What do you call your father?

[alpidarkomama]

A friend of mine posts on FB constantly about her "Daddy". This woman is late 30s. It strikes me that she's a little old to be calling her father "Daddy". And a little young (since most Southern ladies I know who do this are much older and from a different generation) to be calling him "Daddy". Maybe it's me but it feels like an affectation.

 

 

Where I live in the south, it's very common for people of all ages to call their father "daddy." I think it's sweet.

[fraidycat]

I needed a multiple choice option, so I chose other.

 

I call him Dad, Daddy, Papa Bear, Pa, or Grandpa if we're in a 3 way conversation with the kids.

[Tap]

My father is deceased but I called him dad or dad-i-o . When I lived in the South, it was Very common for men to be called daddy, but girls/women of any age.

[lailasmum]

Well he died when I was 18 but I mostly called him Dad, I think I called him Daddy when I was younger.

[Mama Geek]

My dad passed away years ago, but I called him dad. I have heard daddy used by adults a lot in the south.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I'm pretty weird on this and I don't know why; but I can't change it (have tried in the past). I don't call them (my biological father, my stepfather, my mother, etc) anything. I may use a certain word ABOUT each of them; but I don't address ANY of them with a term or name directly.

[Pawz4me]

I'm 50. My father passed away a few years ago, and I called him daddy up until the day he died. Almost all my friends (male and female) refer to their father as daddy. My boys, 14 and 17, call DH daddy.

 

I assure you in my little part of the south it's very genuine, and in no way an affectation.

[Night Elf]

My father died when I was 21 but I still refer to him as daddy. I'm positive I would still be calling him daddy. I still call my mother 'mama'. I can't imagine using any other names. That's who they are to me. I guess it makes sense if it seems childish. Technically I'm their child. I hope my children never start calling me mother. ugh

[Joules]

I'm 50. My father passed away a few years ago, and I called him daddy up until the day he died. Almost all my friends (male and female) refer to their father as daddy. My boys, 14 and 17, call DH daddy.

 

I assure you in my little part of the south it's very genuine, and in no way an affectation.

 

I've never really thought about it, because it's so common in the south. My dad is in his eighties and I'm in my forties and I still call him Daddy or Granddaddy. I usually use Granddaddy in a family group situation, but Daddy most of the rest. (drives ds crazy because he is constantly asking, "Do you mean my daddy or your daddy?") I can't imagine using Dad or Father, though I do refer to him as "my dad" or "my father" to other people. My 15yo calls dh Daddy, also.

 

(I'm not sure how common the Granddaddy thing is, but my parents first had grandchildren when I was 10 and they lived with us on and off, so everyone in the house started referring to them as Grandma and Granddaddy.)

[Firefly]

Dad.

 

I do think it is regional; I don't know a single grown woman who calls her dad "Daddy." To me it would sound as odd as a grown man calling his mother "Mommy."

[Butter]

Daddy. And I call my mother Mommy (as do my siblings who are both older than me). My mother still refers to her parents as Mommy and Daddy as well.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

Sometimes Daddy, sometimes Dad, sometimes Grandpa.

[LaxMom]

Dad. And I've called him Dad since I was a child. He calls me Ang, or kiddo. My kids call him Pépé (my people are French Canadian).

 

42, Yankee.

[JuanitaL]

Dad, sometimes Pop or Pops.

[Annie]

I call him dad 90+% of the time, but I call him daddy on occasion. I never refer to him as my daddy when talking to other people.

[mommymilkies]

His first name. I only met him a few years ago and calling him anything else is weird to both of us.

[I.Dup.]

I do think it's a regional thing. I don't find it strange when I hear people calling their Dad "Daddy", especially if they are from the south I expect it, but it would probably come across as a little weird in print.

 

I call mine "Dad."

 

ETA: My dh is from the south and has a southern accent. He still calls his mom "Mama". He calls me "Mama" too. I find it very sweet. :)

[Lindi]

I called my father daddy until I was 8 or 9; then I wouldn't have called him anything but 'dad" because I thought "Daddy" was childish. But he died when I was 17 and I find that when I think about him and talk about him to my siblings, it's always "daddy."'

 

I do think it is a cultural thing, though .. as in regional. However, since people move so much now, regions are becoming more irrelavent and it may just be a family thing.

 

Kind of like women/girls/ladies. Once we had a discussion on another forum about the use of those terms. Many people are offended by ladies and girls. I am offended by girls. I mean, I am not a girl. But some people found lady/ladies to be insulting. I was never sure why. No one was insulted by women but some found it too formal or too oldish. So, I think your freind is probably saying what is natural to her but sound unnatural to you.

[Jennifer]

I used to call him Dad, but now it's more likely to be PawPaw, which is what my kids call him. Except for the youngest, who calls him Poppy.

[Jennifer]

I used to call him Dad, but now it's more likely to be PawPaw, which is what my kids call him. Except for the youngest, who calls him Poppy.

[happyhomemaker25]

I never thought anyone would care.... I had no idea people thought it was weird to hear grown women saying "daddy". I'm 34, my daddy died about 8 years ago and I cant imagine him being anything other than daddy. My 30yo brother still refers to him as daddy. My dad up until the day he died called my grandaddy, daddy. My moms side is the same way. My papa was daddy to all his kids. Even his grown sons. We've always referred to our moms as mama.

[Karen in CO]

I'm 40something and from the South. He will always be "Daddy."

[LucyStoner]

Grandpa. So I can tease him about his age. Besides, he's more my kids grandpa than he was/is my dad.

[Hoggirl]

My daddy died twenty-four years ago, but I always called him, "Daddy." My dh calls his father, "Dad." When my ds has children, I think my dh wants "Big Daddy" to be his grandfather name. I have found that to be a pretty common grandpa name in the South.

[Hunter's Moon]

I call him "Dad," usually with a "hey" thrown in front lol.

 

I called him "daddy" until I was about 13 or so.

[TeacherZee]

Dad, daddy, pappa or moffa depending on language, the situation and who is there (the last one for example is used when the nieces are present)

[Baseball mom]

He passed away 19 years ago but if he was still alive I would still be calling him daddy and I am almost 43 year old. When I am talking about him, sometimes it is dad and sometimes daddy.

[UncleEJ]

If I am talking to him, I call him dad or daddy. We live VERY close to my dad and my kids call him Papa, I often call him that too. When DH and I talk about him he is either Papa or Pops, or in DH's case, Eric (his given name).

[bluemongoose]

I assumed you meant the one who is responsible for my being on this planet so I voted: can't be said in polite conversation. My step dad who has been my "father" I have always called Dad. He is the one who cared, loved, invested in me.

[freeindeed]

I'm 38 and I still call my father "Daddy." I'll always be his little girl. :)

[Joyofsixreboot]

Pop-I don't know why. I called him dad when I was a kid but it morphed somewhere in my teen years. My kids call my dh daddio ( I am mamacita to my 12 yo, mom to others).

[AimeeM]

I call my father "daddy" more often than not (although sometimes it's "dad", but that's rare; somewhat frequently it's "papa" because that is what my children call him). When it's me talking to him, though, it's generally "daddy". I am almost 30.

I also call my mother "mommy" when I'm not around my children (when my children are present, it's usually "Gamma").

 

My husband calls his father "dad"; he still refers to his mother as "mommy" (she passed when he was only 11 years old) and his late grandmother as "mom-mom" (she helped his father raise him and his brother after their mother passed). My husband is almost 45.

[Greta Lea]

I'm 46. My parents are always daddy and momma. Same for my sister.

 

My brother calls them mom and dad when he's speaking about them, but daddy and momma when he speaks TO them. Same with my dh.

[4everHis]

49 and from Texas---------Daddy. We weren't allowed to use the word 'Dad' when I was a kid. It was considered slang. . . =)

[Galatea]

I'm pretty weird on this and I don't know why; but I can't change it (have tried in the past). I don't call them (my biological father, my stepfather, my mother, etc) anything. I may use a certain word ABOUT each of them; but I don't address ANY of them with a term or name directly.

 

 

I don't talk to my biological family, so they don't get called anything by me. But if I refer to them in conversation, I've always said "my biological father" or "my biological mother." My adoptive parents are Mom and Dad.

 

I don't find Daddy to be all that odd. It's pretty common in Southern families. My husband's great-aunt is still called Sister even though her only brother died in Korea. And Mema or Pawpaw are also common to hear in his family.

[Audrey]

A friend of mine posts on FB constantly about her "Daddy". This woman is late 30s. It strikes me that she's a little old to be calling her father "Daddy". And a little young (since most Southern ladies I know who do this are much older and from a different generation) to be calling him "Daddy". Maybe it's me but it feels like an affectation.

 

So now I'm curious. What do you call your father?

 

Me - I call me father "Da". Always have.

 

 

 

Dead.

 

 

But in conversation, I refer to him as "my daddy." Or when telling a story about him, I might say "Then Dad gave us that look ..." When he was alive, I used Daddy or Dad interchangeably depending on the mood of the situation. If I was calling him on the phone for a regular ol' chat, I'd say "Hey Daddy, how's it going today?" If he was getting stubborn about something, I might say, "Now, Dad... you know better than that."

 

FWIW, I called my mother Mom or Mommy interchangeably, as well. It just felt like the natural thing to do. I don't think of it as odd at all. Rather, I always find it odd when people call their parents by their first names. YMMV, of course.