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Mummy Daddy

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Viz | 08:19 Mon 20th Dec 2004 | Phrases & Sayings
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When did using the names Mummy & Daddy come into use after Mother & Father?
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'Mum' and 'Dad' have been used in English - in one form or another - since the 15th century.  The 'mama/dada' is just a reduplication of a sound that babies make instinctively. In the case of 'mama', it is used in virtually all countries where the proper word for 'mother' begins with the 'm' sound, as in French, German etc.
The actual form 'dad' is far older than the form 'mum', since the former has been around for half a millennium and the latter has existed only since the early 1800s. (As 'mam', however, it's been around for as long as 'dad'.)

The earliest recorded use of 'mummy' dates from the end of the 18th century and 'daddy' from the end of the 15th.

As a mum , I thought that mum and dad came first. As the children get older they call you mother and father! Just to wind us up I guess!

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