Toluca Lake

English

Etymology

In 1893, a petition was filed with the U.S. Postal Service for the area’s first post office, to be named “Toluca Post Office”. General Charles Forman, a wealthy local landowner and one of the proponents of the petition, later stated that he had chosen the name “Toluca” from a Paiute word meaning “fertile” or “beautiful” valley. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Proper noun

Toluca Lake

1. A neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, United States.
   • 2013, “Higgs Boson Blues”, in Nick Cave (lyrics), Push the Sky Away, performed by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:

     The rainy days always make me sad / Miley Cyrus floats in a swimming pool in Toluca Lake / And you're the best girl I've ever had