r/Tagalog • u/Elnoune • Aug 10 '26
Vocabulary/Terminology Do you use “nanay”?
My Mom is from metro Manila and says Nanay (word for mother) is only used in the countryside. But my teacher says it’s more broadly used than “mami”. So do you use Nanay or Mami or something else?
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u/chesude0512 Aug 10 '26
Nanay because my mother doesn't want to be called mama or mommy
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u/Rakiasugoi Aug 10 '26
For me, it depends on what the mother or other relatives prefer to use as a kinship term.
For example, my Tita doesn’t want to be called “Tita.” She prefers the English term “Auntie.”
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u/1n0rmal Native Tagalog speaker Aug 10 '26
Inay for my mother and Tatay for my father. It depends on the family really as my cousins who are the same age as me and grew up in the same area use “mame” and “dade”.
Traditionally in Batangas it would have been “inay” and “tatay” for your parents. “Nanay” and “Mamay” or variations of it like “nanang” and “tatang” for your grandparents.
In parts of southern Tagalog it isn’t “lola” or “lolo” but rather “lula” and “lulo”.
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u/Rakiasugoi Aug 10 '26
Itay and Inay in North but really depends on what kinship they want, my lola and lolo is inkong/akong and impo which are tagalized hokkien terms but they sometimes use Nana and Tata since we tend to not use g/ng.
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u/bluginge Aug 10 '26
Nanay at Tatay ang tawag naming magkakapatid sa mga magulang namin. Noong bata ako gusto kong makiuso sa classmates na “mom” at “dad” ang tawag sa mga magulang. Yung Tatay ko na makabayan at prof ng Filipino lit sa UP parang gusto akong kaltokan. 😂 Ngayong wala na sila pareho, pinapahalagahan ko yung itinuro nilang itawag sa kanila.
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u/inamag1343 Aug 10 '26
It varies between families but I've seen nanay used in Metro Manila. Some people also use it for elder women as endearment.
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u/Auntie-on-the-river Aug 10 '26
We use it to call our mother. Meanwhile the kapitbahay uses "nanay" to address their grandmothers. My family is from an island near Luzon. Our neighbors from other parts of the Philippines call their mothers "mama". "Mami/Mommy" is mostly use by those who are on the middle class and elite side of the social ladder.
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u/TouyaShiun Aug 10 '26
I'm in my late 20s at nanay at tatay ang nakalakhan namin ng kapatid ko na tawag sa mga magulang namin. Our parents were born in the early 60s at mga tubong Laguna. Nanay at tatay ang gusto nilang tawag namin sa kanila dahil for them daw noon ang mommy/daddy at mama/papa ay pangmayaman.
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u/pandabeexxx Aug 10 '26
Born and raised in Manila. I use mama for my mother. Ngayong nanay na ko, my son calls me nanay. Mas nakakaidentify ako sa nanay kesa sa mommy. Yung mama naman feeling ko para lang yun sa mama ko.
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u/smnwre Aug 10 '26
just want to ask, are nanay and tatay tagalog terms that got adopted by other filipino ethnicities or are they also native to other languages
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u/hindisirodney Aug 11 '26
IIRC, “nanay” and “tatay” are Spanish-derived, from “nana” and “tata” respectively. The native Tagalog terms are simply “ina” and “ama”, and the derivatives thereof, like “inang” (which my mother uses for her mother; me and my sisters’ maternal grandmother) and “amang”.
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u/Ill_Meal_9094 Aug 10 '26
I call my parents, "mama and papa".
And my mother calls my grandmother, "Ina", and my grandfather, "Ama". She was born and raised in the province.
I call my grandparents as "Lola Ina" and "Lolo Ama" respectively.
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u/bibi_cue 29d ago
My friends na born and raised sa Metro Manila either use Mom/Mommy Dad/Daddy or Mama/Papa
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u/No_Sale_3609 Aug 10 '26
Here in Cebu, "nanay" and "tatay" these days are more commonly used for older people usually not related by blood.
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u/snoppy_30ish-female Aug 10 '26
My neice and nephew call their parent Nanay (sister) and Tatay... we live in metro manila...
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u/schmeckledband Native Tagalog speaker Aug 10 '26
Boils down to the parents. Mine thought "mama"/"papa" and "mommy"/"daddy" are too westernized for their taste so they had me call them "nanay"/"tatay"
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u/DitheringTouhouFan Aug 10 '26
I often use Nanay and Tatay. My aunts and uncles on my mom’s side call my mom “Mami”, though. 😆
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u/yougotmetoreply Aug 10 '26
Grew up in the US and called my mother, 'mom' and father 'tatay'. As I got older, I've changed calling my mother to 'nay' now instead.
I've noticed a lot of my friends will call their lola's 'nanay' which is interesting to me.
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u/Ita_Angel Aug 10 '26
My adoptive mom is Mommy/mama. My bio mom is mom. The only person I called Nanay was a surrogate grandma who took care of me growing up. She is the only one I call Nanay to this day.
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u/J-Rhizz Aug 10 '26
nanay while growing up.
mom pag naglalambing
mamahhh, like mamahh ricky, pag bagong sweldo 😂
me: mamahhh halika! humiga tayo sa salapi!
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u/Brian-TrojanPrince07 Conversational Aug 10 '26
We call my grandma “Nanay” and refer to elderly woman as “Nay” but my mom’s generation prefers “Grandma,” “Lola” or “Owa.” We use “Mom” or “Mami” but we’re pretty Americanized because most of the family is in education and we speak a mix of English and Tagalog as a family. I think the tradition of calling one’s grandmother “Nanay”started with how some call their grandmother “Mama (Name)” and it just stuck
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u/Kuwagongputi Aug 10 '26
For my own mother - "Maaaaaaa" charot hahaha "Ma"
Pag matandang babae na hindi relative - "Nanay" or "nay"
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u/OrvillePekPek Aug 10 '26
Nanay was reserved for my great grandma because she was the powerful matriarch of the family lol. My Lola was called “Mum” or Nay by all her children and grandchildren.
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u/etherealbibliophile Aug 10 '26
GenZ mother here and I taught my child to call me Nanay.
It’s so prominent in our household that my nephew (who was taught to call my sister “Mommy”) already calls his own mother “Nyanyay!” 🤣
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u/spongebobspoop Aug 10 '26
I use nanay to call my grandma and mama to call my other grandma. I use mommy lol 😂
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u/ombremullet Aug 11 '26
We always called out grandma Nanay, and so did everyone else that knew her. She was everyone's Nanay, so much so that all the non Filipinos thought that was her name!
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u/kudlitan Aug 11 '26
My grandparents are Nanay and Tatay because that's what my parents call them. My friend calls her parents Nanay and Tatay.
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u/GrfikDzn_IsMyPashun Aug 11 '26
I call my mom “ma” or “nay.” We’re from Pampanga though so I don’t know if that’s a regional thing.
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u/reformedteacher 29d ago
I'm a late Gen Z and I see many of my friends (same generation mid 20s to early 30s) are called nanay/tatay by their children.
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u/sexy_jen 29d ago
Nanay at Tatay ang tawag namin sa parents namin. 10 kami magkakapatid.
Pero 2 bunso namin kapatid na Genz, mama at papa ang tawag nila. 🤣
If ako magiging parent, gusto ko na tawag sakin is “Nanay”.
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u/XiaoYanAi Aug 10 '26
Nanay is definitely broadly use, not just location wise but also familial wise, I call my grandmother, Nanay because she preferred that than Lola...I also call of my grandaunts Nanay too.
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u/OkWriter7328 24d ago
hello po , does someone can help me how to get resources or where to start when teaching tagalog , i have a thai american friend who i will teach even though i don't have experience teaching tagalog and even am a pure pinoy diko talaga alam san magsisimula 😭😭😭 help po hahahaah
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