maman (French)

Where does "maman" come from?

The French noun 'maman' comes from Middle French 'memmen'[1]. It originated in natural baby talk, though its development was possibly influenced by the Latin word 'mamma'[1].

Open questions

• The potential influence of Latin mamma on the development of the French word remains uncertain. [1]

Full etymology tree

• maman (French), 'mummy, mommy, mom, mum'
  • inherited memmen (Middle French)
    • influenced by mamma (Latin), 'breast'

Descendants and derived words

• belle-maman (French)
• grand-maman (French)
• manman (Haitian Creole)
• مامان (Persian)
• mamã (Portuguese)
• mamá (Spanish)
• mamá (Spanish)

Sources

1. maman (French) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris