To want my adult niece and nephew to call my Aunty Emma?

[egaley]

AIBU? Am I old fashioned?

I have an adult nephew and niece (28 and 26). They have always called me Aunty Emma.

We were having a big family meal and my cheeky nephew called me just “Emma” when he wanted to say something. I corrected him and asked him why he called me Emma, my name is Aunty Emma!

Nope.

I'm 32 and call my aunties and uncles auntie ... and uncle ....

Feels weird not saying it 😂

I have a great auntie in her 70s who we all call Auntie Elsie. Including my mum who’s in her 50s. It just wouldn’t feel right to drop the Auntie!

i have 2 other aunties but they’re by marriage and I rarely called them auntie to begin with. My great auntie is my only blood relative auntie which is maybe why it’s stuck.

im 38 and all my nieces and nephews call me Auntie (then my nickname). It’s super cute. The eldest is 11. One day when she’s older she might drop the auntie and that’s fine.

I think yabu op.

The irony

It’s Aunty or Uncle in my family regardless of how old the child is and my eldest is now 46. Even older people outside of the family would be referred to as Aunty or Uncle.

We’re all in our 40s and 50s now and it’s never even occurred to me or my siblings and cousins to drop the Auntie/Uncle.
In fact DM has an aunt in her 90s who is still ‘Aunt Mary’
As adults we dropped the honorary Aunt/Uncle we used to use as children for parents’ friends, cousins etc. But for actual aunts and uncles (and greats) that’s just who they are - personally, dropping it would just feel really weird and uncomfortable for me, like starting to call my parents by their first names.

"I don't think most British and Irish people expect adults to use the aunt and uncle titles."

My experience has been very different. I have eight sets of aunts/uncles (my mum has three siblings and my dad had five siblings).

On both sides of the family it was normal to use those titles.

Growing up it was aunty and uncle, but as adults it is aunt and uncle.

My DH was born abroad and in his family it is also common for adults to use aunt/uncle. Although, interestingly, in their language there isn't the diminutive that is equivalent to "aunty" - well, at least there isn't one that doesn't have a negative connotation.

"I'd be wary that if you're correcting grown men and women about this that you're behaving similarly about other stuff too."

I'd definitely agree with you here though.

It's not. In my culture we would never dream of calling an aunty or uncle by the first name. Even our parents friends are aunties and uncles.

It's just a form of respect which may not exist in anglo- saxon culture but it does in many others.

I'd correct my neices and nephews if they didn't call me aunty.

Not Caribbean but I've always grown up with adults calling older adults aunty/uncle. Can't see what's weird about it.

Too overfamiliar yet also detached to drop the title from aunty like she's any random from the street. It's nice to have titles to show meaning and respect.

Same here! Saying that, I’ve noticed my brother sometimes call my uncle by his name recently (without the ‘uncle’), which sounds odd to me (not saying it is, just that it’s not what I’m used to).

He's 28 and you call him "cheeky" for not calling you Aunty - seriously?

I agree. Personally, I quite like still using these titles 😊.

I'm Needsomewarmsunshine to everyone, other than adult dc, their choice, but first name to grandkids, the world and its wife. Never have used titles except for Mrs.
Don't care for relation titles either always sound jarring , first names provided other party is okay with it.

No, of course yanbu. It's your special term of affection. It's fine to ask, but they may choose not to do it. Nothing remotely wrong with asking though.

YANBU - I’m in my forties and still call my Aunties “Auntie Jane/Sue/Jackie”.

I haven't used 'Aunty' or 'Uncle' since I was a child, just first names. I would find it odd to hear an adult talking about their 'Aunty X'

Well, if you want to be called "aunty" and it feels special to you then I don't see the harm. It's hardly the worst crime and you are, in fact, their aunty. I always continued to use the term until my respective aunties and uncles died. However, I personally wouldn't correct them or embarrass them if they decide at nearly 30 years old to call you just Emma.

To be honest, I wouldn’t even consider my aunt or uncles husbands or wives either, so they wouldn’t even get any title. They are just married to my aunt or uncle. For example, my mum’s sister is Anne and her husband James. She is my aunt, he is just James.

I still call my Aunts and Uncles Aunt xx and Uncle XX even though 2 aren't very much older than me. It's a sign of respect and one Aunt in particular likes it!

Totally normal in my family. I am 39 but have cousins mid 40s and we all still use Aunty and Uncle. I cannot ever imagine using their real names and I expect my many nieces and nephews to do the same.

It is a nice thing in my book :)

Same here, it’s a mark of respect for your elders in my family. Really shocked to see how many people don’t do this. It’s not my experience with any of my friends either, they call aunts and uncles aunt Jane not just their name too

How pompous of you.

Don't be surprised if contact is much reduced from here onwards.

Ridiculous.

Is it a uk or English thing? I’m In Ireland and and I don’t know anyone who does that here!!!

In my neck of the woods we all still call them Auntie whatever...

It's not the done thing at all to use first names. It's seen as a sign of respect.

This applies to biological family and also parent's best friends you grew up with.

it occurs to me to ask OP one of the MN standard questions
"Is this a hill you want to die on?"