# Do you call your parents by their names? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066 "2003-03-29T20:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/1 "2003-03-29T20:26:27Z")
I have always called my parents by their first names. Never mom/dad or any variation thereof. (It took me a long time to get used to referring to my mother as “my mother”, rather than by name, when talking to people who don’t know her. It still feels weird.) Both my brothers do likewise, while our sister take the more traditional approach. **Tamerlane** ’s post [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=3193860#post3193860) is the first time I have heard of anyone else with this quirk. So I’m wondering how common it is. Anyone else willing to own up to doing it? And if you do, do you know why? The reasons for my own deviancy from the norm on this issue are not known to me (my sister might know, I’ll have to ask her sometime). ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/2 "2003-03-29T20:43:21Z")
My mom’s first name is “Mom,” and my dad’s first name is “Dad.” That’s what they always told me, anyway…😕 ---
**Author:** ![Shana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Shana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shana)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/3 "2003-03-29T20:46:58Z")
Mom has always been mom - likewise with Dad…but sometimes jokingly I will refer to them by their names. Never to their faces though. However, my cousins were not raised this way and call their parents by their first names. It always sounded odd to me. Guess it just depends on what you’re used to. ---
**Author:** ![Shadez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Shadez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shadez)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/4 "2003-03-29T20:50:54Z")
I always call my parents mom and dad; however, there have been times when that isn’t possible. Such as, calling Mom at work (it’s all females, and they’re **all** mothers ;p). And sometimes if I say Mom a few times and she doesn’t hear me, I say her first name, even though I hate how weird it sounds. But it does get her attention quick 🙂 shouting Mom! at Wal-mart…ha…see how many heads turn. /Shadez ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/5 "2003-03-29T21:00:12Z")
Mom and Dad are…Momma and Daddy, even now at 32 years-old. I am in ‘the South’, you know. I do use ‘mother’ when she is being especially trying and ‘father’ when he’s being especially boorish. Mac and Debbie when we are out in public. FB ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/6 "2003-03-29T21:21:30Z")
My paternal grandmother has always preferred to be called by her name–as did her mother. I think her kids started calling her by her name once they were grown, and we grandchildren always have. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/7 "2003-03-29T21:26:25Z")
I called my stepmom “Mimi,” which was not her given name, but a family name. ---
**Author:** ![Lockz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Lockz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/8 "2003-03-29T21:52:06Z")
I’ve had occasion to work in the same company as my mom twice, and I started to refer to her by her name, since referring to her as “my mom” sounded kinda unprofessional. Same with my dad, now that we’ll be working with the same people. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/9 "2003-03-29T22:12:30Z")
Mom and Dad. Sometimes Pop. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/10 "2003-03-29T22:40:45Z")
Mom and Dad. Occasionally I’ll call my Mom ‘Grandma’ though only when I’m around my nieces who are now 4 and 2. That’s the way it’s been done in my family. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/11 "2003-03-29T22:50:09Z")
My own parents are firmly Mom and Daddy. Mr. Del and his sibs call their parents, and their grandparents, by their first names. It took me FOREVER to get used to this – for quite a while I didn’t call them _anything_, I had to wait for eye contact before I started speaking. But I’m better now. Oh, but I do call his grandmother “Grandma” and the whole family thinks this is the cutest thing, as if I _invented_ it or something. ---
**Author:** ![MegTheMermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@MegTheMermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegTheMermaid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/12 "2003-03-29T22:57:38Z")
I don’t call my parents by their \real\ names. I think my mom would be offended if I called her by her first name. It’s like this rite of passage that if you carry this baby that makes you vomit in the morning, feet swell & gain 70 lb, you must call them that. ---
**Author:** ![MegTheMermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@MegTheMermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegTheMermaid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/13 "2003-03-29T22:58:39Z")
Ah, I’m such a loser. I can’t use HTML, or it isn’t enabled. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/14 "2003-03-29T23:01:26Z")
My mom is Mother, and my dad is Daddy. (Yes, it’s a Southern thing.) I have a good friend who calls his dad by his first name, but not his mom. So his parents are Mama and Bob. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/15 "2003-03-29T23:11:18Z")
Mum and Dad. Sometimes I will call my Mum “Mumpy” which everyone seems to think is funny, but I don’t care :). Dad is always Dad. ---
**Author:** ![ForbiddenFruitsalad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@ForbiddenFruitsalad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForbiddenFruitsalad)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/16 "2003-03-29T23:18:39Z")
You are not alone, **Sofis**. I’ve always called my parents by their first names. When I have reason to talk about them with other people I’ll usually say “my mother” or “my father” (and yes, that does feel somewhat weird). Not being very close to my parents could be one explanation for this, I suppose, but mostly I think it’s because my mother and father used their first names when talking to each other. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/17 "2003-03-29T23:22:54Z")
Mom has always been mom. I would only use her first name when I had to ask for her at her workplace and it took me a while to get used to that. My dad I didn’t ever address directly. However, his mother I never called grandmother but always used her first name. Her next door neighbor-friend used to hit me in the arm (not hard) and tell me to be more respectful and address her as grandmother but I never did. After I was grown I did wonder why I ever called grandmother by her first name and my mother said it was because grandmother didn’t like to be called that, she preferred her given name. Plus, on my side, it made it easier to keep track of **which** grandmother was being referred to. Meg, HTML isn’t enabled but vB code is. See the bottom of the page, lower left corner. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/18 "2003-03-29T23:48:02Z")
I have never met anyone, in either Sweden or my native UK, who called their parents by their first names. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/19 "2003-03-30T02:43:05Z")
I call my parents by variations of mom/dad. With dad, I also call him nicknames related to his belly. 😉 I only call them by name when I call them to work or something like that. My (half) siblings, on the other hand, call their mom with variations of “mom”, but they call our dad by his first name. Lately, and in great part thanks to my influence, they’ve started calling him dad (or variations). They’ve always insisted that I call him dad, I can never call dad by his first name in front of my siblings. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066/20 "2003-03-30T02:50:09Z")
I’ve also not ever met anyone personally that has called their parents by their first names. As long as the parents concerned aren’t offended, what the heck. In my house, however, if I referred to my folks by their first names, I’d likely be bouncing off the nearest wall! 😃 My stepson does call me by my given name. His mom died when he was only 12 and it was kinda creepy for him to call me “mom”. It was just natural for him to call me by my real name. His dad, however, is just Dad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-call-your-parents-by-their-names/165066.md?page=2)