Titty Ho

Titty Ho
The street sign for the road Titty Ho takes its name from
Titty Ho Location within Northamptonshire
OS grid reference	SP992723
Civil parish	Raunds
Unitary authority	North Northamptonshire
Ceremonial county	Northamptonshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Wellingborough
Postcode district	NN9
Dialling code	01933
UK Parliament	Corby and East Northamptonshire
List of places UK England Northamptonshire 52°20′24″N0°32′41″W / 52.33994°N 0.54469°W / 52.33994; -0.54469

Titty Ho is a human settlement in the market town of Raunds in Northamptonshire. It gained internet notoriety in the late 2010s for its name.

It does not have defined borders, however it is generally considered to be the area in and directly around the street of the same name, in the south of the town.

Name

The name is famous for its inclusion of the word "titty", a vulgar slang term for breast.

The etymology of the area is relatively unknown; the book Rude Britain notes that "Titty" may refer to the bird or a family surname and that "Ho" may be an abbreviation of the word house, despite the word "Ho!" found in other English place names. ^[1]

It was earliest noticed for this when it appeared at the 33rd spot in the book Rude Britain, a book released in 2005 that highlights the "100 Rudest Place Names in Britain". The book additionally notes that the 'village' appeared in the Channel 4 show Time Team in 2003. ^[1]

In 2019, the road appeared in a list by LeaseVan.co.uk, which was picked up by a number of tabloids, including a number owned by Reach plc. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} It had previously featured in The Telegraph, The New York Times and BBC News. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

It also gained coverage a year and a half later in 2021 when a man from Oxfordshire made a charity trip around the UK as a fundraiser for the Institute of Cancer Research, which included Titty Ho. ^[9]

References

1. Bailey, Rob; Hurst, Ed (2005). Rude Britain: 100 rudest place names in Britain. Boxtree. p. 88. ISBN   0-7522-2581-2.
2. "Raunds road included in list of UK's silliest street names". Northamptonshire Telegraph . 6 December 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2025.
3. Shaw, Neil (5 December 2019). "35 funniest, rudest and silliest street names in the UK". Wales Online . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
4. Ikonen, Charlotte (7 December 2019). "Christmas Pie Avenue and Spanker Lane: 35 of the UK's silliest street names". The Argus . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
5. Warner, Matt (5 December 2025). "Wrexham's Cock Bank Lane and Butts Hill Court miss out on list of UK's silliest street names". the Leader . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
6. Smith, Sophie (30 September 2017). "'Dumb Womans Lane' and 'Titty Ho': The streets where it's four times harder for owners to sell their homes". The Telegraph . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
7. Lyall, Sarah (22 January 2009). "No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else". The New York Times . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
8. Warren, Tom (7 January 2009). "'Rude' English streets defended". BBC News . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
9. "UK's rude place names to be toured by man on moped". BBC News . 16 August 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2025.