Streets and Road Naming

The Addressing Division is also responsible for the management of the Master Road Name Database for all of Orange County. This requires coordination between Municipalities, Emergency Services, and developers for standardized road naming.

Road Naming Process

Within Orange County Addressing Jurisdiction: (to reserve a road name in Municipal areas see contacts above)

New Roads and Road Name Changes  – Please review road naming guidelines carefully before submitting a Road Name Reservation Request. Your street name is not considered reserved until you receive a confirmation receipt. 

Road Name Request Form (PDF) 

Requirements:

• Street must be within Orange County Address Jurisdiction. No new public or private road shall be named without approval of the GIS/Addressing/Land Records staff.
• Road names for new developments may be reserved upon written request for up to one year.  If the requirements to finalize the road name are not satisfied within one year from the date of approval, upon written request an extension of one year may be granted.  If such extension is not received, the road name may no longer be reserved.
• Your street name is NOT reserved until you receive approval and confirmation receipt. 
• Naming requires a petition of 75% of the property owners on the street (One vote per owner even if several properties are owned and addressed) The petition will be sent to you after the requested names have been reviewed.
• New subdivision roads, whether public or private, shall be named prior to the approval of any proposed subdivision or plat.   
• In instances where road naming is required by ordinance, if road name choices are not received after 30 days, the Orange County Address Administrator will designate a street name.

Road names shall adhere to the 2011 Road Naming and Addressing Ordinance: 

• The name of any new road, whether it is public or private, shall not duplicate or be phonetically similar to any other road already within Orange County.  This shall not apply to the extension of existing roads, which should whenever possible be given the same name.   
• Street names are considered duplicates regardless of the street type (Trail, Road, Street, Lane etc) 
  • PARKVIEW LANE
  • PARKVIEW TRAIL (duplicate)  
  • PARK VUE LANE (phonetic duplicate)  
  • PARK VIEW LANE (duplicate despite number of words)
• Please use the Orange County Address Inquiry website to check existing road names:  http://www.orangecountync.gov/849/Orange-Address-Database-Search  
• Road names must use common spelling found in a standard dictionary. 
• North, South, East and West are intended to be directional features of the address system and will be used only when necessary, such as for distinguishing regions of a continuous road traversing several municipalities.  A directional word should not be contained within the name of a new road and shall be placed ahead of the road name.  A street or road may have no more than one directional prefix.    
• All road names shall contain a road name suffix designation.   Suffix designations of roads include, but are not limited to, the following terms:  avenue, boulevard, court, circle, lane, parkway, place, road, street, trail or way.   
• Only letters of the alphabet and blank spaces should be included in a road name.  Road names that are numbers (i.e. First Street) must be expressed using  alphabetical characters and not numbers.  

Road names should not contain the following: 

• Symbols or punctuation; 
• Abbreviations of the main title of the street or road name; 
• Initials; 
• A single alphabetical character; 
• Words that begin with “old” or “new;” 
• Offensive words or language in accordance with G.S. 147-54.7; or 
• More than 20 letters including spaces.

Forms can be submitted by mail, person, or email: 

Mail to: Orange County Tax Office, PO Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278

In person at:  228 South Churton Street, Suite 200,  Hillsborough, NC 27278-818

Email:   addressing@orangecountync.gov 

Your street name is NOT reserved until you receive approval and confirmation.

Missing or damaged Road Signs

• Orange County provides road sign maintenance for all state-maintained intersections outside of any city limits. Orange County does not maintain private street signs. For more information and to report visit: https://www.orangecountync.gov/901/Street-Signs