Pa and ma were used by southerners in America during colonial times.
Paul:
July 25th, 2014 at 10:55 am
There is, to my knowledge, very considerable diversity in the words used for parents (and grandparents) within the UK. Some of that diversity is class related, some regionally based but much, I suspect is simply variation passed down through family lines. One of the things that gets negotiated in the course of a marriage is which words to use (as do, for instance, which particular bits of the respective partners’ Christmas traditions to adopt). As a detailed observation though I have never heard a British person say “mom”; in the UK is it “mum” (or “mummy” if you are young or posh). BTW the correct etiquette in speaking to the Queen is to call her “Ma’am”….pronounced (roughly) “mum”.
Emily:
October 16th, 2015 at 7:38 pm
Ma is still used here in Boston regularly, the closer you are in Boston the more you will hear it. It’s because of the vast Italians that lived here and soon it just spread.
Fathers we call dad or pop, but it’s always “ma” in a Boston household.
David:
April 16th, 2017 at 10:55 pm
I call my parents Mother and Father
Jake:
February 2nd, 2018 at 7:46 pm
You may find this google books ngram graph interesting.
It shows that Ma, Pa and Papa was the most common usage for
the 18th and 19th century.
My father was the son of Irish immigrants. Raised just outside of Pittsburgh. He called his parents Mother & Father. I can only imagine he started out with Mama & Daduh! My mother was born in Corpus Christi TX from parents who met in Oklahoma before it was a state. My Granny was half Cheyenne Indian & half James – cousin of Frank & Jesse. Her mother died in childbirth & I never heard what she called her. Her father married a lovely woman who saw to it that she & brother were brought up in a genteel way. I only heard that she was taught to say Mother & Father.
I ended up in Atlanta when I was 18 months old. Said Mommy & Daddy till I was a teen, then it was Mom & Dad.
I called Mom’s Mom Granny. (Her Dad died when she was 14.) My Irish grandparents were Gramma & Dad. He died while I was a little kid. So Granny & Gramma worked just fine.
My Mom didn’t want to be called Granny. So all my kids called her Nana. My step-father was called Dad, too. When I had a grandchild I was called Nana & my husband was Papa. I even called him Papa when talking with kids. The oldest one knew my mother well & when asked what to call my Mom – I jokingly suggested ShaNana.
It stuck! I don’t think she liked it but the other Grandmother wanted to be called Meemaw! Yuck. She had a German background. Who knows – but I have always thought it strange that going back 120 years that we all settled on Mom & Dad. My oldest daughter doesn’t seem to call me anything. But my son calls me Mommy when he calls me. My youngest is a daughter who settled on Mom.
I think however we started language we called them by names we could pronounce. However, we all love each other.
Leave a comment
Search us!
Search The Word Detective and our family of websites:
This is the easiest way to find a column on a particular word or phrase.
To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks. (note: JavaScript must be turned on in your browser to view results.)
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Ros Williams:
May 6th, 2014 at 6:25 pm
Pa and ma were used by southerners in America during colonial times.
Paul:
July 25th, 2014 at 10:55 am
There is, to my knowledge, very considerable diversity in the words used for parents (and grandparents) within the UK. Some of that diversity is class related, some regionally based but much, I suspect is simply variation passed down through family lines. One of the things that gets negotiated in the course of a marriage is which words to use (as do, for instance, which particular bits of the respective partners’ Christmas traditions to adopt). As a detailed observation though I have never heard a British person say “mom”; in the UK is it “mum” (or “mummy” if you are young or posh). BTW the correct etiquette in speaking to the Queen is to call her “Ma’am”….pronounced (roughly) “mum”.
Emily:
October 16th, 2015 at 7:38 pm
Ma is still used here in Boston regularly, the closer you are in Boston the more you will hear it. It’s because of the vast Italians that lived here and soon it just spread.
Fathers we call dad or pop, but it’s always “ma” in a Boston household.
David:
April 16th, 2017 at 10:55 pm
I call my parents Mother and Father
Jake:
February 2nd, 2018 at 7:46 pm
You may find this google books ngram graph interesting.
It shows that Ma, Pa and Papa was the most common usage for
the 18th and 19th century.
The quite long link is below:
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Mommy%2CMama%2CMom%2CDaddy%2CDada%2CDad%2CPapa%2CPappy%2CMater%2CPater%2CMa%2CPa&case_insensitive=on&year_start=1700&year_end=2100
Melissa Perry:
December 17th, 2020 at 12:34 am
My father was the son of Irish immigrants. Raised just outside of Pittsburgh. He called his parents Mother & Father. I can only imagine he started out with Mama & Daduh! My mother was born in Corpus Christi TX from parents who met in Oklahoma before it was a state. My Granny was half Cheyenne Indian & half James – cousin of Frank & Jesse. Her mother died in childbirth & I never heard what she called her. Her father married a lovely woman who saw to it that she & brother were brought up in a genteel way. I only heard that she was taught to say Mother & Father.
I ended up in Atlanta when I was 18 months old. Said Mommy & Daddy till I was a teen, then it was Mom & Dad.
I called Mom’s Mom Granny. (Her Dad died when she was 14.) My Irish grandparents were Gramma & Dad. He died while I was a little kid. So Granny & Gramma worked just fine.
My Mom didn’t want to be called Granny. So all my kids called her Nana. My step-father was called Dad, too. When I had a grandchild I was called Nana & my husband was Papa. I even called him Papa when talking with kids. The oldest one knew my mother well & when asked what to call my Mom – I jokingly suggested ShaNana.
It stuck! I don’t think she liked it but the other Grandmother wanted to be called Meemaw! Yuck. She had a German background. Who knows – but I have always thought it strange that going back 120 years that we all settled on Mom & Dad. My oldest daughter doesn’t seem to call me anything. But my son calls me Mommy when he calls me. My youngest is a daughter who settled on Mom.
I think however we started language we called them by names we could pronounce. However, we all love each other.