<p>The purpose of this thesis is to apply a name user perspective to the street names of Stockholm, with a focus on knowledge and views about names among the city’s inhabitants. On the basis of interview surveys, a picture is presented of the knowledge and views of Stockholmers regarding their city’s street names and the semantic or thematic name categories to which many of them belong; that is, the study seeks to identify general features of the ways in which the people of the city relate to their street names. Surveys were carried out in seven districts: Hedvig Eleonora parish, Hjorthagen, Fredhäll, Norra Ängby, Årsta, Fruängen and Akalla. A separate survey studied the range and associative properties of street names among Stockholmers not living in the vicinity of the streets in question.</p><p>General findings emerging from the surveys are that people are very familiar with the names in their local area; that knowledge about these names contributes to their well-being and sense of identity and belonging; that name categories are appreciated and considered to have an orientating function; that names which are seen as elegant or distinguished are regarded as enhancing the image and perceptions of the environment in which they occur; that long names and those made up of several words may be regarded as unwieldy in practical use; and that people need and create names for more limited park and recreational areas, while formally adopted names for larger green spaces are not used or are felt to be unclear in their reference.</p>

The purpose of this thesis is to apply a name user perspective to the street names of Stockholm, with a focus on knowledge and views about names among the city’s inhabitants. On the basis of interview surveys, a picture is presented of the knowledge and views of Stockholmers regarding their city’s street names and the semantic or thematic name categories to which many of them belong; that is, the study seeks to identify general features of the ways in which the people of the city relate to their street names. Surveys were carried out in seven districts: Hedvig Eleonora parish, Hjorthagen, Fredhäll, Norra Ängby, Årsta, Fruängen and Akalla. A separate survey studied the range and associative properties of street names among Stockholmers not living in the vicinity of the streets in question. General findings emerging from the surveys are that people are very familiar with the names in their local area; that knowledge about these names contributes to their well-being and sense of identity and belonging; that name categories are appreciated and considered to have an orientating function; that names which are seen as elegant or distinguished are regarded as enhancing the image and perceptions of the environment in which they occur; that long names and those made up of several words may be regarded as unwieldy in practical use; and that people need and create names for more limited park and recreational areas, while formally adopted names for larger green spaces are not used or are felt to be unclear in their reference.