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If you are older than your uncle or aunt, do you still address them as 叔母さん or
叔父さん? I see no reason why you wouldn't, but I recall once seeing a description
saying that family titles are only used for elder relatives.
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2015-08-10T12:02:05.340
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2023-01-29T18:38:48.403
2023-01-29T18:38:48.403
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question
word-choice words culture kinship-terms
Younger uncles and aunts
There are obviously no official "rules" regarding the matter as it is
something that each family should decide on.

In the vast majority of families, howeber, one would **_not_** be taught to
address one's younger uncle or aunt as 「叔父{おじ}さん」 or 「叔母{おば}さん」, respectively.
That would be almost unthinkable.

How one would be taught to address them by one's parents and other adults in
the family would differ from one family to another. Most would go with 「first
name + くん/ちゃん」 or using nicknames which also would also often end with
「くん/ちゃん」.

If your uncle or aunt were even a year older, you are likely to be taught to
address them as 「おにいちゃん(or さん)」 or 「おねえちゃん(or さん)」 as well as using 「first
name + くん/ちゃん/さん」.

When I was a kid, my father's youngest sister was just a little over 20 and
single and my mother's youngest sister, still a high schooler. I was
**_strictly_** forbidden to address or refer to them as 「叔母さん」 because that
would have made them "look" unnecessarily older to the public eye.

So I grew up addressing and referring to my father's sister as 「おねえちゃん」 and my
mother's sister as 「first name + ちゃん」.

Now that everyone is old enough, I use 「おばさん」 in addressing and 「おば」 in
referring to those two aunts.
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2015-08-10T12:49:34.273
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answer
I think many people will feel uneasy if they are addressed as 叔母さん/叔父さん by
someone older than them, even when they're 叔母/叔父 by definition. This is true
especially when your 叔父/叔母 is relatively young.

There is no single safe answer for this, but practically, you can just ask
your aunt/uncle how to address them, saying something like
「叔父さんって呼ぶのは変だよね、なんて呼べばいいかな」. They may allow you to address them using their
nickname. But it greatly depends on the relationship of you and your
aunt/uncle.
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2015-08-10T12:50:27.713
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answer