Persian (Farsi) Family Words: Mom, Dad, Aunts

In everyday speech, Mom is Maman and Dad is Baba. You say them to a parent's face, as in Salam, maman, and you use them about a parent when you talk to someone else. The words for mother and father in books are Madar and Pedar, and you will hear them in formal speech or in writing, but at home it is Maman and Baba.

To say my mom, add the ending -am to the word: Mamanam. To say your mom, add -et: Mamanet. The same two endings work on Baba, and on almost every family word you will learn. -am is my and -et is your, so Babam is my dad and Babat is your dad.

To say it is my mom, put the short -e on the end, the same one that means is. Mamanam-e. It is how you answer the question Kiye? (who is it?) when a parent walks in.

Grandma is Maman bozorg and Grandpa is Baba bozorg. Bozorg means big or grand, so the words are literally big-mom and big-dad, the grand version of Maman and Baba. The pattern is easy to remember, and it is the one most Persian speakers abroad use.

Families also have their own names for grandparents, shaped by region and habit, and you will hear sweeter ones in many homes. Maman bozorg and Baba bozorg are understood everywhere, so they are the right words to use until you hear what your own family says.

The endings work here too. Maman bozorgam is my grandma, and the greeting every grandchild learns first is Salam, Maman Bozorg!

English has one word for aunt and one for uncle. Persian has two of each, and the word tells you which side of the family the person is on. Your mother's sister is Khaleh. Your father's sister is Ammeh. Your mother's brother is Daei, and your father's brother is Amu.

Daei is also written dayi or dai, and you will see it all three ways in Finglish, because there is no single standard for it in English letters. Daei is also what people warmly call a friendly older man, a bit like uncle in English.

People usually put the name after it: Khaleh Maryam, Amu Hasan. The warm version adds joon, an affectionate word that goes after a name: Khaleh joon, Amu joon. Joon is about warmth, so use it for people you are close to.

Cousins follow the same logic as aunts and uncles, so there is no single word for cousin. Instead you name the parent the cousin comes from. Your father's brother's son is Pesar amu, which is literally son of uncle. His sister is Dokhtar amu. Your mother's sister's son is Pesar khaleh, and her daughter is Dokhtar khaleh.

The pattern continues for the other two sides: children of your Ammeh are called pesar ammeh and dokhtar ammeh, and children of your Daei are pesar daei and dokhtar daei. Pesar means boy or son, and Dokhtar means girl or daughter, so the whole system is just son or daughter plus the aunt or uncle.

In daily life, most people simply use the cousin's first name. The long form is for explaining who someone is, as in the cousin who lives in Toronto, my aunt's daughter.

Sister is Khahar and brother is Baradar. They work with the same two endings: Khaharam is my sister, Khaharet is your sister, Baradaram is my brother, and Baradaret is your brother. Add the short -e to say it is: Khaharam-e, it's my sister.

Persian also has a form for a sibling of someone else. Baradare means brother of, and Khahare means sister of, and you use it to link a brother or sister to a name. Friends are Doost, and the endings give you Doostam, my friend, and Doostet, your friend.

A word for niece and nephew shows the same side-of-the-family habit. A sister's child is Khaharzade, and a brother's child is Baradarzade.