How do you refer to your non-blood relatives?

[AGBF]

We call them Aunt _____ and Uncle _______. Always.

I was taught it was a sign of respect to use the titles. Same for grandparents, but not cousins.

This reply made me remember that I had been typing a response yesterday, but got interrupted. My husband's family is Italian. I have noticed that his sister (my sister-in-law) is always extremely respectful with the titles of her aunts. Whenever she addresses one, she calls her, "Zia" (Aunt"), the way a French person might add, "Madame" to his sentence. It is subtle, but the addition of the title whenever the person is addressed, or several times in the conversation, at least, is noticeable.

Deb/AGBF

 

[missy]

We call them Aunt _____ and Uncle _______. Always.

I was taught it was a sign of respect to use the titles. Same for grandparents, but not cousins.

Yes, I can see that but in some cases the aunt/uncle are the individuals who specifically request not to be called by those titles. In our family my aunt did not like being referred to as Aunt _ _ _ by the time I became a teenager (it made her feel old) she asked us to start calling them by their first names. My parents were OK with it and so that's how we started calling our aunt and uncle by their first names.

So it is not a sign of disrespect in our case but in fact a sign of respect since they were the ones to ask us to drop those titles.

 

[AGBF]

We call them Aunt _____ and Uncle _______. Always.

I was taught it was a sign of respect to use the titles. Same for grandparents, but not cousins.

Yes, I can see that but in some cases the aunt/uncle are the individuals who specifically request not to be called by those titles. In our family my aunt did not like being referred to as Aunt _ _ _ by the time I became a teenager (it made her feel old) she asked us to start calling them by their first names. My parents were OK with it and so that's how we started calling our aunt and uncle by their first names.

So it is not a sign of disrespect in our case but in fact a sign of respect since they were the ones to ask us to drop those titles.

I think people have only been talking in general about customs. What an individual wishes to be called, should, always, be paramount. The most sensitive and respectful way to treat others is, of course, to treat them as they wish to be treated. That is the ultimate respect. If someone does not wish to have the title of, "Aunt" or "Uncle" used, of course one should not use it!!!

Big hugs,
Deb