Have you ever wondered how subdivisions are named? I have. The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University asked readers of its electronic newsletter to explain the thought process that goes into naming subdivisions.

While some developers have solid reasons for picking the names they do, others just go with “whatever sounds good.” A San Antonio builder-developer wouldn’t say how he picked the names for his subdivisions, but he compared the process with “coming up with a name for a new brand of soap.”

For many developers, selecting a subdivision name is serious business. It should be. After all, it must attract homebuyers without sounding too much like another nearby development.

Writing in the Galveston County Daily News, Sarah Viren notes that the developer of Saddle Creek Ranch in League City, Texas, decided to change the subdivision’s name when a competitor announced plans for Shadow Creek Ranch subdivision. After a brainstorming session, Victory Lakes was picked for the new name.

Of course, Victory Lakes had no lakes — until the developer created them. It isn’t uncommon for a developer to create features that highlight the subdivision’s name. John Lightfoot, developer of The Falls at Champion Forest in Spring, Texas, says there are “not many natural waterfalls in this part of Texas, so I built a 15-foot high, 1,500-gallon-per-minute waterfall.”

Lightfoot notes, however, that in general names come from existing natural features. The Orchard in Sugar Land, Texas, is being built around a tree orchard once owned by Imperial Sugar and will preserve more than 70 percent of the trees.

Local legends provide subdivision names. For example, there’s Sam Bass Trails in Round Rock.  On the northwest side of Houston is a neighborhood called Ravensway. It’s near Cypress Creek, where Sam Houston’s army once camped. Houston was known as “The Raven.” Street names in the subdivision carry the theme further with Campsite Round, Scouts Lane, Rifleman Circle and others.

Themes are common in subdivision names. When there’s a prominent natural feature, such as a river, names are easy to come by — Riverforest, Riverwood and so forth. Brazoswood residential development south of Mineral Wells gets its name from the abundant oak trees and the site’s location near the Brazos River. Oakmont in Corinth, Texas, is hilly, with many varieties of oak trees.

Obviously, the names of family and friends are the source for other subdivision names.  There’s Christopher’s Cove, Suzanne’s Court and Julie’s Walk. Michael Shelton, developer of MJ Ranch, proudly named the subdivision after his wife Mary Jo.

I’m sure their namesakes are very proud, even if the homeowners who live there don’t have a clue who Christopher, Suzanne, Julie and Mary Jo are.

In South Texas, John Holt, land development manager for CasaLinda Homes in McAllen, says subdivision names take into consideration the Hispanic demographic they are trying to sell to. Hence, his subdivisions have names like El Mileno, Grandora, Tesoro and Del Oro.

Galveston’s newest community, Evia, is named after Jose Antonio de Evia, a Spanish naval officer who mapped the Gulf coast, including the barrier island and bay now named Galveston. 

“The man who discovered our beloved home deserves to be recognized,” said Kelley Sullivan with Evia.

In Celina north of Dallas, Charles E. Fitzgerald, president of Wilbow Corporation, planned a subdivision originally named Quail Hollow. When he learned that the seller was one of the founding families, Fitzgerald renamed the community Heritage of Celina. Streets in the subdivision are named for the area’s founding families.

“I think that subdivision names and street names should be chosen carefully and with serious thought,” says Clayton Husband, director of planning for the City of Burleson. “An elegant name can add intrinsic value to the property and the community.”

Husband cites Whittier Heights in Colleyville, Texas, as an example of how street names and planning are combined in an overall theme — the poetry of John Greenleaf Whittier. An adjacent subdivision has streets named after naturalists and conservationists, such as John Muir.

When it comes to naming subdivisions and streets, Thurman Blackburn of Austin takes the job seriously. “I consider it both an honor and a challenge,” Blackburn says.

For those who want the easy way out when naming a subdivision, there’s http://adrian.gimp.org/cgi-bin/sub.cgi. That website has a random subdivision-housing development-nursing home name generator. To come up with a subdivision name, just take one word from column one (examples: Pine, Oak, Cedar), add it to a word from column two (examples: Sunset, Country, Circle) and then one from column three (examples: Acres, Forest, Valley).  There you have it — Pine Country Forest.