  prahran (pronounced "pruh-ran", also known colloquially as "pran") is a suburb of melbourne, victoria, australia, 5&nbsp;km south-east of melbourne's central business district. its local government area is the city of stonnington. at the 2011 census, prahran had a population of 11,191. prahran is a part of greater melbourne, with many shops, restaurants and cafes. the area of prahran, centred along commercial road is one of melbourne's gay villages. the shopping street chapel street is a mix of upscale fashion boutiques and cafes. greville street, once the centre of the melbourne's hippie community, has many cafÃ©s, bars, restaurants, bookstores, clothing shops and music shops. prahran takes its name from pur-ra-ran, a compound of two aboriginal words, meaning "land partially surrounded by water", in 1837 by george langhorne. the proximity of the yarra river and a swamp to the southwest (albert park lake is the remnant) explains that description. ==history== in 1837 george langhorne named the area pur-ra-ran, a compound of two aboriginal words, meaning "land partially surrounded by water". when he informed the surveyor-general robert hoddle of the name, it was written as "prahran".john butler cooper on-line - see chapter 1 
Gay_villages_in_Australia LGBT_culture_in_Melbourne Suburbs_of_Melbourne