When the estate of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, which used to lie along the side of The
Strand in central London, was sold off in the C18, the new owners turned it into streets of very
pleasnt houses. In order to preserve the name of the Duke, the streets were named, "George
St," "Villiers St," "Duke St," and "Buckingham St." (they are still there, if you wish to visit!)
Between Duke St and Buckingham St there is a narrow lane which used to be called "Of Alley."
Unfortunately, some bureaucrat in the early part of the C20 decided that was too odd a name,
and it was renamed (can't remember what, and haven't my A-Z handy)
Fascinating! It happened in Dublin, too.
The main thoroughfare in this capital is called O'Connell Street (a sad sight these days) and has been since the 1920s. It's original name was Sackville Street and surrounding streets are still called Earl Street, Henry Street and Marlborough Street after Henry Sackville, Earl of Marlborough. As in RC's posting there was an of Street but this has been renamed. I can't recall its new name at the moment.
As with all old cities in the UK and Ireland there are quite a few strange names for streets but not in the same vein as the New World. Dublin is a viking/Norse city and a lot of the city's street names still bear the same names almost 1200 years on. Examples are:
Fishamble Street where the Fish markets or shambles were located. It's more famous now for the site where Handel's Messiah was first performed.
Skinner's Lane, Chancery Lane
Werburgh Street and Audoen Street are examples of Old English saints' names.
Smock Alley and Poolbeg Street the meaning of which I have not yet found out.
