Abbreviated Street Names Now Available in the API
Abbreviated street names are now available in the API. Retrieve street names even when they need to be shortened.
Long street names cause problems in some systems. Field lengths in ERP systems, labels on packages, address lines on invoices — they all have limits. That is why we are introducing the new streetShort field: an automatically abbreviated version of the street name.
What Is Street Name Shortening and Why Is It Useful?
Some Dutch street names are remarkably long. The Eerste Jan van der Heijdenstraat in Amsterdam contains 32 characters. Systems with a field limit of 24 characters run into issues with this.
With the new streetShort field, the API automatically returns an abbreviated version:
Eerste Jan van der Heijdenstraat→1e J. v.d. Heijdenstraat
How Does It Work Technically?
Activate the new field by sending the parameter shortening=1 with your API call:
GET /lookup/v1/address/nl?postalcode=1234AB&number=10&shortening=1
The response then contains an extra streetShort field alongside the existing street field. Existing fields are not modified.
How Are Street Names Abbreviated?
The abbreviation logic follows fixed rules:
| Type | Example | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinal numbers | Eerste, Tweede | 1e, 2e |
| Titles | Professor, Dokter | Prof., Dr. |
| Prepositions | Van de, Van den | v.d., v.d. |
| Initials | Jan Willem | J.W. |
The abbreviation is consistent and predictable — no arbitrary truncation.
Fully Optional and 100% Backward Compatible
Existing integrations work without modification. The streetShort field only appears in the response when you include shortening=1. You can ignore the field or use it alongside street.
Coming Soon to Our Plugins
Support for streetShort will be added to the WooCommerce, Magento 2, and Contact Form 7 plugins shortly. Updates will follow automatically.
Summary
- New field:
streetShortwith an automatically abbreviated street name - Activate via the
shortening=1parameter - Backward compatible — no changes needed to existing code
- Consistent abbreviation algorithm based on language rules