ACTON - The name given to the local railroad station of the Southern Pacific in the mid
1870’s was taken from one the Actons in the east.

ALTADENA - Literally means "Upper Dena," referring to its location relative to Pasadena. The
name was applied in 1887.

ALVARADO - Named after Juan B. Alvarado, governor of Mexican California 1836-1842.

ANTELOPE VALLEY - Named for the graceful animal once found throughout California.

BALDWIN (PARK OR HILLS) - Named for E.J. "Lucky" Baldwin.

BANDINI - Named for Juan Bandini, a powerful local ranch owner.

BEL AIR - Named for developer Alfonso Bell.

BREA - Spanish for "asphaltum" or "tar." Name given to the local Spanish land grant.

CAHUENGA - An Indian name, probably derived from the name of a local Indian village.

CANOGA PARK - Believed to be named after Canoga, New York, which derived it
name from the Native American village Ganogeh.

CENTINELA - Named for the Rancho de la Centinela, owned by Daniel Freeman.

CENTURY CITY - Named for 20th Century Fox Motion Picture Company.

CHATSWORTH - Named for Chatsworth in Devonshire, England.

CIENEGA - The present day name is actually a misspelling of the Spanish 
word "cienaga", meaning "marsh" or "swamp." The misspelling began with 
the name of the local ranch.

DEL SUR - Spanish for "of the south."

DOMINGUEZ - Named for Juan Jose Dominguez, one of the three former Spanish 
colonial soldiers who received local land grants from Spanish governor 
Pedro Fages in 1784. Dominguez presided over the vast Rancho San Pedro.

EAGLE ROCK - Named for the prominent sandstone rock in the area that 
resembles an eagle in flight.

El SEGUNDO - The Second in Spanish, referring to the second refinery in 
California, the first being in Richmond California

ENCINO - The Portola expedition saw many live oaks in the area and named it 
"Santa Catalina de Bononia de los Encinos" in 1769. The area became the Encino land 
grant in 1840. 

FIGUEROA - Named for Jose Figueroa, a governor of California under Mexico.

GARFIELD- Named for the 20th president of the United States, James Garfield.

GORMAN - Named for a U.S. Army soldier from Fort Tejon who settled in the area 
after his discharge in 1864.

GRIFFITH PARK - Named in 1896 by the City of Los Angeles for Griffith J. Griffith, 
donor of the land for the park. The observatory was also named in 1932 for 
Griffith who left funds for its construction.

HERMOSA BEACH - Beautiful Beach; Hermosa meaning Beautiful in Spanish

HOLLYWOOD - Many different stories abound here. A popular explanation is that it was 
the name given by the wife of founder Horace H. Wilcox who named it after the 
"Mass of the Holy Wood of the Cross" said by Father Junipero Serra near the site. 
It may have also been a name borrowed from one of the Hollywoods of the east.

HONDO or RIO HONDO - The River San Gabriel changed its course in 1867, leaving 
the old channel to become known as the Rio Hondo after July 1888.

HUGHES LAKE - Named for G.O. Hughes, an owner of land adjacent to the lake.

HYDE PARK - Named for the owner of a local lumberyard in 1887.

LENNOX - Named for Lennox, Massachusetts, former home of a settlement resident who 
met with a group to name the place.

LOS ANGELES - The name Los Angeles is Spanish for The Angels.

LOS FELIZ - Named for the land grant owned by Jose Feliz.

LOS NIETOS - Spanish for "the grandchildren." In this case, however, named for 
Manuel Perez Nieto, one of the three Spanish soldiers who had received local 
land grants from Spanish governor Pedro Fages in 1784.

MOJAVE - Derived from the language of the populous and warlike Yuman tribe.

MONTECITO - Name means "little woods."

NEWHALL - Name given to the local railroad station, named for Henry M. Newhall, 
owner of the land and a resident of San Francisco.

OLVERA STREET - Named for Augustin Olvera, a Mexican resident and later first 
County Judge and first County Administrator under U.S. rule.

PACOIMA - A Tongva (Gabrielino) word meaning "running water."

PEARBLOSSOM - Named by Guy Chase for its once abundant pear orchards. The orchards 
died off in blight.

PICO- Named for Pio Pico, last governor of Mexican California.

POINT FERMIN - Named in 1793 by the explorer Vancouver for his friend Padre 
Fermin Francisco de Lasuen.

PLAYA DEL REY - Formerly known as Port Ballona, it became an unsuccessful real 
estate venture in 1887. It was revived and renamed in 1902.

QUARTZ HILL - Doubtless named for the quartz found in the area.

REDONDO BEACH - Round Beach; Redondo meaning round in Spanish

RESEDA - Named for mignonette (a herb).

SAN PEDRO - In October 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo originally named the 
location "Bahia de los Fumos" (Bay of Smokes). It was later named after Saint Peter, 
patron saint of fishermen.

SANDBERG - Named for Harold Sandberg in 1918, the area’s first postmaster and 
operator of an inn on Old Ridge Rock. 

SANTA CATALINA - Named for St. Catherine by the explorer Vizcaino in 1602 on the 
occasion of the feast day of St. Catherine of Alexander.

SEPULVEDA - Named for Francisco Sepulveda, grantee in 1839 of the San Vicente Y 
Santa Monica ranch in the Verdugo Hills.

SILVER LAKE - Named from Herman Silver, a member of the first Los Angeles Board of 
Water Commissioners.

STONEMAN'S MOUNTAIN- Named in 1853 for Lt. George Stoneman, a member of the Pacific 
railroad survey.

TARZANA - Named after famous fictional character "Tarzan" after Edgar Rice Burroughs 
purchased the local Otis Estate in 1917 The local post office was given the name in 1931.

TERMINAL ISLAND - Originally named "Isla Raza de Buena Gente" (Island of the Race 
of Good People). Early in the American era, the island became known as 
Rattlesnake Island. In 1911, after the Los Angeles Terminal Railway had built a 
line from the city to the island, it assumed its present name.

THROOP PEAK - Named for Amos G. Throop, founder of Throop University, 
now known as Cal Tech. The U.S. Forest Service also refers to the peak as North Baldy Peak.

TOLUCA LAKE - Name derived from old Aztec name.

TUJUNGA - Derived from the Indian place name Tuyunga meaning "mountain range."

UNIVERSAL CITY - A local post office was opened on the site in 1915 and named after the 
Universal Pictures Company that had been organized that same year.

VALENCIA - Named by the developer Newhall Land & Farming Co. for the type of oranges 
that grew there.

VALYERMO - Spanish for "desert valley." Named for a nearby rancho.

VAN NUYS - The local post office was named for Isaac N. Van Nuys, 
son-in-law of Isaac Lankershim. They were the first to successfully 
cultivate wheat on a large scale in Southern California.

VANOWEN - Named by Harrison Gray Otis, publisher of the LA Times, because the street 
served as a connector between Van Nuys and Owensmouth (now called Canoga Park).

VASQUEZ CANYON; VASQUEZ ROCKS - These exotic rocks were named for the notorious bandit 
Tiburcio Vasquez who hid among the rocks.

VENICE - Abbot Kinney in 1904 built this community as part of his Ocean Park tract, 
envisioning it as an imitation of Venice, Italy.

VERDUGO CANYON - Named for Jose Maria Verdugo, one of the three former Spanish 
colonial soldiers who received local land grants from Spanish governor Pedro Fages in 1784.

VINCENT GULCH - Named by the U.S. Forest Service for pioneer miner Charles Vincent.

VICENTE POINT - Named by English explorer George Vancouver in 1793 for his friend 
Padre Vicente Santa Maria of the Mission San Buenaventura.

MT. WATERMAN - Named for Robert Waterman, a U.S. Forest Service ranger from 1904 
to 1908 in the old San Gabriel timberland reserve.

WATTS - Named for C.H. Watts, a Pasadena realtor and local landowner, circa 1900.

WILMINGTON - Named for Wilmington, Delaware, birthplace of Phineas Banning, 
local transportation pioneer and land owner.

MT. WILSON - Named for Benjamin D. "Don Benito" Wilson, who built a burro trail 
up the mountain in 1864. Wilson was also the first American mayor of Los Angeles 
under American rule and grandfather of General George S. Patton.

WINNETKA - Named by Charles Weeks for his local poultry business that was named 
after another that he owned in Winnetka, Illinois.

XIMENO - A Spanish name (also Jimeno). It is the only California community name 
that starts with "X." The name is possibly from Manuel Jimeno Caserin.