The reaction to the story residents oppose a service road between Badham Street and Antill Street being named after Mrs Hanna Enders, a former resident and a driving force in the founding of the suburb's neighbourhood centre, has been general bemusement.

How bad could the mocking really be for Enders in a city with no shortage of established, and in some cases celebrated, unintentionally funny street names?

Think about the embarrassment or delight you'd have in listing your street address as Iron Knob in Fyshwick or Kaleen's Bogan Place. There's even some names we'll refrain from publishing, some with an especially strong dose of double entendre to appeal to the more juvenile of us. Think of Adcock Place in Banks, and Handcock Crescent in Macgregor.

But ridicule doesn't need to be smutty. Depending on where you stand on politics, you might find Rudd Street in Civic, Bishop Place in Melba, Bandt Place in Dunlop, Menzies Court in Banks and Beazley Crescent in Calwell a problem.

Current and former Palmer United Party politicians also make a coincidental appearance at Lambie Place in Florey, Lazarus Place in Wanniassa and Palmer Street in Garran.

Then there's the likes of Cataract Street in Kaleen and Lupus Place in Giralang to raise eyebrows on the front of an envelope.

Co-chair of the ACT government's place-naming committee, David Headon, said street names could spark different reactions from different people.

But he couldn't see why the name Enders would be ridiculed.

"Once one starts looking at street names, one person's odd choice is another person's joy," he said.

"Given Jane Goffman says [Enders] lends itself to ridicule, my first question would be, 'precisely how?'. I'm not sure, she might have an interpretation of a word I can't see in any dictionary."

The Dickson Residents Group proposed naming the street after Aboriginal tribal groups that travelled through the valley or to honour eminent architect Enrico Taglietti.

Dr Headon said a service road was probably not the most appropriate type of street for an Indigenous name.

"Hanna Enders, being placed here, seems to be appropriate in a way an Aboriginal name placed there may not be," he said.

Dr Headon said it was appropriate "to recognise a person who made such a valuable contribution" to the suburb.

"We're always responding to community members approaching the place naming committee to see a particular person recognised ... that was exactly what we did with Hanna Enders," he said.

Canberra street names:

Politicians

Bandt Place, Dunlop

Barr Place, Wanniassa

Beazley Crescent, Calwell

Bishop Place, Melba

Bligh Street, Barton

Gallagher Street, Kambah

Lambie Place, Florey

Lazarus Place, Wanniassa

Menzies Court, Banks

Palmer Street, Garran

Rudd Street, Canberra

Double entendre

Adcock Place, Banks

Cumming Place, Wanniassa

Handcock Crescent, Macgregor

Iron Knob Street, Fyshwick

Kumm Place, Cook

Laycock Place, Holt

Woodcock Drive, Gordon

Woolcock Street, Watson

Descriptive:

Allsop Street, Canberra

Amess Place, Belconnen

Bent Street, Turner

Bingle Street, Flynn

Bogan Place, Kaleen

Bougainville Street, Griffith

Dive Lane, Canberra

Flack Street, Holt

Grose Street, Deakin

Humble Court, Kambah

Leakey Place, Richardson

Mull Place, Macquarie

Old Street, Dunlop

Punch Place, Monash

Ranken Loop, Belconnen

Ranken Place, Belconnen

Sly Place, Charnwood

Other

Bible Lane, Canberra

Blackbutt Street, Lyneham

De Mole Street, Dunlop

Hacking Crescent, Narrabundah

James Kirk Street, Gungahlin

Leach Street, Monash