Why is Soho in Manhattan called Soho?

Brainyblonde

The Soho name is deliberately imitated by Soho, Hong Kong, one of the main tourist areas on Hong Kong Island. SoHo, New York is named because the area is South of Houston Street in lower Manhattan. Beijing Soho (JianWai SoHo) stands for Small Office (Home Office). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soho Aug 01 06, 3:10 PM

starNumberA399

by the way for all of you non-new yorkers it is pronounced "How-ston" not "Hue-ston". Aug 01 06, 3:23 PM

Baloo55th

The original Soho, in London, is named after a hunting cry used at the time according to http://www.krysstal.com/londname.html#s, but others attribute it to a nickname of the Duke of Monmouth (from the cry, after all, but thus indirectly) who built in the area. It was as an imitation of this Soho that SoHo (note different capitalisation) was created. Aug 01 06, 3:26 PM

zbeckabee

The name is a play on that of the famous London shopping district, justifying its name as being the area 'South of Houston (pronounced HOUSE-tin) Street. It was the first such mildly amusing naming acronym that has been followed by other new neighborhood descriptions such as TriBeCa and DUMBO. Before its incarnation as a trendy locale, it was known as the Cast Iron District. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoHo By the way...it is SoHo. Aug 01 06, 3:50 PM

producer_00

There is also a section called NOHO because it is located North of Houston. It is not as known. Aug 01 06, 4:17 PM

What-A-Mess

SOHO = south of Houston St.(house ton) NOHO = north of Houston St. http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=Houston+street&city=manhattan&state=ny&zipcode= Aug 01 06, 4:32 PM

BungeeAZ

SOuth of HOuston (Street). Houston is pronounced How-ston, not like the town in Texas. Aug 01 06, 5:07 PM

CaroSun

SOuth of HOuston, that's it, no other explanation...there is a street named Houston in NYC and the neighbourhood is south of this street Aug 01 06, 7:44 PM