This text contains a comparative evaluation of street names of the urban periphery. Starting with Erfurt, street names of other Thuringian and German cities of the late Middle Ages and the early modern period are examined. In doing so, different groups of people are contemplated, such as prostitutes, barber surgeons and knackers, whose appellatives finally found their way into street names. The focus is on accumulations of such names in certain areas of a city; differences between large and small cities are illustrated as well. In the end, the conclusion highlights the hitherto underutilised significance of these street names.