June 17, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - There's a famous
quote that goes something like, "Any man can be a father. It
takes someone special to be a dad" (there's an interesting
derivation of that is in the movie Parenthood).
That quote notwithstanding, “Dad” goes by many
names – and this week, I asked readers what you call/called
yours.
Far and away, the most common name for Dad
was….”Dad”, cited by 53.2% of this week’s
respondents.
Second most common was “Daddy”, noted by 17%.
The next most common (2.1%) was Pop/Pops, though 6.4% said
that “more than one of the above” names applied.
Other names specifically cited were
Papa
,
Pappie
,
Poppie
, and
Pap
.
For the vast majority –
80.6%
– that name was the only name they had ever had for their
Dad (or at least as far back as they could remember),
though the remaining one-in-five had had at least one other
name.
But as for those names, the remaining
17%
chose “other”, including those listed on the next
pages:
'A**hole' (under my breath, of
course)..
Pap
Daddy when I was young and dad as we got
much older. Yet when he died, I put Daddy on
the flowers in his casket.
"George" - that's not his
name, just a family tradition of what we call
dads and uncles
Ba (Vietnamese for dad)
Gambo (A combination of Grand Dad and
Rambo). He was named this by his grand children
and it stuck.
I would refer to him as Dad or
Daddykins.
Daddio
My Father was killed in a car accident
when I was 2. My Mom's Dad was my Father
figure. I called him Jido, which is Arabic for
grandfather.
I called my dad "Dad"...but my
father-in-law is refered to as
"Whitey", having to do with the fact
that he was/is prematurely gray.
While my siblings and I refer to and call
our father "Dad", I also call him
"Dool", which is part of his family
name, and later learned is the nickname of all
his family. Standing in a parking lot after a
family funereal a few years ago, I turned and
called to my dad, "Yo Dool" to which
about 15 or more of his cousins turned and
answered.
My father is Dad and my wife's father
is Pops.
Da
OTM / short for "Old Timing
Man". It was a phrase used in a Cheech
& Chong movie. Instead of "Old
Timer" or "Old Man", it was
funny and it stuck. "OTM" became the
shortened version and it stuck. I don't
think I've ever told him where it came
from, though.
Buddy but never Pops
A more interesting question might be what you
called your grandfathers. I called mine granddad
and pappy.
Still call him Dad on occasion, but now that
he's 95 and I'm almost 60, we have been
calling him "JW" (his initials and what
many of his adult peers called him as we were
growing up) for many years now.
As I mentoned above, He was named this by his
grand children and it stuck. Before that it was
Dad
Although when I was annoyed by something it
would usually come out Daaaaaaaad with some
attitude.
"Dad" primarily, "Pop"
occassionally, "something unprintable"
every now and then, but not to his face.
When I was younger I thought I was cool and
called him Pop. Of course you grow older and
realize you were never cool.
well, he was Daddy until I was about 8 years
old, I believe. Now that I have kids, sometimes
he just goes by Grandpa for everyone.
When I was a child, my oldest sister was a
'Daddio' cherrleader (no idea how they
came up with that name). The name stuck as our
nickname for Dad, and after all these years, it
still makes him smile when my sisters and I call
him that.
when my sisters and I refer to my Dad,
though, we call him 'Daddy'
Certainly by the time I got to college, the
use of that affectionate term was habit, not
affection.
Over the years, "Dad" has been the
constant. Dad seems to deserve better than
"More than one of the above" including
the "Other" category (nothing vulgar,
e.g. "Moneybags").
At age 21, I became self-conscious about
calling my father "Daddy." But then I
heard a forty-something friend call her
80-year-old father Daddy, and I realized that
some men are just Daddy's and it would be
wrong to call them anything else.
Daddy when I was younger
I called him Daddy as a child and Dad in
between then Daddy again as he became older and
more dependent on me.
Now we just call him Old Man or Dad
sometimes poppie or pooh
Even at 45, I call my father
"Daddy". Of course, I also call him by
his nickname "Old Fart". 😉
Prior to my teen years, it was Daddy...but I
always used a "Sir" when answering Yes
or No to a question, as well as to any other
adult male...and still do.
I called him dad until my kids were born and
then because they needed to call him
"grandpa", I have since called him
grandpa!! He's the best no matter we call
him.
But this week's
Editor's Choice
goes to the reader who said,
"My dad insisted that us kids call him "The
Most Wonderful Magnificent Man in the World" or he
would tickle us to death."
Thanks to
everyone for participating in our survey!