Spanish Family Relationship Names Explained (English to Spanish Guide)

If you're building out a family tree that touches Spain, Mexico, or anywhere across Latin America, you'll quickly run into a vocabulary that's richer than English kinship terms in some places and looser in others. Spanish family relationship names carry gender, affection, and sometimes region baked right into the word itself, so a single English label like "grandmother" can map to several different Spanish words depending on who's speaking and where they're from. This guide walks through the everyday Spanish words for family members, the quirks that trip up learners and researchers alike, and a few regional variations worth knowing before you start labeling branches on your own family tree.

Immediate Family

• Father - padre (informal: papá)
• Mother - madre (informal: mamá)
• Son - hijo
• Daughter - hija
• Brother - hermano
• Sister - hermana
• Husband - esposo / marido
• Wife - esposa / mujer

One habit worth knowing early: when Spanish groups a mixed set of sons and daughters, it defaults to the masculine plural, "hijos." That single word covering "children" regardless of gender shows up constantly in old civil and church records, so don't assume a document listing someone's "hijos" is only counting sons.

Grandparents and Grandchildren

• Grandfather - abuelo
• Grandmother - abuela
• Grandson - nieto
• Granddaughter - nieta
• Great-grandparent - bisabuelo / bisabuela
• Great-great-grandparent - tatarabuelo / tatarabuela

Affectionate versions show up constantly in everyday speech, and sometimes even in family letters and records: abuelito, abuelita, papi, mami. They're not a separate relationship, just a warmer way of saying the same word, similar to how English speakers say "grandma" instead of "grandmother."

Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Nieces/Nephews

• Uncle - tío
• Aunt - tía
• Cousin - primo (male) / prima (female)
• Nephew - sobrino
• Niece - sobrina

Spanish generally doesn't distinguish "cousin" by degree the way English sometimes does. A second cousin and a first cousin are both commonly just "primo" or "prima" in casual conversation, with primo segundo (second cousin) or primo lejano (distant cousin) only used when someone wants to be precise. If you're piecing together a family tree from oral history, ask follow-up questions when a relative mentions a "primo" - the actual degree of relation can be looser than the word implies.

In-Laws

• Father-in-law - suegro
• Mother-in-law - suegra
• Brother-in-law - cuñado
• Sister-in-law - cuñada
• Son-in-law - yerno
• Daughter-in-law - nuera

Step and Half Family

• Stepfather - padrastro
• Stepmother - madrastra
• Stepson - hijastro
• Stepdaughter - hijastra
• Stepbrother / stepsister - hermanastro / hermanastra
• Half-brother / half-sister - medio hermano / media hermana

The Compadrazgo System: Godparents as Family

This is where Spanish kinship vocabulary does something English doesn't really have a word for. When a couple becomes padrino (godfather) and madrina (godmother) to a child, the child's parents and the godparents start calling each other compadre and comadre. It's not a blood relationship, but across Spain and much of Latin America it's treated with real closeness, almost a formal extension of the family itself.

This matters for genealogy research specifically because church baptismal records from Spanish-speaking countries almost always list the padrinos alongside the parents. If you're transcribing an old baptismal register and see a name you don't recognize sitting right next to the parents, it's worth checking whether that person is a godparent rather than a blood relative before you connect them to the wrong branch of your tree.

Regional Variations Worth Knowing

Spanish is spoken across dozens of countries, so a handful of family words shift depending on where your ancestors were from:

• In Mexico and parts of Central America, "amá" and "apá" are common casual versions of mom and dad, alongside mamá and papá.
• In Spain, "yaya" and "yayo" are affectionate regional alternatives to abuela and abuelo in some areas.
• In the Caribbean and parts of South America, "viejo" and "vieja" (literally "old man" and "old woman") are an affectionate way adult children refer to their own parents, not a term for someone actually elderly.
• "Hermanito" and "hermanita" (little brother, little sister) are used as terms of endearment regardless of the actual age gap between siblings.

None of these change the underlying relationship, but they're useful to recognize if they show up in a letter, an old interview transcript, or something a relative says when you're trying to record family history.

Why This Matters for Your Family Tree

When you're transcribing an old baptismal, marriage, or civil registry from a Spanish-speaking country, precise kinship terms are often the only clue connecting one generation to the next. A phrase like "hija legítima de..." (legitimate daughter of...) or "nieto de..." carved on a headstone can be the exact thread that links two branches you thought were unrelated. Getting comfortable with these words before you dig through records saves you from misreading a cuñado as a hermano, or missing that a "primo" mentioned in a letter could be a cousin of any degree, not necessarily a first cousin.

If you're mapping a Spanish-speaking branch of your family on myrooots, using the correct term for each relationship from the start keeps the tree readable and accurate for relatives on both sides of the language, whether they think in English, Spanish, or switch between both.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Spanish word for cousin?

"Primo" for a male cousin and "prima" for a female cousin. Spanish typically doesn't distinguish first cousins from more distant cousins in everyday speech the way English sometimes does - primo segundo (second cousin) is used only when someone wants to be specific.

What do you call your spouse's parents in Spanish?

Suegro is father-in-law and suegra is mother-in-law. Your spouse's siblings are cuñado (brother-in-law) and cuñada (sister-in-law).

Is there a Spanish word for stepmother and stepfather?

Yes. Padrastro means stepfather and madrastra means stepmother. Step-siblings are hermanastro or hermanastra, and a stepchild is hijastro or hijastra.

What does "compadre" mean?

Compadre and comadre describe the relationship between a child's parents and that child's godparents. It isn't a blood relationship, but it's treated with the same closeness as family across much of the Spanish-speaking world, and it often appears in old church baptismal records.

How do you say grandparents in Spanish?

"Abuelos" covers grandparents as a group. Individually, abuelo is grandfather and abuela is grandmother. Great-grandparents are bisabuelos, and great-great-grandparents are tatarabuelos.

Create Your Family Tree for Free

Start building your family history in minutes with the My rOoOts Free Family Tree Creator. Add parents, grandparents, children, and relatives, organize generations visually, and create a beautiful family tree that you can save and share.

👉 Create your free family tree: Free Family Tree Creator

No design skills required. Simply enter your family details and generate a clear, easy-to-read family tree online for free.

---

Check Zodiac Compatibility for Any Two People

Curious about how well two people match based on their date of birth? Try the My rOoOts Zodiac Compatibility Tool to compare zodiac signs, explore relationship compatibility, and get a quick compatibility score for couples, friends, or family members.

👉 Check compatibility now: Zodiac Compatibility Calculator

You can enter two dates of birth and even mention the relationship type to get a more personalized compatibility result.