One of the most interesting things about learning Chinese is learning the various names for members of the family. In Germanic languages (such as English), this is relatively easy. A brother of either of your parents is an Uncle. Simple. Your parents’ mothers are Grandmothers. Simple. In Chinese, it just isn’t so.

Chinese people place a great deal of importance on family and familial relations. To that end, they have a special name for just about everyone you are related to. Different names for uncles depending on which side of the family they’re on and how old they are. Different names for your sisters-in-law depending on if they are older or younger than your wife. It really is quite complicated.

In Taiwan, this is made doubly so, because you not only have to learn the Mandarin words and pronunciation for each of these members, but you also learn the Taiwanese pronunciation. This more or less doubles the already incredibly large database of family names you must learn. To that end, I’ve tried to make a list for you. Many thanks go to Miss Expatriate and her mom, who somehow manages to keep all of these straight and inform us ahead of time who we’ll be meeting and what we should call them.

Immediate Family

English Mandarin / 中文 Hanyu Pinyin / Mandarin Pronunciation Taiwanese / 台語* Taiwanese Pronunciation** Father 父親 父親 阿爸 a-pah Father (other way to say it) 爸爸 bàba 老爸 lāu-pē Mother 母親 mǔqīn 媽媽 má-mah Mother (other way to say it) 媽媽 māma 阿母 a-bú Older Brother 哥哥*** gēge*** 阿兄 a-hiann Younger Brother 弟弟*** dìdi*** 小弟 sió-tī Older Sister 姊姊*** jiějie*** 阿姊 a-tsí Younger Sister 妹妹*** mèimei*** 小妹 sió-muē/sió-bē Father-in-law (Wife's Father) 丈人 zhàngrén 丈人 tiūnn-lâng Father-in-law (Husband's father) 公公 gōnggong 大家官 ta-ke-kuann Mother-in-law (Wife's mother) 丈母娘 zhàngmǔniáng 丈姆 tiūnn-ḿ Mother-in-law (Husband's mother) 婆婆 pópo 大家 ta-ke Brother-in-law (married to older sister) 姊夫 jiěfu 姊夫 tsí-hu Brother-in-law (married to younger sister) 妹夫 mèifu 妹婿 muē-sài/bē-sài Brother-in-law (Husband's older brother) 大伯 dàbó 大伯 tuā-peh Brother-in-law (Husband's younger brother) 小叔 xiǎoshū 小叔 sió-tsik Sister-in-Law (married to older brother) 嫂子 sǎozi 阿嫂 a-só Sister-in-Law (married to younger brother) 弟妹 dìmèi 弟妹 tī-muē Sister-in-Law (Wife's older sister) 大姨子 dàyízi 大姨 tuā-î Sister-in-Law (Wife's younger sister) 小姨子 xiǎoyízi 小姨 sió-î Husband 丈夫 zhàngfu 翁婿 ang-sài Husband (additional) 老公 lǎogōng 翁 ang Wife 妻子 qīzi 牽的 khan--ê Wife (additional) 老婆 lǎopó 某 bóo Ex-husband 前夫 qiánfū 前翁 tsîng-ang Ex-wife 前妻 qiánqi 前某 tsîng-bóo Son 兒子 érzi 後生 hāu-senn/hāu-sinn Son-in-Law 女婿 nǚxu 囝婿 kiánn-sài Daughter 女兒 nǚér 女兒 lú-jî/lú-lî Daughter-in-law 媳婦 xífù 新婦 sin-pū Grandson (Son's child) 孫子 sūnzi 孫仔 sun-á Grandson (Daughter's child) 外孫子 wàisūn 外孫 guā-sun Grandaughter (Son's child) 孫女 sūnnǚ 查某孫 tsa-bóo-sun Grandaughter (Daughter's child) 外孫女 wàisūnnǚ

Father's Side

English Mandarin / 中文 Hanyu Pinyin / Mandarin Pronunciation Taiwanese / 台語* Taiwanese Pronunciation** Uncle (Father's older brother) 伯父 bófù 阿伯 a-peh Uncle (Father's younger brother) 叔叔 shūshu 阿叔 a-tsik Uncle (Married to father's sister) 姑丈 gūzhàng 姑丈 koo-tiūnn Aunt (Father's sister) 姑姑 gūgu 阿姑 a-koo Aunt (Married to Father's brother) 嬸嬸 shěnshen 阿嬸 a-tsím Grandfather 爺爺 yéye 阿公 a-kong Grandmother 奶奶 nǎinai 阿媽 a-má Great-Grandfather 曾祖父 zēngzǔfù 阿祖 a-tsóo Great-Grandmother 曾祖母 zēngzǔmǔ 阿祖 a-tsóo Great Uncle (Grandfather's older brother) 伯公 bógōng 伯公 peh-kong Great Uncle (Grandfather's younger brother) 叔公 shūgōng 叔公 tsik-kong Great Uncle (Married to Grandfather's sister) 姑丈公 gūzhànggōng 丈公 tiūnn-kong Great Aunt (Grandfather's Sister) 姑婆 gūpó 姑婆 koo-pô Great Aunt (Wife of Grandfather's brother) 嬸婆 shěnpó 嬸婆 tsím-pô Cousin (Father's brother's kids) 堂哥 / 堂弟 / 堂姊 / 堂妹**** tánggē / tángdì / tángjiě / tángmèi**** 堂兄/堂弟/堂姊/堂妹 tn̂g-hiann/tn̂g-tī/tn̂g-tsí/tn̂g-muē Cousin (Father's sister's kids) 表哥 / 表弟 / 表姊 / 表妹**** biǎogē / biǎodì / biǎojiě / biǎomèi**** 表兄/表弟/表姊/表妹 piáu-hiann/piáu-tī/piáu-tsí/piáu-muē Niece (Brother's daughter) 姪女 zhínǚ Niece (Sister's daughter) 外甥女 wàishēngnǚ Nephew (Brother's son) 姪子 zhízi 姪仔 ti̍t-á Nephew (Sister's son) 外甥 wàishēng 外甥 guē-sing

Mother's Side

English Mandarin / 中文 Hanyu Pinyin / Mandarin Pronunciation Taiwanese / 台語* Taiwanese Pronunciation** Uncle (Mother's brother) 舅舅 jiùjiu 阿舅 a-kū Uncle (Husband of Mother's sister) 姨丈 yízhàng 姨丈 a-tiūnn Aunt (Mother's sister) 姨媽 yímā 阿姨 a-î Aunt (Wife of Mother's brother) 舅媽 jiùmā 阿妗 a-kīm Grandfather 外公 wàigōng 外公 guā-kong Grandmother 外婆 wàipó 外媽 guā-má Great-Grandfather 外曾祖父 wàizēngzǔfù 阿祖 a-tsóo Great-Grandmother 外曾祖母 wàizēngzǔmǔ 阿祖 a-tsóo Great Uncle (Grandfather's brother) 舅公 jiùgōng 舅公 kū-kong Great Uncle (Husband of Grandfather's sister) 姨丈公 yízhànggōng 丈公 dǖn-gong Great Aunt (Grandfather's sister) 姨婆 yípó 姨婆 tiūnn-kong Great Aunt (Married to Grandfather's brother) 舅婆 jiùpó 舅婆 kīm-pô Cousin 表哥 / 表弟 / 表姊 / 表妹**** biǎogē / biǎodì / biǎojiě / biǎomèi**** 表兄/表弟/表姊/表妹 piáu-hiann/piáu-tī/piáu-tsí/piáu-muē

As you can see, some information is still missing. If you want to correct my spelling or have any other ideas for something to add, please contact me.

The issue has been brought up – what about step- family? Step-father? Step-sister? Well, there is no special way to say that in Chinese. A step-father is the same as father: 爸爸. At least that part is easy, right?

*Although Taiwanese is generally regarded as a spoken language, rather than a written one, we can use Mandarin characters (漢字) to represent the Taiwanese. When we do this, we either use a Mandarin character that represents the sound of the Taiwanese (e.g. 哇/wā is commonly used in Taiwanese to represent “I” rather than the Mandarin 我/wǒ) or, more commonly, we simply use the Mandarin and pronounce it in Taiwanese (e.g. 我國寶了 would be wāguóbǎole in Mandarin but it’s a famous Taiwanese saying pronounced like wāguòbòulei).[

**I’m using Pe̍h-ōe-jī, which is the standard in Taiwan. If you have any suggestions for better Romanization, please contact me.

***If you have only one older brother, you will simply call him 哥哥/gēgē or 大哥/dàgē. However, if you have two older brothers, the oldest will be 大哥/dàgē and the second oldest will be 二哥/èrgē for First Older Brother, Second Older Brother, and so on. Same goes for younger brothers and older and younger sisters. Thanks to Luuke for clearing this up.

****The cousins are grouped together here, but it should be noticed that they follow the same rules as brothers and sisters. That is, if the cousin is a male and is older than you, than he will be 表哥/biǎogē because 哥 is for your older brother. Follow the same rules for a younger male cousin and older and younger female cousins.