There are 14 Canberra suburbs named after former prime ministers, but what about all the others?

Same goes for Arthur Fadden - famously lasting 40 days and 40 nights in office - and Earle Page, who was just 20 days in the top job.

But they, along with 14 other former prime ministers, have the honour of special signage in the Canberra suburbs named after them.

Hardly any of the 110-odd other suburbs have any similar kudos, despite the many fascinating stories that go with the name.

And three former ACT chief ministers think it's time this changed.

Kate Carnell, Gary Humphries and Jon Stanhope all agree that there's no reason why all of Canberra's suburbs shouldn't have a sign explaining where their name comes from.

The three former leaders met on Monday morning at a busy roundabout at the intersection of Fadden, Gilmore, Chisholm and Macarthur - only one of which gets the special sign.

And their political differences well and truly took the backseat as all three wondered why, during their respective times in office, they had never considered the inequity of special signage only for prime ministers.

The meeting was instigated by Canberra lawyer Andrew Fraser, a former chief of staff at The Canberra Times and son of Jim Fraser, the lone parliamentary representative for the ACT from 1951 to 1970.

Mr Fraser senior, who died in 1970, was honoured with a suburb, but hardly anyone would know this, thanks to the unfortunate coincidence of a subsequent prime minister with the same surname.

But the naming of Fraser long preceded the death of Malcolm Fraser, and regardless, there is no signage to set the record straight.

"The names of suburbs in Canberra are important, and they have been put in place for reasons," Ms Carnell said.

"So what is just unacceptable, really, is it's only the prime ministers who have got plaques up to explain why a particular suburb was named the way it was. The others, no one would know."

Mr Humphries said it was important for people to understand why suburbs and streets have the names they do.

"I'm a great believer in history guiding us into the future," he said.

"We study what's happened in the past, to tell us how we should behave and what we should expect in the future. So knowing about our history, knowing about the people that both built our city and built our country is really important."

Mr Stanhope pointed out that it was reasonable to create special signs for suburbs named for prime ministers, but why stop there?

"It seems to me like a clear oversight, and I think Gary, and Kate and I would acknowledge that we're probably sorry we didn't think of it," he said. "Now that it's been raised, I can't think of a single reason or argument against proceeding and appropriately signposting every suburb in Canberra."

An ACT government spokesman said while it was easy to find out about ACT suburb names online, the proposal to install signs in every suburbs was "worth considering".