I first started noticing this about 10 years ago. People started saying things like “Thank you, Mama” when I did something nice for them. Or “How are you, Mama?” as a greeting.
Now that I’m a store cashier, I hear it quite a bit. After the transaction is complete, the customer says “Thank you, Mama.” It is always said very respectfully, and even though I’m nobody’s “Mama,” I’ve grown to like it.
I just got to wondering about it. Is this widespread, or is it only in the Eastern area?
Its prevalent in some Spanish as well as the use of Papa. Salvadorians use it Mexicans tend not to.
never heard of such of thing (currently living in northwestern region of the USA)
In the South, “Mam” is a term of respect for a female of any age.
“Mama” I never heard of here.
I’ve never heard it used for a stranger, or a mere aquaintance.
In my Mom’s hometown (Southern Georgia) it’s customary for children to have “Aunties” and “Mamas”. The titles are always followed by a name though. Auntie Susan will fix you lunch if you appear at her doorway on a Saturday afternoon, and maybe even be a source of advice regarding that boy in your life. But if you need a ride to the clinic, that’s a job for Mama Kate.
Aunties have influence in your life, Mamas have authority and executive privilege. It’s all driven by the friendship they have with your own mama and daddy, who have known them all their lives. There’s a lot wrong with that little town, but in someways I wish I’d grown up there.
I’ve heard it a few times. Seems to be a Spanish thing as mentioned above.
Yes strictly Spanish in my experience. Specifically it seems to be a Puerto Rican thing judging by the accents. And not just reserved for older women. I’ve heard younger women call their friends with children that too.
My Jamaican-born landlady was called Mama Lena by everybody except his daughters (who called her Mom, of course). I’m reasonably sure Jamaica isn’t Spanish-speaking, but maybe she was lyin’ to me all two years I lived in 'er 'ouse.
I have not. What I do notice is the use of “Miss [First Name]” when addressing an older person. I find this charming; I hope the day never comes when people find it offensive.
I’ve never heard it. I can’t imagine myself ever doing it. The only time I use Mama is when I’m talking to animals - usually horses (mares), but also when I would chat to the feral cats in the neighbourhood - one had been christened Big Mama and she often slept on my front porch.
As with other respondents, only in a vaguely Spanish/Jamaican/Caribbean context. Not in the continental U.S.
Is it the diminutive, “Mamacita”?
Except for Mama Cass, I’ve never heard a native English speaking person called Mama.
I wouldn’t think so because men are called papa.
Alas, there are already people who find it offensive. I agree it’s charming. I never heard it until I moved to New Jersey. I was all of 27 when a kid referred to me that way.
I’ve heard mama in Latin American cultures, though the most common thing I’ve heard is “mami” to refer to female peers (sometimes in a dating context, or sometimes from one woman to another.)
Yup. I’ve had it said to me many times here in FL, (even before I became and “older woman” 
)
50 is the new 30 
Having a nickname with the word mama in it is different than using the word as a genetic title for any woman who may have children.
I oft listen to Blue Collar Comedy on SiriusXM, and a guy that gets not-infrequent play is Jerry Clower, who was a comedian/motivational speaker in his day (he died in 1998 at an old age). In his bits about his wife, he always referred to her as “Mama.” Not “my wife” or “Mrs. Clower” or “Homerline” (seriously, that was her name), but “Mama.” As in, “I hired a woman to help Mama with the housekeeping when I’m away on tour, and…”
Having been born and raised in the North (Illinois), I was not familiar with this convention. I personally would never dream of addressing a woman that way. “Ma’am,” yes, but not “Mama.”
Not this part of the east. I have heard a few Hispanic folks use Mami, which does not sound all that much like Mama, but that’s about it.