What do you call your father's brother? Your cousin? Your spouse's sister? Pick a language or tradition below to see the real words families use.
Mom, Dad, and family words most American English speakers grew up with.
Mum, Nan and Grandad: the UK's own flavor of English family words.
Da, Maw, Granda and Grannie: Scots family words (with a Gaelic note).
Real Irish-language words: Daideo, Deartháir, and a cousin term all their own.
Vater, Mutter, Oma, Opa, and a clean Schwieger-/Schwager- in-law system.
Père, mère, cousin: the word the world borrowed for 'cousin' comes from here.
Nonno, nonna, and 'nipote': one word for both grandchild and niece/nephew.
Abuelo, tío, primo: the family words shared across the Spanish-speaking world.
Avô, tio, primo: Portugal and Brazil's family vocabulary.
Amá, apá, primo hermano: Mexican Spanish's own everyday twists.
Stryj vs wuj: Polish splits 'uncle' by side of the family.
Yiayia and pappoús, plus a few words that do double duty.
Svekrov vs tyoshcha: two completely different words for 'mother-in-law' depending on which side of the marriage you're on.
North Indian terms: chacha, mama, bhabhi and the rest.
Includes the classic periyappa/chithi and machaan cousin system.
Peddananna, atta, mama, and the same cousin logic as Tamil.
Doddappa and chikkappa: father's brothers split by age, the same logic as Tamil and Telugu.
Ammavan and ammayi: Kerala's own take on the maternal-uncle kinship system shared with Tamil and Telugu.
Chulat, mame, aate and mavas bhau: four distinct Marathi cousin words, one per uncle or aunt.
Dada, jethu, mamato bhai: Bengal's own family vocabulary.
Tayaji, bhua, veer-bhain: Punjab's family words.
The '-zaad' cousin system: Chacha Zaad, Phuppo Zaad, Mamu Zaad and Khala Zaad.
Dai, Didi, Bhai, Bahini: Nepali extends its sibling words to cousins too.
Kaka, Foi, Mama, Masi: a specific word for every branch of the family, by side, age and blood vs. marriage.
The classical root system behind many modern Indian languages: Pitāmaha vs Mātāmaha, Pitṛvya vs Mātula.
One of the world's most detailed kinship systems, with a distinct word for nearly every relative.
Built around relative age, not side of the family.
Terms shift by the speaker's own gender, not just the relative's: oppa vs hyeong for the same older brother.
Family words used across most English-speaking Christian families.
Traditional Yiddish words (with Hebrew equivalents noted).
Family words shown here in Hindi, the most widely recognized system.
Traditional Arabic family words, with dialect notes where they vary.
Generic English terms. See Chinese or Japanese for two real regional systems.
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Pick a language, culture, or religious tradition below to see a full chart of real family relationship terms used in that tradition, from immediate family through extended and in-law relatives.
Dozens of traditions across European & American, Middle Eastern & Central Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, East Asian, and African languages, plus several religious traditions, with more added over time.
Yes. Each tradition's chart includes in-law terms alongside blood relatives wherever that tradition uses distinct words for them.
No. Browsing every tradition's chart is completely free and doesn't require an account. You'll only need one if you want to build and save your own family tree.