How did Hollywood get its name?

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Daeida Wilcox gave Hollywood its name. She was the wife of Harvey Wilcox, who owned the area and in 1887 submitted a subdivision map to the Los Angeles county recorder’s office that used the name. A devout Christian, Daeida reportedly overheard the word Hollywood on a train and thought that it was a perfect name for the Wilcoxes’ envisioned utopia.