Survey of English Place-Names

Historical Forms

• Chykedecumbe 1219 Fees

• Tydecumb' 1220 Fees

• Tidecumb' 1241 Ass

• Tidecumbe 1294 SR

• Tudecombe 1316 FA

• Tidecombe 1341 Pat 1375 Ipm

• Tidcombe 1346 Pat

• Tydecombe 1454 Fine

• Titecumbe c.1225 AddCh

• Tytecumbe 1279 Cl

• Tytecumb', Tytecombe, Tythecumbe 1284 Ass

• Tytecoumbe 1322 Pat

• Titcom, Titcom Comon 1599–1600 SpecCom

• Titcom, Titcom Row 1761 Rocque

Etymology

The second el. is cumb 'valley'. Titcomb is in the valley of a small tributary of the R. Kennet. The name is probably identical with Tidcombe W 356, about 8 miles S. The spellings for the W name start earlier, and it seems clear that the original form was Titecumb , and that alternation between Tite - and Tide - occurs in 13th- and 14th-cent. spellings. The first el. could be explained as a pers.n., but two occurrences with cumb suggest the possibility of a significant word. There is an obsolete Gl and O dial. word tite 'a fountain of water, a small rivulet or rill dammed across to collect water for family use'. This occurs in p.ns. in O (O 368, 372) with forms from mid-17th. If it is in fact a much older word it could be the first el. of Titcomb Berks and Tidcombe W. A small stream near the Berks place has a pool with a dam at one end. DEPN, on the other hand, suggests a bird-name, cf. ME  titemose , ModE  tit .

The form from 1219 Fees should probably be disregarded.