Armenian Family Words: Mother, Father, and Everyone In Between

Family vocabulary is some of the most-used vocabulary in everyday Armenian conversation — people ask about your family constantly, and it's often one of the first real conversations you'll have.

Immediate family

• մայր (mayr) — mother
• հայր (hayr) — father
• քույր (k'uyr) — sister
• եղբայր (yegh-bayr) — brother
• երեխա (ye-re-kha) — child
• ամուսին (a-mu-sin) — spouse / husband
• կին (kin) — wife / woman

Extended family

• տատիկ (ta-tik) — grandmother
• պապիկ (pa-pik) — grandfather
• մորաքույր (mo-ra-k'uyr) — aunt (mother's side)
• հորաքույր (ho-ra-k'uyr) — aunt (father's side)
• քեռի (k'e-ri) — uncle (mother's side)
• հորեղբայր (ho-regh-bayr) — uncle (father's side)
• զարմիկ (zar-mik) — cousin (male)
• զարմուհի (zar-mu-hi) — cousin (female)

A detail worth knowing

Notice that aunts and uncles have different words depending on whether they're on your mother's or father's side — Armenian, like several other languages, distinguishes maternal and paternal relatives more precisely than English does. This is genuinely useful to know early, since it's the kind of detail that comes up the moment you're introduced to someone's extended family.

Talking about your own family

A simple, useful pattern: Իմ [family word]-ը... ("My [family member] is...") lets you build real sentences immediately. For example, Իմ մայրը Երևանից է — "My mother is from Yerevan."

Where to go next

Once family words feel comfortable, Armenian numbers and colors round out the core vocabulary you'll lean on daily — or start from the Armenian alphabet if you're still building up to reading these words yourself.