How many streets in Estonia are named after women?

Mapping the gender balance and diversity of Estonia's public space

By Helen Wright

Lydia Koidula Street in Tallinn. Source: Siim Lõvi /ERR

In March 2023, the European Data Journalism Network published an investigation that examined how many streets in Europe are named after women and who those women are. Estonia was not included and I decided to carry out the research myself to see how the country compares.

Streets named after men in Europe vastly outnumber those named after women, a recent investigation by the European Data Journalism Network (EDJN) shows. Only 9 percent of streets analyzed in 30 cities across European Union member states and candidate countries bear the names of women.

In total, 4,779 streets were found to have been named after women and the most commonly named person was the Virgin Mary.

In some cities, there were no streets named after women at all, the Mapping Diversity Project showed.

But why is this a problem?

The authors say erasing women from public spaces constantly perpetuates "the marginalization of female contributions in history, art, culture, or the sciences".

They believe, that at the current pace, it will take "centuries" to create an equal balance of men and women in Europe's public space.

30 cities in 17 countries were included in the Mapping Diversity Project. No country came close to having 50 percent of its streets named after women.

Of the capital cities analyzed, Sweden's Stockholm had the highest proportion at 19.5 percent.

Madrid came in second with 18.7 percent.

Followed by Denmark's Copenhagen on 13.4 percent.

While Prague in the Czech Republic had the least at 4.3 percent.

And Greece's capital Athens was just above on 4.5 percent.

Of all the cities analyzed, Debrecen in Hungary scored the lowest with 2.9 percent.

But how will Estonia compare?

Estonia will be the smallest country by population included in the investigation and Tallinn the smallest capital city. The approximate number of people living in the country is 1.3 million and of those 454,000 live in Tallinn.

The EDJN chose to map capitals and large cities, rather than whole countries. But as Estonia's entire population is smaller than that of several capitals included in the project, streets across the whole country will be included and then extra focus will be paid to the top 10 biggest cities.

The data has been drawn from the Estonian Land Board, which keeps a database of all the streets and buildings in Estonia.

Only streets that include a first and second name, which will make it clear the areas have been named after a living historical figure, will be counted. Estonia is the least religious country in Europe, so it is unlikely there will be a high number of saints and deities to be among the names.

In total, as of August 2023, there are 17,970 streets registered by the agency across the country. The vast majority are not named after people.

The analysis shows 228 streets are named after men and women, which is 1.3 percent of the total.

Of these, 22 are named after women and 206 after men. This gives a score of 9.6 percent.

Five women have been honored with street names and 141 men.

Top 10 biggest cities in Estonia

Number of streets named after women and men
2	2	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	0
43	36	9	4	3	8	6	5	12	3
TALLINN	Tartu	Narva	Pärnu	Kohtla-Järve	Viljandi	Rakvere	Kuressaare	Sillamäe	Valga

Turning to Estonia's 10 largest cities shows there are 135 streets named after men and women, as of mid-August. Of these, nine are named after women and 129 after men. Three cities do not have any streets named after women.

Tallinn is Estonia's capital. It is situated on the northern coast and with a population of over 450,000 it is by far the biggest and most diverse city in the county. In comparison, the second-biggest city Tartu has a population of approximately 95,000.

The capital has 1,642 streets in total and of those 45 are named after historical figures.

But only two are named after women - poet Lydia Koidula and composer Miina Härma. This is a share of 4.4 percent.

This score would put Tallinn above Prague but below Athens.

Estonia promotes itself as a "new Nordic", but the data shows Tallinn is a long way behind Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Copenhagen.

Tartu, also known as the "City of Good Thoughts" and the unofficial cultural capital of Estonia, fares slightly better. But only because it has fewer streets.

It also has two streets named after women, just the same as Tallinn does, and 36 named after men. This gives a share of 5.3 percent.

In comparison to The Mapping Diversity Project this would place the city level with Romania's Bucharest and Croatia's Zagreb, which both achieved the same score and ranked sixth from bottom.

Looking at the eight other cities analyzed, three – Pärnu, Sillamäe, and Valga – do not have any streets named after women.

The remaining five have one street named after a woman, but they also have far fewer streets named after men which significantly increases the share.

The eastern city of Kohtla-Järve (population approximately 35,000) has three streets named after men and one after a woman. This puts its share at 25 percent.

Kuressare, Rakvere, and Viljandi, are lower at 16.7 percent,14.3 percent, and 11.1 percent, respectively. This would put all three in the top 10 of The Mapping Diversity Project.

Narva, Estonia's border town, would have a 10 percent share.

Editors note: Several street names in Narva were changed over summer 2023. The data is accurate as of the end of August.