History Main / NewParentNomenclatureProblem

A character is taken in by a ParentalSubstitute of some sort, usually of a more permanent variety such as an official foster parent or step-parent, and they're considering calling them "mom" or "dad" despite the lack of biological connection. Agreeing to call them "mom" or "dad" will lead to a perceived level of closeness than simply calling them by their first name, but also may lead to the protagonist feeling like they're shunning their birth parents, [[YoureNotMyFather who are definitely]] not [[YoureNotMyMother the person raising them]]. It typically causes the protagonist tons of {{angst}} and is a handy device for exploring the familial dynamics between the characters. This can also sometimes happen with estranged biological parents who have recently re-entered their kid's life.

** in ''The Mammoth Hunters'': Ayla teaches Rydag, a half-Clan child [[note]]Though most of the half-Clan characters can speak verbally,Rydag is one of the exceptions.[[/note]] raised by Cro-Magnon humans, some Clan sign language including Mother, which he then uses on the woman who is taking care of him.

** in ''The Mammoth Hunters'': Ayla teaches Rydag, a Clan child raised by Cro-Magnon humans, some Clan sign language including Mother, which he then uses on the woman who is taking care of him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie,'' Bruce Wayne accidentally adopts Dick Grayson, with Batman sharing custody as his co-dad. ([[SuperGullible Yeah, Dick actually bought this]].) He uses a string of "Dad" words that Batman continually rebuffs, but eventually allows "Padre," since it can also mean "buddy." (Presumably he's mixing it up with "''com''padre.") Of course, near the end:

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie,'' Bruce Wayne accidentally adopts Dick Grayson, with Batman sharing custody [[HasTwoMommies as his co-dad]]. ([[SuperGullible Yeah, Dick actually bought this]].) He uses a string of "Dad" words that Batman continually rebuffs, but eventually allows "Padre," since it can also mean "buddy." (Presumably he's mixing it up with "''com''padre.") Of course, near the end:

* In ''Fanfic/LiveAHero'', Inko wishes that her adoptive son Izuku would call her "Mom" instead of "Inko-san", though she still considers it a step above the even more formal "Midoriya-san" they started with. Considering that [[spoiler:his biological parents left him and his sister for dead and allowed them to get scooped up by the League of Villains to be turned into {{Tykebomb}}s, it's easy to see why this is the case.]] Despite this, the narration makes it adamantly clear that Izuku thinks of her as his mom and loves her just as much as his canon counterpart, if not even more so.

* ComicBook/{{Batman}} has four adopted kids and one biological kid and all of the latter just call him by his first name. He also calls his parental figures Alfred and Dr. Leslie Thompkins by their first names.

* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': While Tim Drake thinks Dana is an awesome step-mom and gets along with her he never once considers calling her by anything but her name since he doesn't consider her a replacement for his deceased mom.

Oh, don't worry Dad, you know, it don't matter what we do\\
Cause I don't call him daddy, he can never be like you."''

Compare/Contrast YoureNotMyFather[=/=][[YoureNotMyMother Mother]], HappilyAdopted, ParentalTitleCharacterization and YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious. May be related to lingering feelings from a ParentWithNewParamour situation.

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Outlander}}''. When Brianna meets Jamie for the first time, she's unsure what to call him. Although, Jamie is her biological father, she's spent the past twenty years believing she was Frank Randall's daughter both in name and blood. She and Frank [[DaddysGirl were very close]] and she admits that she feels disloyal even thinking of Jamie as her father, but also feels it's disrespectful to call Jamie by his name when he ''is'' her biological father. Since she called Frank "daddy", they settle on her calling Jamie "Da".

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Outlander}}''. When Brianna meets Jamie for the first time, she's unsure what to call him. Although, Jamie is her biological father, she's spent the past twenty years believing she was Frank Randall's daughter. She and Frank [[DaddysGirl were very close]] and she admits that she feels disloyal even thinking of Jamie as her father, but also feels it's disrespectful to call Jamie by his name when he ''is'' her biological father. Since she called Frank "daddy", they settle on her calling Jamie "Da".

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Outlander}}''. When Brianna meets Jamie for the first time, she's unsure what to call him. Although, Jamie is her biological father, she's spent the past twenty years believing she was Frank Randall's daughter. She and Frank [DaddysGirl were very close]] and she admits that she feels disloyal even thinking of Jamie as her father, but also feels it's disrespectful to call Jamie by his name when he ''is'' her biological father. Since she called Frank "daddy", they settle on her calling Jamie "Da".

* In the wake of ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'', Barbara Gordon laments that she never did get around to referring to Sarah Essen, her father's second wife, as "mom" before she died even though she respected her a great deal.

* Franchise/{{Superman}}'s foster son, [[GooGooGodlike Chris Kent]], refers to ComicBook/LoisLane as "Mama Lois".

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': While Tim thinks Dana is an awesome step-mom and gets along with her he never once considers calling her by anything but her name since he doesn't consider her a replacement for his deceased mom.

* Fanfictions for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':

A character is taken in by a ParentalSubstitute of some sort, usually of a more permanent variety such as an official foster parent or step-parent, and they're considering calling them "mom" or "dad" despite the lack of biological connection. Agreeing to call them "mom" or "dad" will lead to a perceived level of closeness than simply calling them by their first name, but also may lead to the protagonist feeling like they're shunning their birth parents, [[YouAreNotMyFather who are definitely not the person raising them]]. It typically causes the protagonist tons of {{angst}} and is a handy device for exploring the familial dynamics between the characters. This can also sometimes happen with estranged biological parents who have recently re-entered their kid's life.

Compare/Contrast YoureNotMyFather, HappilyAdopted, ParentalTitleCharacterization and YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious. May be related to lingering feelings from a ParentWithNewParamour situation.

* In adel aka's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEG18Z1mSWs video]] about rewriting Yang in ''RWBY'', he gave her this problem as a driving element of her character. Yang's biological mother Raven walked out when she was a baby, with Yang's step-mother Summer being the only mother she's ever known. When Yang was very young, Summer died. Yang has always been [[TellMeAboutMyFather curious]] about Raven but her father refuses to tell her. Eventually, he promises to tell her if she becomes a huntress. Throughout her life, Yang has felt uncomfortable calling Summer her mother, which upsets her half-sister Ruby. Yang comes to terms with Summer as her mother after seeing a heartfelt video that Summer made for her. Upon meeting her cold biological mother Raven, Yang [[YouAreNotMyFather disowns her]] by stating that her mother is Summer.

* A retroactive version of this occurs with Yang in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''. Yang's biological mother Raven ran off when she was a baby, leaving her step-mother Summer as the only mom she's ever known. She didn't know that Ruby wasn't her full sister until after Summer had died. When talking to Blake about her in Volume 2, she refers to Summer as "our mom". But by Volume 5, she's reverted to exclusively calling Summer "Ruby's mom" and refers to Raven as her mother.