What do Gandalf, Vrabel, Apollo and Tomahawk have in common? All four are street names found within Murfreesboro and nearby unincorporated Rutherford County, where developers use themes ranging from fantasy and football to mythology and history while local officials review proposed names to prevent confusion.

The stories behind the names generally begin with the developers.

At Thompson Downs, currently located just outside Murfreesboro’s city limits off of Woodbury Pike, the football-inspired street names grew out of the development team’s enthusiasm for the Tennessee Titans.

“When we began developing Thompson Downs, the Titans had just lost the AFC Championship, and everyone had ‘Titans fever,’” said Jeff Letzler of John Jones Real Estate. Letzler said W.R. Thompson and the John Jones Real Estate team are football fans and intentionally named the streets after prominent Tennessee Titans figures. Vrabel Road honors former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, Adoree Drive honors former Titans cornerback Adoree′ Jackson and Tannehill Drive gets its name from former Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

The theme will continue in an upcoming phase with a street named Lewan, after former offensive tackle Taylor Lewan. Letzler said sports fans tend to enjoy the references, while homebuyers who do not follow football commonly ask how to pronounce the names. He noted that naming streets after professional athletes and coaches carries a challenge: trades, releases and firings can quickly date the theme.

“As of today, none of the individuals these streets were named after are still with the Titans,” Letzler said.

Fantasy fans can find another collection of recognizable names in Blackman Station, where Gandalf Lane, Aragorn Way and Frodo Way reference characters from Tolkien’s work, while Lannister Avenue borrows from Game of Thrones.

Matthew Blomeley, Murfreesboro’s assistant planning director, said the Blackman Station names were approved around 2018 or 2019 and submitted by Huddleston-Steele Engineering on behalf of Lennar Homes; city planners can identify who submitted the names, but they generally do not discuss the inspiration behind a developer’s theme.

King’s Landing Villas along West Thompson Lane includes Game of Thrones-inspired names such as Winterfell, Red Keep and Westeros. Regency Park, an older Murfreesboro neighborhood, uses a medieval European theme with Majesty Drive, Damsel Court, Monarch Drive and Regal Drive.

Other themed neighborhoods draw from sports and history. Westwind includes streets named for baseball players, including Marichal Drive, Stargell Drive and Drysdale Drive. Liberty Station and Liberty Valley feature names associated with American historical figures, including MacArthur Avenue, General Eisenhower Drive, Reagan Drive and Davy Crockett Drive.

Blomeley said he interprets Puckett Station Townhomes as following a horse-racing theme, with names such as Giacomo Drive, Sunday Silence Way and Empire Maker Way. He also identified a Native American theme in Northridge Park, which includes Eyak Lane, Lummi Lane and Biloxi Court.

Within Murfreesboro, developers submit proposed names to the Rutherford County Emergency Communications District while designing their plans. The district checks each proposal against a database of existing and reserved street names, according to Blomeley.

If a name duplicates or sounds too similar to an existing name, RCECD recommends denying it. Developers then submit documentation of the district’s recommendations with their plans to the city.

The Murfreesboro Planning Department performs a second review to identify any potential problems RCECD may have missed. Planning staff then recommend the names to the Murfreesboro Planning Commission, which has final approval authority.

City staff also review whether a street’s suffix fits its design. For example, Blomeley said the department could recommend changing “court” if a proposed road is long and connects with several other streets.

A similar initial process applies in unincorporated Rutherford County. Developers submit proposed names to RCECD, which checks for duplicates and similar-sounding names before providing recommendations. County planning staff then compare the names shown on subdivision plans with those recommendations, according to Rutherford County Public Information Officer Lisa Kaye.

While some developers intentionally create neighborhood themes, others select names associated with people they know or features of nearby nature. Either way, as the city grows, and with fewer and fewer options available, developers have to dig deeper to come up with unused local street names.