Hills
Refer to Croydon.
Croydon North
Refer to Croydon.
Croydon South
Refer to Croydon.
Dalmore
Named after McGregor's Dalmore Estate.
Dandenong
Dandenong is thought to be derived from the Woiwurrung word "Tanjenong" of the Wurundjeri people. It was the name for a creek that flowed from the nearby ranges into a wide shallow valley which merged with the swamps that fringed Port Phillip Bay.
Dandenong North
Refer to Dandenong.
Dandenong South
Refer to Dandenong.
Darebin City
The name derives from an Aboriginal word thought to mean "swallows".
Deepdene
An area of land, called Deepdene Estate, was first advertised for sale in November 1883. Deepdene was the name Thomas Hope's celebrated estate near London. In 1889 architect David Askew built his home facing Whitehorse Road and named it Deepdene House.
Deer Park
Deer Park derives its name from deer kept in the area by the Melbourne Hunt Club until the late 1890s.
Dennis
Dennis was originally known as Mulway's Swamp. Its name changed when the Dennis railway station, named after a Northcote City Councillor, was opened in 1924.
Derrimut
Derrimut was named by the leader of the Yalukit-Willam clan in the 19th century. The Yalukit-Willam clan, which means "river camp" or "river dwellers" were the first people of Hobsons Bay.
Devon Meadows
Devon Meadows is named after Benjamin Cox's Devon estate. His estate was named after the English county.
Diamond Creek
There's two theories behind the origin of Diamond Creek. The first is the area being named after a bull named Diamond that drowned in the tributary of the Yarra River. The second is early surveyors seeing crystalline stones glistening in the clear water.
Diamond Valley
Named after the lowlands to the west of Diamond Creek.
Diggers Rest
The name reflects the area being a resting place for diggers arriving and leaving Melbourne, and the central goldfields.
Dingley Village
Dingley Village comes from Dingley Grange, the name of a house Thomas Attenborough built in the area in the late 1850s. He probably called Dingley Grange after Dingley Hall in his native Northumberlandshire, England.
Dixons Creek
Named after local resident John Dixon.
Docklands
Docklands is named after the former swamp in the area that was used as a dock with a large network of wharves and rail infrastructure from the 1880s. By the 1990s the dock was mostly abandoned, but the area started to be renewed when Docklands Stadium was built in 1996.
Doncaster
The suburb's name comes from innkeeper John Robert Wilson, who owned the Doncaster Arms Hotel, which drew its name from Doncaster in Yorkshire.
Doncaster East
Refer to Doncaster.
Donnybrook
Donnybrook is named after a district of Dublin that was known for holding a fair that attracted drunkenness and violence. Donnybrook is derived from the Celtic language Domhnach Broc meaning The Church of St Broc.
Donvale
The name Donvale is said to be a blend of Doncaster and Springvale - the names of the roads on its western boundary.
Doreen
Doreen was originally known as "Hazel Glen" after the property of Patrick and Agnes Reid who settled in 1844. To avoid confusion with Reid's property, in 1895 the name was changed to Doreen.
Doveton
Named after John Doveton, the nephew of goldfields commissioner and magistrate Francis C. Doveton.
Dromana
Originally known as Hobson's Flat after a local squatter, Dromana is of Irish origin and is thought to have been named in the mid 1800s with the influx of gold prospectors. It's probably
named after Dromana in County Waterford, Ireland.
Eaglemont
Eaglemont is named after historic properties in the area named Leighton and Hartlands. Hartlands included the most elevated region - Mount Eagle - which was subdivided in 1853 to become the Mount Eagle property. In the 1880s land boom Mount Eagle and the elevated area of Leighton was bought by a syndicate and subdivided into Eaglemont Estate.
East Melbourne
East Melbourne is named after its location to the CBD. Robert Hoddle surveyed East Melbourne in 1839 and 1840. Most of the area remained a government reserve during the mid 1840s. Early settlers included the families of William Lonsdale, the police magistrate and Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe.
Eden Park
Eden Park was first settled by Ewen and Janet Robertson who built Breadalbane, an impressive homestead on 1000 acres. The land was subdivided into Eden Park Estate during the 1890s' after Mr Robertson's death.
Edithvale
Edithvale was known as Aspendale until 1920 when the Frankston line railway station opened. It was named after Edithvale Road, which derived its name from Edithvale Farm, a property established in the 1850s and owned by John and Edith Greves.
Elsternwick
Victorian pioneer Charles Ebden is said to have built a house by a creek here, naming it Elster (the German word for magpie). "Wick", meaning harbour or village, was added in 1856 when government surveyors marked a village roughly centred on the corner of Glen Huntly Road and Nepean Highway. Another report suggests it was named after an English village of the same name, which is now the East Riding of Yorkshire. This village is known as Elstronwick, but in 19th century maps and gazetteers it was spelt Elsternwick.
Eltham
Eltham is believed to be named after the area's bad soil. Indigenous custodians of the region were the Wurundjeri-Willam clan (Woi wurrung-speaking people), who coexisted with early white settlers in the region they called "Nillumbik", which means shallow earth. The first European to explore the Eltham region was Joseph Tice Gellibrand, who named the Plenty River in 1836. A village site, reserved in 1840, was officially gazetted as Eltham in January 1851.
Eltham North
Refer to Eltham
Elwood
Elwood was named by Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe after Thomas Ellwood, an influential English Quaker.
Emerald
Once known as Main Range, Emerald took its name from Emerald Creek, which, in turn, was believed to have been named after an early prospector in the region, Jack Emerald, who discovered gold and was murdered there.
Emerald Hill
The name was attributed to Port Phillip Herald journalist Edmund Finn, who in October 1845 advertised the venue of a temperance society picnic as an "eminence ... green as the freshest shamrock ... encircled by shining lagoons, the sparkling sea, and growths of scrub and ti-tree".
Endeavour Hills
Previously known as Doveton North, in 1971 it was gazetted as Endeavour Hills and named after the ship Captain Cook used on his exploration of the eastern Australian coast in 1770. Many streets in the area were also named after his crew.
Epping
Named in 1853 after Epping Forest, Essex, England.
Essendon
It is presumed that the name of Essendon was derived from the town of Essendon in Hertfordshire, England.
Essendon Fields
Refer to Essendon.
Essendon North
Refer to Essendon.
Essendon West
Refer to Essendon.
Eumemmerring
Eumemmerring was named after a creek at Dandenong from an Aboriginal word expressing pleasure or agreement.
Exford
Exford was the name of Simon Staughton's 19th-century pastoral station in the nearby Brisbane Ranges. The Exe was also a name used by some early white settlers for the Werribee River.
Fairfield
It dates back to the mid 1860s. The locality's name originated in Derbyshire, England. C.H. James owned and subdivided the land previously known as Fairfield Park.
Fawkner
Named after John Pascoe Fawkner, one of the early settlers in Port Phillip who between 1840 and 1855 farmed property and was a member of the first Legislative Council of Victoria.
Fernshaw
Also called The Watts, it was named by a surveyor based on the prominent features of the river banks, the ferns.
Ferntree Gully
An early name for the locality was Lightwood Gully, but it is thought a painting of the local landscape called Fern Tree Gully in the Dandenong Ranges by Austrian landscape artist Eugene von Guérard may have been responsible for the settlement's permanent name, which was changed to Ferntree Gully in the 1980s.
Ferny Creek
Ferny Creek, originally known as One Tree Hill, was later called the Scoresby Village Settlement despite its distance from the township of Scoresby.
Fitzroy
Originated from the FitzRoy ward of the Melbourne City Council, named after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Charles FitzRoy.
Fitzroy North
Refer to Fitzroy.
Flagstaff Hill
Originally called Burial Hill, this rise at the western end of the city grid was renamed when the flagstaff was erected in September 1840 for signalling shipping activities in Hobsons Bay.
Flemington
There is much debate about the origin of the name. One theory was that it was named as a compliment to Bob Fleming, a retail butcher who settled in that locality at an early date. A second is it was named after John Wood Fleming, a native of Melbourne. A third theory was that Flemington was the place named by Watson - of early pastoralists Watson and Hunter - in honour of his wife, whose father was manager of a Flemington estate in Scotland.
Flinders
The Parish of Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula was named after explorer Matthew Flinders, who briefly visited the area in 1802.
Footscray
Named after the Kentish village of Foots Cray in England.
Forest Hill
Forest Hill is said to derive from the name of the cottage owned by early settler Captain Bunbury and is descriptive of the district's original bushland setting.
Frankston
There is no conclusive evidence of the origin of the name, but the town may have been named after Major General Sir Thomas Harte Franks, a contemporary British army officer or after Francis (Frank) Liardet, a prominent early settler, or after Charles Franks, an early Melbourne settler. Another report suggests it was named after Frank Stone's Hotel, a small pub by Mornington Hastings Road.
Frankston North
Refer to Frankston.
Frankston South
Refer to Frankston.
Gardenvale
Name is descriptive of the district, which was devoted to market gardening and horticulture.
Garfield
Originally known by the name of the nearby Cannibal Creek, in the 1880s it was suggested it be renamed Swamp Vale, but residents objected and the name Garfield was chosen after the American President General James Abram Garfield, who was assassinated in 1881.
Garfield North
Refer to Garfield.
Gembrook
A mining company gave Gembrook its name because of the precious stones found in the creek.
Gilderoy
Named after an English highwayman and cattle thief whose real name was Patrick MacGregor.
Gladstone Park
This area was either named by the Gladstone Family of Great Britain, who received the property by Royal Grant from Queen Victoria, or after a 19th century grazing property in the area owned by Thomas Gladstone.
Glenferrie
Originally known as Upper Hawthorn, its name is attributed to a property known as Glen Ferrie built in 1840 by solicitor Peter Ferrie on the south side of Gardiners Creek.
Glen Huntly
Takes its name from Glen Huntly Road, which was named after a ship quarantined in the bay at Red Bluff. The Glen Huntly arrived in Hobsons Bay in April 1840 carrying typhus fever sufferers. A few of the passengers died after the ship's arrival and were buried on the bluff.
Glen Iris
Named after the residence of solicitor J.C. Turner, one of the earliest settlers in the district.
Glen Waverley
This district of former orchards and market gardens was known as Black Flat until 1905.
Glenroy
The district was named in 1840 after the property of early settler Duncan Cameron, born in Glenroy, Inverness, Scotland.
Gowanbrae
The newest suburb in Moreland City, Gowanbrae has developed since the late 1990s to the east of Moonee Ponds Creek between Gladstone Park and Glenroy.
Gowerville
Gowerville was the former name of an area of South Preston, probably named after early land purchaser Abel Gower.
Greensborough
Named after Edward Bernard Green, who was the local mail contractor for the district and also purchased 643 acres of land. It was previously known as Keelbundoora after the parish in which it is located.
Greythorn
A district of new homes that developed from the 1950s in the North Balwyn area, Greythorn is an old district name. Formerly called Whitethorn, reputedly because of the white hawthorn blossoms of the hedges that once lined the rustic road, the name may have been altered to avoid confusion with Whitehorse Road.
Gruyere
Gruyere was first surveyed in 1858. The locality's Swiss name was suggested by winegrower Paul de Castella. Cahilltown (after early settler Richard Cahill) is an official alternative placename.
Guys Hill
There is debate about the origin of the name. Some reports suggest it developed from a building situated opposite the present Guys Hill Store that was used as a home for the destitute, homeless, drunk and disorderly, and known as "Guys House". Others believe it was named after Herbert Guy, who occupied the store in the area between 1933 and 1943.
Hadfield
Hadfield was named after a Broadmeadows city councillor.
Hallam
Until 1923 Hallam was known as Hallam's Road after William Hallam, who owned the first local store.
Hampton
Took its name from Hampton Street, which, in turn, derived from an English royal residence and honoured an early settler, D.B. Hampton, who arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1842.
Hampton East
Refer to Hampton.
Hampton Park
The developers named Hampton Park after it was subdivided in 1917. The area had been known to locals as Garner's Paddock.
Harkaway
The name is reputed to derive from either a famous English racehorse of the 1830s or a farmer's call to his cattle dog.
Harrisfield
Named in 1926 after local shire councillor Edgar Harris.
Hartwell
Took its name from James Irwin's residence, Hartwell House (1853).
Hastings
Previously known as King's Creek, the name Hastings was first used around 1860 and is thought to have been derived either from a town in Sussex, England, after Warren Hastings, a Governor-General of India, or in honour of the Marquis of Hastings.
Hawksburn
Named after Hawksburn House, whose owners in the 1850s thought the nearby creek resembled a Scottish burn.
Hawthorn
The name "Hawthorn" was, for a time, written with a final "e". It is reportedly named after Lieutenant Hawthorne of the Frigate Phantom or the Frigate Electra, which visited the port between 1852 and 1854. Hawthorn had been a municipality since 1860 and a city since 1890.
Hawthorn East
Refer to Hawthorn.
Healesville
Named in honour of Richard Heales, Premier of Victoria (1860-1861).
Heatherton
Heatherton was sometimes known as Kingstown or Kingston, reputedly after the King brothers, early squatters in the district.
Heathmont
Heathmont's name is thought to have originated from the extensive growths of heath on the hilly land.
Heidelberg
Named by land agent Continental Brown, who promoted the district's supposed resemblance to its German namesake.
Heidelberg Heights
Refer to Heidelberg.
Heidelberg West
Refer to Heidelberg.
Highett
Took its name from Highett's Road, which was so called because William Highett, M. L. C (1857-1880) owned land in that locality.
Hillside
Named after a local farmer, David Hill. Formerly called Quigley's Siding.
Hobsons Bay
The city's name derives from its location on Hobsons Bay, the northern extremity of Port Phillip Bay. Captain William Hobson, Commander of HMS Rattlesnake, surveyed Port Phillip Bay and in 1837 Sir Richard Bourke ordered that its northern tip be named after him.
Hoddles Creek
Named after Victoria's first Surveyor-General, Robert Hoddle.
Hoppers Crossing
The name derives from a Princes Highway road crossing, in turn named after Hoppers Hill, an early topographical feature.
Hotham
Hotham was until 1887 the name for North Melbourne. It was named after Sir Charles Hotham, Governor of Victoria 1854-55.
Hughesdale
Reportedly named after Hughesdale railway station, which opened in 1925, and honoured Oakleigh mayor James Hughes, who had been instrumental in obtaining the station for the area.
Hume City
The city is named after the explorer Hamilton Hume, who, with William Hovell, travelled from Yass in New South Wales to the Victorian coast in 1824-25. The Hume Highway, named after Hume, covers part of the explorers' route and passes through the City of Hume.
Humevale
Humevale was the name chosen by second-generation settlers for the township north of Whittlesea that was originally known as Scrubby Creek.
Huntingdale
Huntingdale was known as East Oakleigh until 1952 when the name Huntingdale was officially adopted. The area's Melbourne Hunt Club was the original source of the name.
Hurstbridge
Named after early settler Henry Hurst (shot dead by bushranger Robert Burke in 1866) and the timber bridge he built over the creek.
Iona
First known as Bunyip South, Iona was created by draining the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. It was later named after a Scottish island.
Irishtown
This area in northeast Preston was named by its Irish-born Methodist purchaser Samuel Jeffrey around 1850, but was subsumed within Preston by the end of the decade.
Ivanhoe
The name (from the novel by Sir Walter Scott) was given to a farm established in the 1840s by Archibald Thom.
Ivanhoe East
Refer to Ivanhoe.
Jacana
Named after a tropical waterbird.
Jolimont
Charles Joseph La Trobe arrived in Melbourne in 1839 and named his estate Jolimont ("pretty hill") after his wife's Swiss home.
Jordanville
Named after the first president of the Shire of Mulgrave.
Kalkallo
Kalkallo replaced an earlier settlement at Kinlochewe. Named Donnybrook by surveyor Robert Mason in 1853 when the post office was transferred from Kinlochewe, a name change in 1874 distinguished Kalkallo from the smaller settlement of Donnybrook. Formerly called Galk-galk.
Kallista
Formerly known as South Sassafras, the name Kallista (from the Greek word for beauty) was reputedly suggested by a Miss Eastough in the 1920s.
Kalorama
Kalorama took its name in the 1930s from the Greek word "kalos", meaning beautiful.
Kangaroo Ground
Traditional name was Moor-rull, which means basaltic earth. Its virtues, well known to Aboriginal people, were soon discovered by European settlers. A network of families, mostly Scottish, prospered on the land from 1839.
Keilor
Keilor was gazetted as a township in 1850. A settler named Watson, who arrived in the late 1830s, is said to have given the district the name of his father's cattle-breeding property or a rivulet in Forfarshire, Scotland. Other sources suggest "keilor" was an Aboriginal word for "brackish water".
Keilor Downs
Refer to Keilor.
Keilor East
Refer to Keilor.
Keilor Lodge
Refer to Keilor.
Keilor North
Refer to Keilor.
Keilor Park
Refer to Keilor.
Kensington
Named after Kensington, London, England.
Keon Park
Keon Park took its name from politician Standish Michael Keon (1913-87), State member for Richmond and later federal MP for Yarra.
Kerrimuir
Named after a Scottish town, the area was subdivided for housing in the 1950s.
Kew
Some reports suggest the name was given to an estate owned by N.A. Fenwick. Others believe the district's name derived from the site of Kew Gardens in England.
Kew East
Refer to Kew.
Keysborough
Keysborough is named after the Keys family who arrived as squatters in 1844 to become the district's largest landowners and influential participants in Dandenong's early local government.
Kilsyth
Named after a town in Stirling, Scotland.
Kilsyth South
Refer to Kilsyth.
Kingsbury
Named after Private Bruce Kingsbury, killed in action in New Guinea in 1942.
Kingsville
Originally included in the municipality of Footscray in 1859, Kingsville, one of two estates developed in the 1890s by the Werribee Park's Chirnside family, was surrendered in 1871 for a 50-year period to Werribee Shire. When the builder Anders Hansen erected hundreds of homes on estates west of Geelong Rd, the name Kingsville was extended informally to this area.
Knox City
The name derives from Sir George Knox, a local resident and councillor of the shire in the 1920s and member of the Legislative Assembly from 1927 to 1960.
Koo Wee Rup
Early records refer to Koo Wee Rup as "The Great Swamp". The name is derived from the native Aboriginal words of "Kowe", meaning water, and "Nerup", meaning blackfish, or combined to create the phrase "blackfish swimming". The area was used by the Boon wurrung people as a major food source, particularly in summer.
Koonung Heights
Named after the nearby Koonung Creek.
Kooyong
Believed to mean camp or resting place. The name is said to come from Kooyong Koot.
Kurunjang
"Kurunjang" means "red ground" and is derived from the Aboriginal tribe "Kurun-jang-baluk".
Laburnum
Named after a yellow flowering shrub.
Lalor
Named after Peter Lalor, the leader of the miners' rebellion at the Eureka Stockade.
Lang Lang
Lang Lang comes from an Aboriginal term for a group of trees and was first known as Carrington. Also believed to mean "stones" or "stony".
Lang Lang East
Refer to Lang Lang.
Langwarrin
Langwarrin was populated by corn farmers and orchardists by the 1880s. The town was surveyed in 1886 when Langwarrin Military Reserve was established.
Langwarrin South
Refer to Langwarrin.
Launching Place
Originally the terminus for flat-bottomed timber boats taking supplies to the Wood's Point gold diggings, Launching Place was once called Ewart's after the landlord of the Home Hotel.
Laverton
Laverton may have been named after Langmore's old Laverton Estate, which took its name from one of three gentlemen who went to England to purchase a property. Alternatively, the suburb's origin could date back to Langhorne's Laverton pastoral station at nearby Altona.
Laverton North
Refer to Laverton.
Lilydale
The town was reputedly named by John Hardy, who surveyed it, from a sentimental song of the period called Lilly Dale. An alternative suggestion is that it was named after Lilly de Castella, the wife of one of the early pioneers.
Little River
Little River began as the site of a travellers' inn at a crossing on the Little River in 1840. A township called Rothwell was laid out in 1849 but locals preferred Little River.
Longwarry
From the Longwarry run or pastoral station in that locality.
Longwarry North
Refer to Longwarry.
Lower Plenty
Lower Plenty marks the crossing point over the Plenty River close to the Yarra River. Some Crown land was sold there as early as 1838 and in the 1850s a small township emerged where a tollgate intercepted the bridge over the Plenty.
Lyndhurst
Named after John Singleton Copley, Lord Lyndhurst, Lord Chancellor of England.
Macclesfield
The area was named after a town in England, possibly by a miner named Stringer.
Macleod
Named after Malcolm Alexander Macleod, a World War I veteran
Maidstone
Named after a borough in Kent, England.
Malvern
Named by Sir James Lorimer of the Gardiner Shire Council. Judge Skinner had an estate there, which was named after Malvern in Worcestershire, England. Another report suggests it was named after John Gardiner, who pioneered an overland cattle route from New South Wales to the Port Phillip District in 1836 and established a station on the banks of Kooyongkoot, as Gardiners Creek was then called. The name was changed to Malvern in 1878.
Malvern East
Refer to Malvern.
Mambourin
Name of a Wathawurrung clan head.
Maribyrnong
Bounded by the Maribyrnong River, from which it takes its name.
Maryknoll
Maryknoll was the brainchild of Father Pooley, a Catholic priest who dreamt of moving city people to a rural Catholic community where they would live on self-sufficient blocks supplemented by the resources raised by co-operative industries.
McCrae
Andrew McCrae leased the Arthur's Seat pastoral station from 1844 to 1853 and with his artist wife, Georgiana, built the homestead that still stands in Charles St, McCrae.
McKinnon
The suburb is named after the train station, which took its name from McKinnon's Rd (McKinnon being the name of an early settler).
Melbourne
Melbourne began on the wrong side of the law. In May 1835, a syndicate led by John Batman explored Port Phillip Bay, looking for suitable sites for a settlement. Batman claimed to have signed a "treaty" with Aboriginal leaders, giving him ownership of almost 250,000 hectares of land. Three months later, another syndicate of farmers, led by John Pascoe Fawkner, entered the Yarra River aboard the Enterprize, establishing the first permanent settlement.
New South Wales Governor Richard Bourke declared Batman's treaty illegal and the settlers to be trespassers. But within two years, more than 350 people and 55,000 sheep had landed, and the squatters were establishing large wool-growing properties in the district. Bourke was forced to accept the rapidly growing township, which he named in honour of the Prime Minister of England, William Lamb, known as Lord Melbourne. Melbourne is also said to mean "middle brook" or "the settlement".
Melton
Named by George William Rusden after Melton Mowbray, a hunting district in Leicestershire.
Melton South
Refer to Melton.
Melton West
Refer to Melton.
Mentone
Named after a French resort near Nice by a syndicate led by Sir Matthew Davies and his brother Joseph, who bought the land for subdivision during the 1880s. Some of the land was previously called Dover Slopes and the railway station was known as Balcombe until 1884.
Menzies Creek
Known for a time as Aura (after a local property), Menzies Creek was a gold digging area. The locality took its name from James Menzies, an early settler.
Mernda
Initially called Morang. The settlement had its heyday during construction of the Yan Yean Reservoir (1853-1857). To capitalise on tourism the name was changed to South Yan Yean, then later Mernda (perhaps from the Aboriginal word "merndi" meaning "earth").
Merriang
Merriang took its name from the parish surveyed in 1839.
Merricks
Alfred Meyrick and his cousin Henry took up the Coolart and Balnarring cattle stations on the shores of Western Port in 1840. In 1841 a surveyor misspelled their name when indicating the position of Callert Merricks Cattle Station.
Merricks Beach
Refer to Merricks.
Merricks North
Refer to Merricks.
Middle Park
The area was named after the railway station, which was midway along the southwest boundary of Albert Park.
Mill Park
Mill Park takes its name from the property of George and Francis Coulstock, who built and operated a flour mill on the Plenty River in the 1840s.
Millgrove
The suburb took its name from the local railway station, which, in turn, was named after a saw milling business.
Mitcham
The name Mitcham was used after the mid 1880s. Its derivation is attributed to two origins: the first, that the district was named after Mitcham Grove, established by William Slater and the second, that it derived from the local property Mitcham Heights, named after Mitcham in Surrey, England. The district has also been called Air Hill and Emery's Hill. All names acknowledge Mitcham's elevation in relation to the surrounding area.
Monbulk
Monbulk takes its name from an Aboriginal word thought to indicate granite outcrops in the hills.
Monomeith
This locality is named after John Mickle's estate. Said to mean "agree, amity, appreciate and approve", as well as "pleasant, good and pure".
Montague
Named for the street traversing the area between City Rd and the Yarra River.
Mont Albert
Local high point named after Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert. Mont Albert grew from a railway station (1890) on the Lilydale line.
Mont Albert North
Refer to Mont Albert.
Montmorency
Similarities in topography between the eastern flanks of the Lower Plenty River between Greensborough and Eltham and a picturesque area beyond the outskirts of Paris suggested the name Montmorency for a farm when Crown land was sold in the 1850s. The suburb then took on this name.
Montrose
Montrose was originally known as Double Pitts. Before 1892 the area was referred to as South Mooroolbark. Local landowner James Walker, whose son had a store in Colchester Rd, Kilsyth, named Rose Mont, called the settlement Montrose in the early 1890s.
Moonee Ponds
Traditionally named Moonee Moonee Ponds, the name is said to come from Wurundjeri willam man, a member of the Billibellary people who died serving the native police corps in Wimmera in 1845. It is thought that the name was derived from an Aboriginal word for lizard.
Moorabbin
The Boon wurrung reputedly called this district "Mooroobin", a name that Richard and John King adapted to Moorabbin for the cattle run they established in the mid 1840s. It is said to mean "woman's milk".
Moorooduc
Surveyor Permein bestowed the name, meaning flat swamp, on the parish when he surveyed it in 1854. Said to mean "dark" or "night".
Mooroolbark
The Parish of Mooroolbark was surveyed in 1855, with the township originally called Brushy Creek. Mooroolbark is Aboriginal for "red clay".
Mordialloc
Adopted by an early squatter as the name for his run covering the district now known as Keysborough and Braeside, the name was derived from a Boon wurrung term, moody or mordy yallock meaning "near little sea".
Moreland
Magistrate Farquhar McCrae purchased the western half in 1839, naming it after his grandfather's Jamaican estate.
Mornington
Mornington was originally known as Schnapper Point, but was renamed in 1864 after the Earl of Mornington, later Governor-General of India.
Mount Dandenong
Mount Dandenong was linked as early as 1847 with the area that is now Mooroolbark by a tramway used for transporting sheep. It was opened up for settlement in 1892 as part of the Village Settlement scheme.
Mount Donna Buang
Known to early European settlers as Mount Ackerley or Mount Acland, after the soldier Colonel Acland Anderson. Mount Donna Buang is a form of its Aboriginal name, meaning "the body of the mountain".
Mount Eliza
Mount Eliza was named after John Batman's wife by the crew of HMS Rattlesnake in 1837.
Mount Evelyn
Mount Evelyn was named after Evelyn Heales, daughter of Richard Heales, Victorian Premier (1860-1861).
Mount Martha
In 1837, Mount Martha was named after Captain Lonsdale's wife by officers of HMS Rattlesnake.
Mount Waverley
An enthusiast for Walter Scott's novel Waverley adopted the name for an aborted township subdivision in 1854. Small farmers in the 1860s and subsequent generations of orchardists preserved the name, "Mount" being added in 1905 to distinguish it from the renamed Glen Waverley area.
Mulgrave
The name most likely honoured Lord Mulgrave, privy councillor from 1851 and as 2nd Marquess of Normanby, Victorian Governor from 1879 until 1884.
Murrumbeena
The name of this eastern portion of the former City of Caulfield is an adaptation of the Aboriginal word Mirambeena. Supposedly named after a member of the native police.
Nar Nar Goon
Means native bear, sloth or koala.
Nar Nar Goon North
Refer to Nar Nar Goon.
Narre Warren
The area was originally called Narre Warren, but when a settlement of the same name developed around a railway station a few kilometres to the south, the former locality became Old Narre Warren or Narre Warren North. The name appears to be of Aboriginal derivation, suggesting either "hilly country" or "no good water".
Narre Warren East
Refer to Narre Warren.
Narre Warren North
Refer to Narre Warren.
Narre Warren South
Refer to Narre Warren.
Newport
Newport was once known as Greenwich. It was the terminus of the Geelong-Melbourne railway, which opened in 1857. The name commemorates the establishment of a new port on the Saltwater River.
Niddrie
The origin of the name is unclear. The Earl of Hopetoun, Governor of Victoria from 1889 to 95, came from Niddry Castle in Scotland, though an earlier bluestone house in East Keilor had been called Niddrie after an Edinburgh suburb.
Nillumbik Shire
The Parish of Nillumbik was named in the late 1830s. The name was derived from an Aboriginal word "nyilumbik" meaning bad, stupid or red earth. Nillumbik was also an early name for the Diamond Creek area.
Noble Park
Began in 1909 as a subdivision by Allan Buckley. Having used the land to demonstrate explosives developed by Alfred Nobel, Buckley called the estate Nobel Park but it was soon transformed into Noble Park after his son, Noble.
Noble Park North
Refer to Noble Park.
North Melbourne
Separated from the City of Melbourne in 1859 and initially called Hotham, its name was changed to North Melbourne in 1877. During the 1880s land boom it became the most densely populated part of the city. Although the town hall is still an Errol St landmark, in 1905 North Melbourne was taken back into the City of Melbourne as the Hopetoun ward, named after a former Governor of Victoria and Australia's first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun.
North Warrandyte
Refer to Warrandyte.
Northcote
Named by Surveyor-General Sir Andrew Clarke after British parliamentarian Sir Henry Stafford Northcote, the second son of the Earl of Iddesleigh.
Notting Hill
Named after its London equivalent.
Nunawading
Nunawading derives its name from a local Aboriginal word translated variously as "meeting place", "battlefield" and "ceremonial ground". The name first described the local parish in 1854, two years after the area was first surveyed and in 1857 the Nunawading District Road Board was established. In 1872 the board was replaced by the Shire of Nunawading, but the central area was officially known as Tunstall after the famous English pottery region, until the City of Nunawading was created in 1945.
Nyora
Named by surveyor John Lardner. Means "the native cherry".
Oak Park
Oak Park was originally part of John Pascoe Fawkner's estate.
Oakleigh
A large number of she-oak trees grew on the site of the town when settlement began and these were cues for an early settler to name the suburb Oakleigh, after a park near his hometown in Hertfordshire in England.
Oakleigh East
Refer to Oakleigh.
Oakleigh South
Refer to Oakleigh.
Officer
Early pastoral settlers in this area east of Beaconsfield included the Officer family from Deniliquin, NSW, whose land ran north into the forested hills. From the late 1870s their timber was transported on the new railway and the local station became known as Officer's Wood Siding. This was shortened to Officer's and eventually the district became known as Officer.
Officer South
Refer to Officer.
Olinda
The present township owes its name to Olinda Creek, in turn named after Alice Olinda Hodgkinson, daughter of surveyor-general of Victoria (1857-1858), Clement Hodgkinson.
Olivers Hill
Named after the Olivers, a prominent family of local fishermen.
Ormond
Named after Captain Ormond from the ship John Bull, which brought immigrants to Port Phillip in 1840.
Osborne
Named after Queen Victoria's summer residence. Some of the streets are also named after the Queen's children.
Pakenham
The area once known as Longford may be named after an English general who fought in the Peninsular War or possibly a Dublin churchman.
Pakenham South
Refer to Pakenham.
Pakenham Upper
Refer to Pakenham.
Panton Hill
Also known as Panton's Hill and Pantonville, it was named after Joseph Anderson Panton, who was the Assistant Commissioner in Bendigo in 1852. He was also the Goldfields Commissioner for Woods Point, Heidelberg and Upper Yarra districts around 1862.
Park Orchards
This residential suburb was created in 1925 when timber merchants Australis Sharp and John Taylor launched the Park Orchards Country Club estate.
Parkville
Took its name from Royal Park, which occupies most of the suburb's area. Royal Park was set aside in 1859, after 15 years of deliberation. Development around it began 10 years later.
Parwan
Means "magpie".
Pascoe Vale
This suburb was purchased, settled and named "Pascoeville" by John Pascoe Fawkner after Pascoville Farm, where he lived from 1842.
Pascoe Vale South
Refer to Pascoe Vale.
The Patch
The region was named after early lumberjacks left an opening in the forest.
Patterson Lakes
Patterson Lakes was derived from the Patterson River, which was constructed in the 1880s as the main drainage of Carrum Swamp. It's understood that the river was named after J.B. Patterson, then Minister of Public Works, who recommended the drainage works.
Pearcedale
Named after Nathaniel Pearce, one of the first settlers on the Langwarrin estate in 1895, the township officially began in 1907.
Pentridge
Henry Foot surveyed the Pentridge village reserve 8km north of Melbourne, adjoining Merri Creek and Sydney Road, and named it after the birthplace of his wife in Dorset, England. It was renamed Coburg in 1870, to avoid the stigma of the Pentridge Prison located there in 1850.
Pinewood
Developed by the A.V. Jennings company from 1958 on a former grazing farm, the name came from the drive leading to the farmhouse, which was lined with pine trees.
Plenty
Joseph Tice Gellibrand, member of the Port Phillip Association, named the Plenty River, a tributary of the Yarra River in 1836, because of the promising land nearby.
Point Cook
Point Cook was named after Lieutenant John Murray Cooke of HMS Rattlesnake, which visited Port Phillip Bay in 1837.
Point Gellibrand
Point Gellibrand in Williamstown was named after lawyer and Port Phillip Association member Joseph Tice Gellibrand.
Point Leo
The surveyor of Western Port in 1841 named this outcrop on the coast of Bobbanaring Point in honour of a Boonwurrung figure.
Port Melbourne
First known as Liardet's Beach after Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet settled there in 1839 and built the first jetty and established postal and ferry services to Melbourne. Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe later named it Sandridge to reflect the ridge of sand dunes along the foreshore. After the first land sales in 1850, Sandridge grew in importance as a port and was the terminus for Australia's first passenger railway, which opened on September 12, 1854. After some agitation, it broke away from the Melbourne City Council to become a municipal district in 1860. It became a borough in 1863, changed its name to Port Melbourne in 1884 and became a town in 1893 and a city on May 14, 1919.
Portsea
James Sandle Ford, who arrived in the area in 1842-43, is said to have named Portsea after his native town of Portsmouth in England.
Powelltown
One of Australia's greatest sawmilling towns between the economic depressions of the 1890s and the 1930s, Powelltown was named after a new process of wood preservation, the Powell method.
Prahran
George Langhorne, who ran a missionary for Aborigines from 1836, called this area "Pur-ra-ran", using local indigenous words believed to mean "land partially surrounded by water". Surveyor-General Robert Hoddle later changed the name to "Prahran" on an 1840 map of the Port Phillip district.
Preston
The name Preston came into use in the 1850s largely because of the influence of the Wood family, who operated the first post office from their general store. They and their friends from the English village of Brighton "all marched out of town with their banner and flags to a gentlemen's park at Preston" during their annual church "treat' back in England. They decided to name their post office after the Sussex village because of their happy memories.
Princes Hill
Both Princes Park and Princes Hill took their name from Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert.
Red Hill
In the 1850s timber-cutters working the Red Hill district supplied the growing Melbourne market. Soon after, selectors established orchards and small mixed farms.
Red Hill South
Refer to Red Hill.
Research
Situated on the road to the Caledonia goldfields, the area had a minor "rush" in 1855 when prospectors searched for gold. This "re-search" became the town's name six years later.
Reservoir
The suburb took its name from the reservoir built in 1864 on the pipeline that carried water from Yan Yean to Melbourne. Reservoir became a suburb in the 1920s.
Richmond
Named after the Earl of Richmond who became the first Tudor king. It was also the name of his palace and the hill in Richmond upon Thames on which it was built.
Ringwood
The Parish of Ringwood, surveyed and named in 1857, is believed to have been named after Ringwood at the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England. According to some sources, an earlier name for the district was Ballyduffy.
Ringwood East
Refer to Ringwood.
Ringwood North
Refer to Ringwood.
Ripponlea
Ripponlea was named after merchant and parliamentarian Frederick Sargood's mansion, which he called Rippon Lea after his mother, Emma Rippon.
Riversdale
The suburb was named with the opening of a railway station at Riversdale Rd (formerly Moloney's Rd) in 1889. The road, which led to the valley of the Yarra River, was named by parliamentarian and Hawthorn resident Matthew O'Grady.
Rockbank
Rockbank was named to reflect nearby rocky slopes. Rockbank pastoral estate, established by William Yuille, was eventually passed to W.J.T. Clarke and became the largest estate in the Melton district.
Rosanna
The name Rosanna was given to a 960-acre property purchased from the government in 1840 by stock-and-station dealer James Watson. He acquired it as a speculation and almost immediately subdivided the land as the Rosanna estate.
Rosebud
The fishing village was named after a coastal trader called Rosebud went down off its coast in 1855.
Rosebud West
Refer to Rosebud.
Rowville
Rowville was part of Narre Warren until 1903 when it was named in honour of the Row family, who built Stamford Park homestead in the 1880s.
Roxburgh Park
The suburb, formerly known as Ruthvenfield, was named in the 1980s after Thomas Brunton's property Roxburgh, which he named after his house in Scotland.
Ruthven
This locality was named after local resident and World War I Victoria Cross winner William Ruthven.
Rye
Surveyed and gazetted as a town in 1861, Rye was named after one of the coastal towns in Sussex, England.
Sandringham
Sandringham was formerly known as Gipsy Village, a name given by Josiah Morris Holloway in 1851. In the late 1880s C.H. James bought a large area of land near Gipsy Village and called it Sandringham after the residence of Edward, Prince of Wales (later to become King Edward VII).
Sassafras
Named after sassafras trees in the area, which were discovered by English chemist Ambrose Eyles. The area has been known as Sassafras since 1917.
Scoresby
The parish of Scoresby was surveyed and named in 1857, one year after the death of Arctic navigator William Scoresby, who visited the colony in 1856.
Seaford
Local residents agreed the area should be named after the sea. Councillor Sydney Plowman suggested the "L" in his hometown of Sleaford in Lincolnshire should be dropped, and so the suburb was named Seaford.
Seddon
Named after Richard Seddon, the New Zealand Prime Minister who died on his way home from a trip to Australia.
Selby
Named after George W. Selby, a local land owner and shire president.
Seville
Created in 1885, Seville was initially called "a township in the parish of Wandin Yalloak". A year later it was named Redlands, but as there was already a town with this name, it was renamed Seville in May 1886 after the daughter of resident William Henry Smith.
Seville East
Refer to Seville.
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke was named after the Canadian birthplace of early settler R.W. Graham. The Shire of Sherbrooke formed after a split with the more urbanised section of the old Shire of Ferntree Gully (formed in May 1889). Sherbrooke became an official local government entity in 1964 and was partly absorbed into the new Yarra Ranges Shire in 1994.
Shoreham
Shoreham was named in the 1880s after the coastal resort in Sussex, England.
Silvan
This small township was known until 1913 as South Wandin.
Skye
Named after the Isle of Skye, the birthplace of some early settlers including the Bethune, Beaton and the Murdoch families, this area was renamed Lyndhurst South in 1894 after publicity about a local murder but resumed its earlier name in 1964.
Smiths Gully
Smiths Gully is the remnant of the town of Market Square, which flourished briefly and was the first mining village established after the gold discoveries in the so-called Caledonia fields in August 1854.
Somers
In 1930 J.S. Feehan, owner of Coolart estate, gave some land for a permanent campsite to the Lord Somers camps, which in 1934 gave their name to the town. Held annually, these camps were initiated in 1929 by Lord Somers, Governor of Victoria, to bring together young men from different walks of life.
Somerton
Named after a place in Somersetshire, England.
Somerville
Named after Sir William Meredyth Somerville, MP for Drogheda (1837-1852) and for Canterbury (1854-1865). Somerville was also the name of his seat in County Meath, Ireland.
Sorrento
Victoria's first official British settlement was established near Sorrento in 1803 by David Collins, who was sent with marines, convicts and free settlers to prevent French interest in the Port Phillip district. A member of the Legislative Assembly, Charles Gavan Duffy, purchased the land and entrepreneur George Coppin provided a paddle steamer to bring visitors down the bay and across between Queenscliff and the Sorrento Pier, built in 1870.
South Kingsville
Refer to Kingsville.
South Melbourne
Named Emerald Hill until city status was attained in 1883, South Melbourne became a municipality separate from the City of Melbourne in 1855. The Yarra riverbank area (now Southbank) was added in February 1857.
South Morang
The suburb's name possibly derives from an Aboriginal word meaning "cloudy" or "sky".
South Yarra
So named because of its position south of the Yarra River. When the municipal district of Prahran was proclaimed in 1855, it included the residents of South Yarra on the east side of Punt Rd, while those on the west were included in the City of Melbourne. Besides forming a municipal boundary, the road itself became something of a barrier from the 1940s.
Spotswood
Previously called Spottiswood, the suburb is said to have been named after Captain George Spottiswood.
Springvale
It was 1827 when William Hovell met with some of the local Boon wurrung people in the area. It is said to take its name from the hotel opened on Dandenong Rd - the No Good Damper Inn - in about 1852. Springvale became a city in 1961 as the district grew as part of the post-World War II industrial and population expansion.
Springvale South
Refer to Springvale.
St Albans
Alfred Padley is believed to have given St Albans its name after a town in Hertfordshire in England.
St Andrews
Formerly Caledonia, then Queenstown, St Andrews emerged in 1854 as the largest township on the Caledonia goldfields.
St Andrews Beach
Refer to St Andrews
St Helena
St Helena's white settlement began when Major Anthony Beale and his wife Katherine purchased 195 hectares of Crown land in 1840, naming their cottage after the island of Saint Helena where they had met.
St Kilda
St Kilda was proclaimed a municipal district in 1855, a borough in 1863 and a city in 1890. The Aboriginal name for the locality was Euro Goroke, referring to a local stone used to sharpen weapons. Initially called Fareham in 1842, the locality was officially named St Kilda by Lieutenant Governor Charles La Trobe after the small vessel Lady of St Kilda, which in turn was named after an island off Scotland.
St Kilda East
Refer to St Kilda.
St Kilda West
Refer to St Kilda.
Steels Creek
First surveyed by Robert Hoddle's assistant, T.H. Nutt, in 1839 as part of his survey of the Yarra River, Steels Creek was most likely named after an early pioneer, Michael Steel.
Strathmore
Thomas Napier, who came from the valley of Strathmore in Scotland, purchased a substantial estate to the north of Essendon in the 1840s. When the local progress association requested a change of name for the area in the 1940s, Strathmore was chosen.
Strathmore Heights
Refer to Strathmore.
Sunbury
One of the earliest European settlements in Victoria, Sunbury dates back to 1836 when John Aitken, George Evans and Samuel and William Jackson arrived from Van Diemen's Land. The Jacksons settled on the banks of a stream (now Jacksons Creek) and named the district after Sunbury on Thames near London. It has also been suggested that the local Aboriginal name for the creek was "Sunburra".
Sunshine
Sunshine was first established as the settlement of Braybrook Junction during the 1880s land boom. The town's revival after the 1890s depression was the result of the 1904 purchase of the Braybrook Implement Works by industrialist Hugh Victor McKay of the Ballarat Sunshine Harvester Works. Appreciating that relocation to Braybrook Junction would provide room to expand his factory, shelter from metropolitan labour legislation and convenient rail access both to his inland market and to the port to service his export trade, McKay relocated his business in 1906. Renamed Sunshine the following year, the town's reputation as a model working-class community grew as McKay subdivided surrounding land, provided amenities and acted as patron to the town's burgeoning social institutions.
Sunshine North
Refer to Sunshine.
Sunshine West
Refer to Sunshine.
Surrey Hills
Christened by real estate agents, the suburb shared in Melbourne's intense land boom after the railway opened in 1883.
Sydenham
Named by surveyor Coane. Originally called Keilor Road, it was renamed Sydenham in 1887.
Syndal
The name comes from a High Street Rd farm acquired for judge Sir Redmond Barry's children.
Tarneit
Tarneit and the neighbouring Truganina derived their names from Aboriginal words applied to parishes surveyed in 1839 to 1840.
Taylors Lakes
The suburb's name reportedly comes from William Taylor, a 19th-century land owner who created a gully on the Keilor-Melton Road to provide water for his household and garden.
Tecoma
Tecoma was formerly known as part of Upper Fern Tree Gully. Officially named Tecoma after the new railway station in 1924, the name is derived from an exotic flowering creeper.
Templestowe
The village of Templestowe was surveyed in 1852. Two theories have been offered to explain the derivation of its name. One suggests it derived from Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe. The second is that it originated from a small English settlement called Temple's Stowe.
Templestowe Lower
Refer to Templestowe.
The Basin
Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller is credited with naming the location, where he sometimes camped on creek flats surrounded by hills.
The Patch
Located in the higher Dandenong Ranges, the region was called after early lumberjacks left an opening in the forest. Pointed out as "the patch", the name became official around 1893.
Thomastown
Thomastown was first settled by tenant farmers including Patrick Mahoney who gave his name to the road that marks its southern boundary. The suburb was named after John and Mary Thomas, who started a market garden south of Main St in 1848.
Thornbury
Much of the land in the area was purchased by Job Smith and named after his English birthplace. Another theory suggests a paddock in Northcote that was subdivided during the land boom in 1887 was called Thornbury Park by C.H. James.
Tonimbuk
Thought to derive from an Aboriginal word meaning "to scorch" or "burn".
Toolangi
Toolangi is believed to come from an Aboriginal word for "stringybark tree".
Toolern Vale
Toolern Vale's first European resident was John Hunter Patterson, who lived in the Green Hills pastoral station in 1837. The local post office opening in 1871 and was known as Toolern until 1904.
Tooradin
Named after an Aboriginal word for "swamp monster" or "bunyip", the first European settlers in the district were the Manton brothers who held the 16,000-acre run named Toorodan.
Toorak
The suburb is named after Toorak House, built for Melbourne merchant James Jackson on 108 acres he purchased in 1849. After Jackson died at sea in 1850, the house was rented to the first governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham, until Government House was completed. The name is also said to mean "reedy grass".
Tooronga
The name given to an early homestead located on Gardiner's Creek in Malvern, Tooronga is believed to be an Aboriginal word for "bulrush".
Tootgarook
Tootgarook's name derives from one of the earliest cattle stations on the Mornington Peninsula, the Tootgarook run, taken up by Edward Hobson in 1838. Tootgarook is said to be an Aboriginal word for the "croaking of frogs".
Tottenham
Named after Tottenham from the working-class suburb in Middlesex, England.
Travancore
Travancore took its name from Travancore House (after the Indian state), formerly owned by Hugh Glass, but renamed by later occupant Sir John Madden, Victorian Chief Justice and exporter of horses to India. When the property was subdivided in the 1920s, a number of streets took Indian or Asian names (Mooltan, Cashmere, Lucknow, Mangalore, Madura).
Tremont
The name Tremont (which means "mountain of trees") was suggested by F.J. Treweek, a local landowner.
Truganina
The township of Truganina was laid out in 1849. The name supposedly honours a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman.
Tullamarine
Tullamarine is thought to derive its name from Tullamareena, the name of a Wurundjeri boy noted by George Langhorne.
Tyabb
Named after an Aboriginal word for "mud holes" or "water holes" and may have been the name used by Boon Wurrung people for the water holes where they camped.
Tynong
Established on the edge of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp, Tynong derives its name from an Aboriginal term meaning "many fish".
Tynong North
Refer to Tynong.
Upfield
The name Upfield reflects the open country in the area before it became more settled.
Upper Ferntree Gully
See Ferntree Gully.
Upwey
Upwey was named by the local Tullidge family who had migrated from Upwey on the River Wey in England. Originally the district was known as Mast Gully.
Vermont
Vermont which is French for "green hill" was possibly suggested by government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller.
Vermont South
Refer to Vermont.
Viewbank
Viewbank takes its name from the 192 acre property established by James Williamson in 1839-1840. It then passed to a Scot, pastoralist Dr Robert Martin, who also acquired the adjacent Banyule property.
Wandin
The name Wandin is a contraction of Wandin Yallock, meaning swift-running stream. This was fruit-growing country from a very early date and land sold quickly from the mid-1860s.
Wandin East
Refer to Wandin.
Wandin North
Refer to Wandin.
Wandin Yallock
The township of Wandin Yalloak in the Yarra Valley was proclaimed in 1874. When Seville was proclaimed in 1885, Wandin Yalloak's name was changed to Redlands, but reverted in 1954 to Wandin Yallock, with the spelling changed from Yalloak to Yallock.
Wantirna
Wantirna was regarded as Bayswater West until its post office opened in 1913. The name Wantirna, meaning gurgling stream, was chosen by the local progress association.
Wantirna South
Refer to Wantirna.
Warburton
Warburton was originally called Yankee Jim's after the nearby creek (named after Jim McAvoy, a Canadian who travelled from the Californian gold rush to try his luck in Victoria in 1859). In 1863 it was renamed after the district police magistrate and gold warden Charles Warburton Carr.
Warneet
Known in the 1920s as Crouch's Beach after Leslie Crouch, who had explored the thick bush to eventually build a holiday home. It was renamed using the Aboriginal word for river in the following decade.
Warrandyte
Although the area was surveyed and named Warrandyte in 1841, it was popularly referred to as Anderson's Creek (after overlander James Anderson) until the early 20th century when a petition prompted in the name change. One version of the origins of the name is that it derived from Aboriginal words warran (throw) and date (the object aimed at), although this claim has been contested.
Warrandyte South
Refer to Warrandyte.
Watsonia
Named after Frank Watson, who subdivided the land for housing in 1924.
Watsonia North
Refer to Watsonia
Wattle Park
Named after a local park. Previously owned by businessman and Mayor of Melbourne Orlando Fenwick and then by Eliza Welch, the 137-acre block was secured by the Hawthorn Tramway Trust in 1917 as a destination for its Riversdale Rd line. The adjacent suburb, developed for housing from the 1920s, came to share the name Wattle Park.
Werribee
Explorers Hume and Hovell called the local river "Arndell" after Hovell's father-in-law, while Melbourne pioneer John Batman called it the "Exe", but Aboriginal people named it "Weariby", meaning spine or backbone. Government surveyor Darke adapted this name when he officially surveyed the district in 1839-1840.
Werribee South
Refer to Werribee.
Wesburn
The Lands Department subdivided residential and farm lots at the Warburton Village Settlement between Yarra Junction and Warburton in the 1890s. Later called West Warburton, the name was abbreviated to Wesburn in 1925.
Westall
Westall is named after a family who took up farming there in 1877.
West Footscray
Refer to Footscray.
Westgarth
Westgarth was named after local politician and merchant William Westgarth after Northcote was subdivided in the mid 1850s. The first films screened at the Westgarth Picture Theatre in 1921.
West Melbourne
West Melbourne is named after its location to the CBD. It was settled early in the city's history and its subdivided area ended at Adderley St. A local landmark includes Festival Hall built in 1915.
Westmeadows
Located northeast of the Tullamarine Freeway and west of Broadmeadows, Westmeadows lies on the original site of the Broadmeadows township laid out in 1850.
Wheelers Hill
The Mulgrave post office was renamed Wheelers Hill in 1888, commemorating the Wheeler brothers who were early pastoralists.
Whitehorse City
Named after Patrick Trainor's Whitehorse Hotel, which was built in 1853 on the corner of Elgar and Whitehorse roads.
Whittlesea
In 1853 Robert Mason surveyed the Upper Plenty region and marking out a village centre around the sheds of a local sheep station owned by George Sherwin. Mr Mason named the village Whittlesea after a town in Cambridgeshire, England, where he once lived.
Williamstown
Governor Richard Bourke inspected the developing settlement at Port Phillip Bay in May 1837, and ordered surveyors to lay out two towns. Melbourne was to be named after Britain's Prime Minister, while Williamstown, with its deep harbour and port facilities, was to be named after the reigning monarch, King William IV.
Williamstown North
Refer to Williamstown.
Willison
This locality was founded in 1921 and named after a former mayor.
Windsor
Named after Windsor in England.
Wollert
Formerly known as "Walert". Early European settlers grazed livestock and dairy cattle following the first land sales of 1838.
Wonga Park
Wonga Park was formerly known as East Warrandyte and then Croydon Eight Hour Village Settlement. Wonga Park comes from an Aboriginal word for native pigeon and has its origins in the 640 acre Wonga Park Cattle Station.
Woodstock
Named by James Hunter Patterson, presumably from the English town of the same name in Oxfordshire.
Woori Yallock
It has various spellings (Wori Yolaok/Worri Yalloak) and its name derives from an Aboriginal term meaning "running creek".
Wyndham Vale
This outer western municipality was created in 1994 to replace the former Shire of Werribee. Wyndham was the original name of the shire, used from 1864 to 1909. Werribee's first publican had fought alongside a fellow officer named Wyndham at the Battle of Waterloo.
Yallambie
Takes its name from Yallambie Park, a property of 600 acres on the Plenty River, established in the 1840s by Quaker pastoralist brothers John and Robert Bakewell.
Yan Yean
Yan Yean comes from the name of an Aboriginal leader who signed a treaty with Melbourne pioneer John Batman in 1835. Batman wrote the name "Yan Yan", which means "bachelor", "unmarried", "boyish" or "young male".
Yannathan
Yannathan was settled in the 1880s and comes from the Aboriginal term meaning "to walk about".
Yarra Glen
Yarra Glen takes its name from the adjacent river. The river "Yarra Yarra" was named by John Helder Wedge in 1835 and means "waterfall". "Ever flowing" and "red gum trees" are also commonly accepted meanings. Yarra Glen was previously called Yarra Flats.
Yarra Junction
Yarra Junction is located on the Warburton Highway, just east of where the Little Yarra River joins the Yarra River. The locality changed its name from Little Yarra Junction in 1908.
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley is the name given to the upper reaches surrounding the Yarra River.
Yarrambat
Originally known as Tanck's Corner after Frederick Tanck, one of the first selectors in the district in the 1870s. Known as Hilton from 1920, in 1928 it was renamed Yarrambat, an Aboriginal word for high hills and pleasant views.
Yarraville
Yarraville may have been named simply as a description of a place on the Yarra River. In 1859 Biers, Henningham & Co. threw a banquet to launch land sales at their Yarraville estate to show off the views of Melbourne and suburbs from this rural retreat.
Yellingbo
Yellingbo was originally known as "Claxton" (after a storekeeper) and "Parslows Bridge" (after a man who married the daughter of the first storekeeper) before taking the name of the district's last-known Aboriginal inhabitant in the 1940s. The word "Yellingbo" reputedly means "this day" or "today".
Yering
The Ryrie brothers brought cattle down from Monaro in 1837 and settled on the lush pastures at Yering. "Yerrang", meaning "scrubby" or "Yerring", meaning "beard".
**All information can be attributed to the Office of Geographic Names, Land Victoria, Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, as well as the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne (eMelbourne) and Museum Victoria.
Please note every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the list. However, historical accounts can vary.
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