mum and dad

[tracymort]

why do we call our parents these names? Why do we call them any name other than their christian names? Just wondered as my 4 year old has decided that this weekend he is calling us by our names!

[Quizmonster]

The words have been in use since at least the 15th century. Some believe that 'mam/mammy/mum/mummy' etc may have come from a Welsh or Old Celtic word 'mamma', but the OED is of the opinion that it is simply a sound that is created instinctively by young children. Much the same words exist in languages worldwide, which would seem to support that belief.

[j2buttonsw]

What about Mater and Pater (Ma and Pa)? That's Latin is it not?

[JAW67]

I'd like to know if anywhere other than Birmingham, spells it 'mom' and not 'mum'?

[woofgang]

Einstein there are problems with saying forename as some people's given name is their second name. Locally current usage is "given name" and "family name"

[LeMarchand]

JAW67: most of the USA spells it "mom" : ).

[Toglet]

Woofgang, surely one's "family name" is their surname? Personally I hate it when anybody calls people by their Christian/first/fore/given name when they haven't been given permission to do so. It's disrespectful.

[JAW67]

LeMarchand, sorry, I meant to say anywhere else in the UK! Thanks.

[OnlyMe]

No Toglet, woofgang is right, as, for example, in many cases what appears to be a Muslim person's surname is actully the equivalent of a Christian's first name. Even so, forename will annoy fewer people than Christian name!

[OnlyMe]

To illustrate, Saddam Hussein is often referred to simply as Saddam, but this is the same as calling Tony Blair, Blair, not Tony.

[Toglet]

I stand corrected, OnlyMe. I thought that a "family name" was the name shared by the whole family.

[Quizmonster]

Dear Onlyme, Arabic names consist of four parts. The first is what we would call the 'Christian' name, the second is the person's father's first name and the third is the person's grandfather's first name. The fourth is the family/tribe name and usually preceded by 'al' meaning 'the'. Hence, Abdullah Rashid Muhammad al Busaidi means that, if the guy's a friend, you call him Abdullah. People who know him well will be aware that his father's name is/was Rashid and that his grandfather's name is/was Muhammad. All three of them come from the 'family' named 'the Busaidi folks'. Another possibility for the fourth element is that it refers to a place. Saddam Hussein's surname - for want of a better word - is al Tikriti, which means from the region of Tikrit, a place in Iraq. Calling him 'Saddam' is precisely the same as calling Mr Blair 'Tony'...not 'Blair', I'm afraid. Cheers

[answerbok]

agree with QM in that it's onomatop�ic babytalk.

[darth vader]

It has been adopted as the name used by babies to call their mother or father, as they are very easy to pronounce, whilst the baby goes through the "learning to talk" phase - mum is usually spoken long before dad as it's easier of the two (being a derivative from simple humming which is the first form of communication - well 2nd form after crying!))