Familiar or colloquial terms for mother in English are:

mum or mummy, is used in the UK & parts of Canada (especially Eastern Canada), Australia, and New Zealand;

mom or mommy, in most of North America (especially the U.S.). Mommy is considered baby talk. Most adults in these regions switch to the term mom as they approach the teen years. This term is also used in the British West Midlands.

mam or mammy, North Wales, the South Wales valleys, Ireland, North and the East Midlands of England;

mama and ma, in parts of the middle east, Latin America, other Spanish-speaking cultures and The Netherlands. Mama is often used in rural areas of the midwest and south eastern regions of the US. Ma is a common term in various parts of the US including the north east.

In many other languages, similar pronunciations apply; maman in French and Farsi(Persian),maadar in Farsi(Persian), or mamma in Italian, or mãe in Portuguese. Mama, borrowed from the English, is in common use in Japan. In many south Asian cultures, and the middle east the mother is known as amma or oma or ammi or “ummi”, or variations thereof. Many times these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child’s life. The word originates from the Sanskrit mothru or motharaha and has taken various forms all over the world.[citation needed]