# What should my daughter call my cousin?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-my-daughter-call-my-cousin/370209>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 25, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-my-daughter-call-my-cousin/370209 "2006-08-25T15:35:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-my-daughter-call-my-cousin/370209/41 "2006-08-29T14:15:49Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Chronos]  
Anyone other than an aunt, uncle, or ancestor is addressed by just first name, even if you hardly ever see them, because after all, they’re still family.  
[/QUOTE]

This illustrates a big cultural difference. In Indian culture, only strangers or outsiders are addressed by their actual names. People who are close to you, whether related by blood or not, are addressed by a relationship term (if they are elder) or a nickname (if they are younger). (Traditionally, nicknames are entirely unrelated to actual given names, not short forms.)

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-my-daughter-call-my-cousin/370209.md?page=2)