What do YOU call your mother? Most popular terms across UK revealed,
It’s a debate that splits the nation – what do you call your mother?
While many people like ‘mum’ others prefer ‘mummy’, while some choose to use ‘mam’ or even ‘mammy’.
Now, a series of maps have revealed the most popular terms across the UK and Ireland.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, ‘mum’ is the most common term across the UK, being used across most of England and Scotland.
‘Mummy’ is also very common, although it is more localised to adults in Northern Ireland and the wealthier areas of southeast England.
Meanwhile, ‘mam’ is favoured in Ireland and Wales.
‘It’s also very common in the Northeast and Cumbria,’ explained Ryan Starkey, the linguist behind the maps.
‘Liverpool and Manchester also use this term, although it has become less common, perhaps due to migration into these areas.’
It’s a debate that splits the nation – what do you call your mother? While many people like ‘mum’ others prefer ‘mummy’, while some choose to use ‘mam’ or even ‘mammy’
To create the maps, Mr Starkey analysed data from surveys conducted with British and Irish adults.
‘Darker colours show where a term dominates, lighter colours show where it is common but a mixture of terms are also common,’ he explained.
‘Respondents had the option to pick multiple terms, so there is some overlap, which is why this is 7 images rather than one.’
The maps show that while ‘mammy’ is common amongst children in Scotland, it’s rarer for adults in the UK.
Instead, it’s much more common over in Ireland.
Some of the least common terms, according to the survey, are ‘ma’ and ‘maw’.
‘”Ma” and “maw” apparently come from clippings of “mam”, which is the Irish word for “mother”, and also the Scots word for mother,’ Mr Starkey explained.
‘Ma’ is most common in eastern and north–eastern Ireland.
To create the maps, Mr Starkey analysed data from surveys conducted with British and Irish adults
Darker colours show where a term dominates, lighter colours show where it is common but a mixture of terms are also common
Meanwhile, ‘maw’ is common across the central belt of Scotland.
Mr Starkey added: ‘Ma is used by some people in Scotland too, but is not the most common term anywhere, at least according to the surveys I’ve used.’
Finally, while ‘mom’ is often seen as an American term, it’s also used across select areas of the UK and Ireland.
Bizarrely, it’s the most common word for mother in Birmingham, and is also common in southwest Ireland, which may be due to the accent in the area.
‘The Irish word for mother is “mam”, but in Munster Irish the short “a” is diphthongised before word–final “m” to make a [au] sound, which seems to have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of Cork and Kerry word to give us “mom” in English,’ Mr Starkey explained.
The maps have been shared on X by @theiaincameron this week, where amazed viewers have flocked to the replies.
‘Virtually the whole of the Highlands should be Mam,’ one user claimed.
Another said: ‘When speaking to my mother I call her mum, as she’s from Hemel Hempstead, but i always refer to her as “me mam” in conversations, as I was brought up in the north east. Funny old thing language.’
The maps show that while ‘mammy’ is common amongst children in Scotland, it’s rarer for adults in the UK. Instead, it’s much more common over in Ireland
Responses to the question ‘What is your word for a small round bread?’ Light yellow areas represent respondents who selected the indicated variant
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What do YOU call a lunchtime loaf? Scientists reveal the most popular terms across the UK – with ‘bun’ the favourite of the North East, ‘bap’ preferred in Wales and ‘cob’ ruling in the East Midlands – but ‘bread roll’ the overall champion
And one joked: ‘These maps are gold nothing unites the British Isles like arguing over what we call our mums.’
The news comes shortly after a study revealed the most common words for bread rolls across the UK.
Bread roll is widely used in England, southern Wales and Scotland, whereas bap is the favourite of North Wales, the West Midlands and Staffordshire.
Cob dominates in the East Midlands around Nottinghamshire and Derby, while the term batch is heard only in Coventry and Liverpool.
The North of England gave the largest variation of terms, with North East claiming bun was the only acceptable term, while barm was also popular in Liverpool and Manchester.
