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.
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.
Dada, jethu, mamato bhai: Bengal's own family vocabulary.
Tayaji, bhua, veer-bhain: Punjab's family words.
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.
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.
Build a family tree with everyone's actual names, photos and relationships. Free to start, no sign-up required.
Build your family treeFree forever · No email required to start