Family Members

Spanish Vocabulary

Immediate Family members in Spanish

padre: father
madre: mother
hijo: son
hija: daughter
esposo: husband
esposa: wife
padres: parents
hermano: brother
hermana: sister

Children will often call their father papá and their mother mamá. When saying or writing these words in Spanish, remember to put the accent on the final syllable or you will be saying another word. See what we wrote about this here: Dad, Pope or Potato – Papa Papá

The generic name for parents in Spanish is padres. Don't use Parientes which means relatives.

Mis padres viven en España. (My parents live in Spain)
Tengo parientes en Francia. (I have relatives in France)

The generic name for brothers and sisters in Spanish is hermanos. You don't need to say hermanos y hermanas as we do in English because the word hermanos includes them both.

Relatives and Extended Family in Spanish

tatarabuelo: great great grandfather
tatarabuela: great great grandmother
bisabuelo: great grandfather
bisabuela: great grandmother
abuelos: grandparents
abuelo: grandfather
abuela: grandmother
nietos: grandchildren
nieto: grandson
nieta: granddaughter
bisnieto: great grandson
bisnieta: great granddaughter

tío: tio
tía: tia
primos: cousins
primo: cousin (male)
prima: cousin (female)
sobrino: nephew
sobrina: niece

The generic name for uncles and aunts in Spanish is tios. You don't need to say tios y tias as we do in English because the word tios includes them both. The same rule applies for nephews and nieces (sobrinos).

The In-Laws in Spanish

The in-laws are the members of the family of your spouse (the person you are married to) or via a marriage in your family:

suegro: father-in-law
suegra: mother-in-law
yerno: son-in-law
nuera: daughter-in-law
cuñado: brother-in-law
cuñada: sister-in-law

The Family Mix

In some countries a person gets married more than once. These are the terms used to describe the "new" members of the family when someone gets remarried.

padrastro: stepfather
madrastra: stepmother
hijastro: stepson
hijastra: stepdaughter
hermanastro: stepbrother
hermanastra: stepsister

Sometimes one of your parents gets married again and they have more children. One of the parents of these children is your biological father/mother. These children are your:

medio hermano: half-brother
medio hermana: half-sister