With street names such as Ropermakers Lane, Charleston's weaving wonders have a common thread in the talents of fingers nimble with shuttle and thimble. The origins of our curious collection of coastal cognomens come from a diversity of backgrounds and cultures, and often offer and energetic exercise in elocution. The diversity of backgrounds in Charleston and surrounding coastal South Carolina since its colonial beginnings has produced some very unusual names that often are as confusing as they are amusing