They speak! Few words are as eagerly anticipated as your baby's first. After the initial excitement and cooing over their genius subsides, many of us wonder whether that first word was a common one. Wonder no more. We asked over 11,000 moms to share their baby's first word, and the most common answers are below.

The 15 Most Common First Words

1. Dad (or Dada, Daddy, Papa, etc.)

2. Mom (or Mama, Mommy, Mum, etc.)

3. Hi (or Hiya, Hey, Heya, Hello)

4. Buba (or Bub or Baba)

5. Dog (or Doggy, Puppy)

6. Ball

7. No

8. Cat (or Kitty)

9. Nana

10. Bye

11. Duck

12. Ta (or Tata)

13. Baby

14. Uh oh

15. Car

Why These Words?

Not surprisingly, variations of dad and mom top the list, with 52 percent of surveyed respondents citing a first word related to dad (#1), and 35 percent of respondents offering up mom (#2).

Why do dads seem to get the first word honor more often? One reason is that the d sound is easier for babies to utter than the m sound. On that note, animal words starting with a hard consonant are also common first words, so don't feel bad if your little one says duck (#11), dog (#5), or cat (#8) before mama!

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Other high-frequency first words are the ones baby hears us say a lot. If you're unaware of how frequently you say "uh oh" or "no," this can take you by surprise. And if you're chagrined that your baby's first word was no (#7), you may be comforted to learn that yesis far less common.

Also in this group are words moms may say frequently but never expect their little ones to repeat. Case in point: among the 11,000 moms surveyed, 10 share that their baby's first word was a four-letter S-word that's a synonym for poop. Whoops!

What was your baby's first word?

