Giving your house a name.

Up until the late 19th century (?), many houses had no numbers, just names. If you investigate relatives in different censuses who hadn't moved house, the address may have changed.

Houses built between the wars would have numbers, but the first owner would be asked to name the house, my gran told me. Either she or her next-door neighbour wanted a name that had already been taken in her rather long road, and had to choose another.

Our house has a name which is on the Ordnance Survey map so no choice really.

We moved here just over a year ago and were told that the house was the original show house when the estate was built. We are minutes away from the Golf Course and there is a plate on the house saying 'The Links' - we just the house number though. I am moving into the converted garage annex shortly and am pondering whether to give my new home a name - Nan's Nest was suggested by my granddaughter!

The house I grew up in had a name. It was built in 1860 and the other houses nearby of a similar age had names too.

I have never since lived in a house that had a name, or considered giving our present house a name.

Hereabouts it seems to have gone out of fashion some time around 1920. Here two some older houses have the year they were built displayed prominently on a gable or above the front door.

I've lived in 'Poacher's Wood' and Copper Beeches. My marital home is called 'The Limes'. All the homes in that area have names, no numbers.

Yes our house has a name but we live in a small village where the houses are scattered around and a number wouldn't work. Before we moved here we lived in a semi in an ordinary street in town and we just used the number it was allocated and never gave it a name. Didn't even think of it - would probably have confused the postman if we had.

I alway wanted to live in a house with a name, so when we made our last move 15years ago and the back garden of the old bungalow was overrun with hollyhocks the decision was staring me in the face! So we use the number & Hollyhocks in our address. Friends delight in mis- spelling it which makes for interesting reading for the postman!

We were always tempted to call our house FUJIMAR. “F**k you Jack I’m alright” but we never did

Our house is registered with a name. It refers to the occupation of the previous resident/s for whom the house was built in1897. Now we just use the number.

We live on a farm and the house dates back nearly 600 years. It has a very unusual name which apparently means " cottage in the water meadows". It has a very strange spelling and, much as I like its unique nature, I sometimes wish it was something simple like Manor Farm, Upper Farm or similar - much easier to spell over the phone! My parents' house was built in an old orchard & derives its name from that. My sister just has a number- I like having a name.

My little cottage is in a tiny wooded valley and the river runs through my garden. The name is Welsh, and translates to Dingley Dell - which is spot on!

I watched a quite sizeable bungalow being build near us, and when it was finished the sign Three Chimneys was put up. Not one chimney on it!

Our neighbour's house is Emoclew, which is of course welcome back!
A friend's is Rubble Hall as her husband never finishes DIY projects.

We live on a country lane on the edge of the village and all the houses along the lane have names as there is no numbering system,, Ours was part of a big estate so several houses share a common part of the name---*** cottage, ***croft, * farm, * park etc which becomes very confusing for delivery drivers. There's quite a bit of toing and froing among neighbours with misplaced parcels.

I may have posted this before. There is a bungalow near me named Beverly Hills. How pretentious I thought. Then I met the daughter of the house. Her sister was called Beverly and she was Hilary.

Houses we've had in the past have had names, so when we 'downsized' to a house without a name I (being Welsh) christened it by the name my grandmother called the cupboard under the stairs - or any small cosy place! Or a cuddle!

Our house has just a number, but I like house names - especially the clever or funny ones.

A lot of country houses don’t have numbers and therefore you have to use the name. Very confusing when two nearby villages contain houses of the same name.

My brother lives in a village. His house has a name but no number.

We have a house in the Lake District although we live in Sweden, all the houses in our Close in the UK have names, we have called ours the Swedish name for house, as we always say "we are going over to the house" the postman must wonder what on earth it means, its a bit of fun really.

We bought our house a year ago. We came back from Spain and downsized to the house we are in now. It is an average sized 3 bed house in a small, rural village. The house was built in the 1970's and called 'Juniper House'.

To me it seems hugely pretentious.

DD lives in a house with a small river boundary and no house number. It's called Brook House.

I grew up in a named house with a holly tree in the front garden. That house was called Hollybank.

DH grew up in a house called Home Leigh.

We have never lived in a named house in nearly 54 years of marriage.

Our house has a name from when it was built - 1886 - referring to historical links of the family who built all over the area. Even very modest homes had names. We don't use it though as we also have a number. Our documents re the house do use both though.
My childhood home had a name directly related to its location, but that was always known by its name. The number came later when the road was built up.

My house is Edwardian and was named by the people for whom it was built, it shares a name with a much grander house and when giving the address I often say the name sounds a lot grander than the house actually is. I have the name on the gatepost and the front of the house, but there has never been a number, so I often find myself giving last minute directions over the phone.