# Do adult southerners in the US call their father "Daddy"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469 "2009-04-17T20:33:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/21 "2009-04-17T22:56:47Z")
I was born and raised in Tennessee. My youngest sibling is just past 30; my oldest is about to turn 50. Except for me, all of my father’s children call him “Daddy,” and they all called our mother “Mama” until she died. (I decided I didn’t like the way either sounded when I was maybe ten and so moved to “Dad” and “Mother.”) My step-daughter calls me “Daddy,” sometimes, but generally only when she’s pissed. She’s 21. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/22 "2009-04-17T23:09:14Z")
It’s very common in Texas, at least from Texarkana down to Houston. That’s what I called my father. I tried out a bunch of other names for him… “old man”, “pop”, “dad”… when I was a kid, but “daddy” worked best. It’s also what he called his father and how he would refer to himself when leaving messages. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/23 "2009-04-17T23:26:24Z")
I was born, grew up, and live in Florida. I always call my father “Daddy.” I called my FIL (RIP) Dad. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/24 "2009-04-17T23:33:14Z")
> [@sailor](#): > > When Americans talk to me and refer to their “dad” I feel they are giving me an intimacy which I do not want. They aren’t. It doesn’t have that connotation in English. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/25 "2009-04-17T23:38:20Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > C’mon, everyone? Certainly you must know a recent immigrant or non-native southerner. Please tell me this is hyperbole. I grew up in Alabama (22 years) and have lived in Georgia for the past 10 years. Most of the southern adult men and many of southern adult women I have know, especially those born after 1970, don’t use the term often or as a third person reference. Probably 90% of native Mississippians do. I have lived here for 47 of my 49 years and hear it all the time … I do and my husband does. I don’t see what’s so strange about it (obviously). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/26 "2009-04-18T00:15:44Z")
My 60 year old father calls my grandfather daddy, and I think both my thirtysomething cousins call their father daddy as well. I’ve never really thought much about it, though the idea of calling him dad daddy doesn’t feel right at all. We all live in Tennessee. All the mentions of it being common in Mississippi and Alabama makes me I think this might be more of a Deep South and/or Southern black thing. Thinking back, most of the people I’ve known to say it (including my family members, who are somehow a lot more Southern than me despite having similar upbringings) have definitely fit that mold. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/27 "2009-04-18T02:30:03Z")
I do admit, I know one lady who totally reminds me of Blanche from _The Golden Girls_ who calls her father “Big Daddy”. Now that is some creepy shit there. I mean, we’re Southern, but we’re not _Tennessee Williams_ Southern, if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/28 "2009-04-18T03:00:51Z")
:D:D:D **Zsofia** , That reminds me of an old Benny Hill skit. He was spoofing _Cat On a Hot Tin Roof_, and had one of those busty blondes on his lap. I forget what went before, but Benny was saying something like she was a “feisty li’l thang!” The blonde said, “I give tit for tat, Big Daddy!” Benny says, 'Well, in **that** case, **TAT**!"😃 Q ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/29 "2009-04-18T03:05:58Z")
I grew up calling my grandmother “Biggie”, but for many years I didn’t know that the name came from my mom’s shortening of “Big Momma”. It always made me laugh that there was a rapper named after my grandma (and a portion size at Wendy’s, but now apparently they call this “medium” :eek:) ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/30 "2009-04-18T03:19:04Z")
I’m from California and I call my parents Mama and Daddy. We’re about five generations removed from the South, though, so we’re probably just an anomaly. ---
**Author:** ![starwarsfreek42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@starwarsfreek42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starwarsfreek42)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/31 "2009-04-18T04:15:33Z")
Everybody I know calls their parents Mama and Daddy. Except me, I call my dad Mike. I know people who call their grandparents “Mee-maw” and “Pap-paw”. I swear, every time I hear a grown man say the word Mee-maw, I just want to kick him in the teeth. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/32 "2009-04-18T04:20:24Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I do admit, I know one lady who totally reminds me of Blanche from _The Golden Girls_ who calls her father “Big Daddy”. Now that is some creepy shit there. I mean, we’re Southern, but we’re not _Tennessee Williams_ Southern, if you know what I mean. Well, my great-grandmother (my mother’s mother’s mother) was “Big Momma” to everybody in the family until and after she died. Her husband, whom I never had a chance to meet, was called “Big Daddy”. My sister and I both call our father “Daddy” however it could be because he passed away when I was 15 and she was 13.. he just stayed “Daddy” to us. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/33 "2009-04-18T04:29:41Z")
I’m a 20-year-old Yankee and I call my dad Daddy. Sometimes Papa, but that’s when I’m being silly. Everyone in the family calls them Mama and Daddy, except for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. ---
**Author:** ![Floppy\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@Floppy\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floppy_Joe)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/34 "2009-04-18T06:59:27Z")
Born 'n raised in Southern California. HOWEVER, both of my parents and all of my relatives are from deep in the hills of Tennessee. Up until this time, I had never considered familial names might be regional, including Daddy. My father has been called father, Dad, Daddy, and Pop. I had never considered any of them to be diminutive or intimate in any way. All the terms were used interchangeably. OTOH, I knew my father’s parents as Grandmomma & Grandaddy, and my mother’s parents as Granma & Grandad. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/35 "2009-04-18T07:28:45Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > They aren’t. It doesn’t have that connotation in English. Well, maybe it doesn’t in American English but it does to me and I find it creepy. I do not like people referring to their family or friends by their pet names. I guess I was brought uo to be more formal. You can call your wife “my honey-bunny” when talking to her (although I find such things tacky) but _please_ do not use such nicknames when talking to me and referring to her. I prefer “my wife”. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/36 "2009-04-18T08:01:11Z")
Out of curiosity, **sailor** , where are you from? I’ve never heard of anyone considering “my dad” a pet name. In my mind (and I think most Americans, at least) “dad” is just a synonym for “father”. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/37 "2009-04-18T09:46:53Z")
> [@tim314](#): > > Out of curiosity, **sailor** , where are you from? I’ve never heard of anyone considering “my dad” a pet name. In my mind (and I think most Americans, at least) “dad” is just a synonym for “father”. Yes, I understand that, it’s just me. I also prefer “children” to “kids” when talking with someone who is not a close friend. The same thing happens in Spanish where in Spain we would use Padre, Madre to talk about our parents but in South America they would say Papá, Mamá, (Mommy, Daddy) which to me sounds like a childish thing even though I understand it is normal for them. I am not saying it’s wrong, just that it sounds weird to me because I grew up hearing more formal speech. It is abit comical for me to hear an American president talk about his “daddy” or a south American president about “mi papá”. Next thing I expect them to ask if I will read them a story at bed time. The pet goat or something. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/38 "2009-04-18T13:00:29Z")
I grew up in Illinois, my parents grew up in Kansas, some of my mother’s ancestors were from the south. Mama and Daddy for us. When referring to them to other people it’s “my mom” or “my dad.” For the past five years or so my eldest sister has been calling our mother “Mom” and it’s just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/39 "2009-04-18T16:42:28Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > C’mon, everyone? Certainly you must know a recent immigrant or non-native southerner. Please tell me this is hyperbole. I grew up in Alabama (22 years) and have lived in Georgia for the past 10 years. Most of the southern adult men and many of southern adult women I have know, especially those born after 1970, don’t use the term often or as a third person reference. Everyone I can think of who I’ve heard refer to their fathers has called them ‘daddy’. I can’t recall ever hearing Papa, and Dad was something teenagers on TV called their fathers. Pa or Pops was even rarer. My mama refers to her father, who died years ago, as her daddy, and I called him Grandaddy. Mee-maw for grandmother is also heard down in MS (along with the somewhat more popular Grandma) but I haven’t heard Paw-paw much except when it’s meant to be precious. ---
**Author:** ![JimOfAllTrades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@JimOfAllTrades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimOfAllTrades)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469/40 "2009-04-18T21:39:40Z")
When talking or writing about my father or mother to anyone outside the family, I use ‘dad’ or ‘father’ and ‘mom’ or ‘mother’. But in conversation between the siblings, we all do it pretty much the same way: it’s always ‘mom’ when talking about our mother, but when referring to our dad, it’s split between ‘daddy’, ‘the old man’, and ‘SJ’ (his initials, which is what almost everyone outside the family called him). So we do sometimes use ‘daddy’ in a family setting. Grandparents are always “grandma’ and ‘grandpa’ within the family, ‘grandmother’ and ‘grandfather’ to outsiders. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adult-southerners-in-the-us-call-their-father-daddy/493469.md?page=3)