Filipino Family Terms: Kuya, Ate, Lolo, Tita and What They Mean

Cousin Chart Editorial · Reviewed by Joan Ramos · Updated October 2026 · 22 min read

Filipino family terms tell you who's older, not just who's related. Kuya is an older brother and ate (said "AH-teh") is an older sister, lolo and lola are grandfather and grandmother, and tito and tita are uncle and aunt. Many of these words stretch well past blood relatives too, so a neighbor, a family friend or the older girl at the corner store can be your ate.

This guide covers the full set: the birth-order titles diko, ditse, sangko and sanse, grandparents and grandchildren, pamangkin and pinsan, the in-law words bayaw, hipag, biyenan, manugang and balae, and godparent ties through ninong, ninang and inaanak. It also explains the respect words po and opo, the mano po greeting, and why several of these terms came into Tagalog from Chinese. Definitions follow the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the government agency for the national language, through its KWF Diksiyonaryong Filipino-English.

Filipino family terms at a glance

Here are the words you'll hear most often in a Filipino home. Filipino, the national language, is based mainly on Tagalog, so these are the Tagalog/Filipino forms. Other Philippine languages, such as Cebuano, Ilocano and Kapampangan, have their own words, and we note a few of them later.

A quick note on spelling and sound. Tagalog is written in the Latin alphabet, and the KWF dictionary marks stress with accent marks (kú•ya, á•te, ba•lá•e). Everyday writing leaves the accents off. Ate has two syllables, "AH-teh," and has nothing to do with the English word "ate."

Where Filipino family terms come from

Filipino kinship vocabulary is a blend of three layers, and knowing them makes the words easier to remember.

• Native Tagalog words. These cover the core relationships: kapatid (sibling), pinsan (cousin), pamangkin (niece or nephew), apo (grandchild), bayaw, hipag, biyenan, manugang, balae and bilas. Older forms like ama (father), ina (mother), amain (uncle) and ale (aunt) still turn up in formal writing and some provinces.
• Spanish loanwords. More than three centuries of Spanish rule left words like tito and tita (from tío and tía), lolo and lola (which the KWF dictionary traces to abuelo and abuela), kumpare and kumare (from compadre and comadre), and manong (from hermano).
• Chinese loanwords. Many of the respect titles for older siblings and senior relatives came from Chinese, brought by Chinese traders and settlers over centuries. These include ate, ditse, sanse, diko, sangko, inso, siyaho, ingkong and impo. We look at them closely below.

One big pattern stands out. Native Tagalog words mostly describe a relationship ("this is my cousin"), while the borrowed words are mostly titles you say to someone's face ("Ate, can you help me?"). That's why a Filipino might introduce someone as "my pinsan" but call her "Ate Joy" when talking to her.

Kuya, ate and the birth-order titles diko, ditse, sangko and sanse

Respect for older siblings is built into the language. You don't usually call an older brother or sister by just their first name. You add a title.

The KWF dictionary defines kuya as an "honorary appellation for an elder brother, cousin or a non-relative male person." It defines ate as an "honorific form of address for an elder sister or cousin," also used for any older woman, and lists its source as Chinese. So kuya and ate work in three circles: the family, cousins, and everyone else who's a bit older than you.

Some families go further and give each older child a title by birth order. Linguist Joseph Kess of the University of Victoria described this system in a 1981 paper, "On the Origins of Philippine Particle/Pronominal Sociolinguistic Use": kuya and ate for the oldest brother and sister, diko and ditse for the second oldest, and sangko and sanse for the third oldest.

The KWF dictionary confirms each one: diko is "the second eldest brother," ditse "the second eldest sister," sangko an "honorific appellation for the third eldest brother," and sanse an "honorific appellation for the third eldest sister," with Chinese given as its source language. Panganay means the firstborn and bunso means the youngest child.

How birth-order titles work in practice

Imagine a family with five children, in this order: Marco, Liza, Paolo, Ana and Ben. In a family that uses the full system:

• Marco is Kuya to everyone younger. He's the panganay.
• Liza is the oldest girl, so she's Ate, even though she's the second child.
• Paolo is the second son, so he's Diko.
• Ana is the second daughter, so she's Ditse.
• Ben is the bunso. He has no title, and everyone calls him Ben.

Notice that the count runs separately for boys and girls. Liza is the second child but the first daughter, so she gets the eldest-sister title. Each child also uses titles only for those older than them: Paolo calls Marco "Kuya" and Liza "Ate," but calls Ana and Ben by name.

Today most families, especially in cities and abroad, use only kuya and ate for all older siblings and add the name: "Kuya Marco," "Kuya Paolo," "Ate Liza," "Ate Ana." Diko, ditse, sangko and sanse are more common among older generations, in some provinces such as Bulacan and Batangas, and in Chinese-Filipino families. If you're not sure which a family uses, listen first.

Kuya and ate outside the family

You'll hear kuya and ate everywhere in the Philippines. Students call older schoolmates kuya and ate. Customers call a jeepney driver or a security guard kuya, and a store clerk or a household helper ate. It's friendly and polite, and it treats the other person as almost family. If you'd like to read more about family words used for non-relatives, see our article on fictive kin.

The Chinese-Filipino origins of Filipino family terms

Chinese merchants traded in the islands long before the Spanish arrived, and Chinese communities have been part of Philippine life ever since. The main heritage language of that community is Hokkien, a Chinese language from southern Fujian province. The University of the Philippines Diliman Department of Linguistics describes Philippine Hokkien as "the language of the majority of Filipino-Chinese", and Hokkien words have been absorbed into Tagalog.

Linguist Gloria Chan-Yap's 1980 study, Hokkien Chinese Borrowings in Tagalog, counted 163 Hokkien loanwords in Tagalog. Kinship terms are among the best known. Kess's 1981 paper points out that the roots in sangko and sanse look Chinese right away, and that carefully naming each child by birth order is a long-standing Chinese practice. The number roots give it away:

The KWF dictionary lists inso, siyaho, ingkong, impo, ate, ditse and sanse with Chinese as their source language. It gives the root of ate as a-ci, of sanse as sa-ci, of inso as a-so and of siyaho as cia-hu. Those roots are Hokkien pronunciations, which is why they don't sound like the Mandarin you may have studied.

What about kuya? The KWF dictionary entry doesn't list an origin, so we won't claim one here. It's often said to come from Chinese too, and it fits the same pattern of respectful titles for older siblings, but the evidence is less direct than for the numbered terms, which literally contain the Chinese words for two and three.

In Chinese-Filipino (Tsinoy) families, you may hear more of these words, plus Hokkien terms used as-is for grandparents and aunts and uncles. Usage varies a lot from family to family, so it's best to follow what each household does.

Grandparents and grandchildren: lolo, lola and apo

Lolo (grandfather) and lola (grandmother) are used on both sides of the family. Unlike Hindi or Chinese, Filipino doesn't have separate words for your father's parents and your mother's parents. To tell them apart, people add a place or name: "Lola sa Batangas," "Lolo Pedro."

The image behind sa tuhod ("at the knee") is a small child standing at an elder's knee, one generation further down. Grandparents are central in many Filipino households. Three generations often live together, and lolo and lola commonly help raise the apo.

Aunts, uncles and pamangkin: tito, tita and more

Tito and tita are the everyday words for uncle and aunt, borrowed from Spanish. The KWF dictionary lists tito as "uncle" and tita as "aunt; auntie," both from Spanish, with tiyo, tiyuhin and the older Tagalog amain as related words. You'll also hear tiyo and tiya, which sound a bit more old-fashioned or provincial.

Unlike Hindi, Filipino uses the same tito and tita for both sides and both ages. To be specific, people add the name ("Tita Baby," "Tito Boy") or a description ("my tita on my mom's side").

Tito and tita also go far beyond blood relatives. Your parents' close friends are your titos and titas, and so are the parents of your friends. Calling an older adult "Tita" is polite and warm.

Pamangkin is a nice example of a word that English doesn't have. The KWF dictionary defines it simply as "nephew or niece," so it works like the newer English word "nibling." Our guide what is a nibling explains the English equivalent.

Cousins in Filipino: pinsan, pinsang buo and pinsang makalawa

The word for cousin is pinsan. Like English "cousin," it doesn't show gender or which side of the family the cousin is on. Filipino does mark distance, though:

The KWF dictionary lists pinsang buo as "first cousin" and magpinsan as "cousins." Pinsang makalawa is the common phrase for a second cousin. For anything more distant, most families just say malayong pinsan, a distant cousin.

The degrees match English exactly: first cousins share grandparents, second cousins share great-grandparents. If you want the English side in more detail, read our guide to first cousin vs. second cousin.

Cousins are often as close as siblings in Filipino families, and older cousins get the same titles as older siblings. The KWF definitions of both kuya and ate include "cousin." So your older first cousin Mark is "Kuya Mark," exactly like an older brother would be.

Filipino in-law terms: bayaw, hipag, biyenan, manugang, balae and bilas

Filipino has a compact, useful set of in-law words. Some of them, like balae and bilas, name relationships English has no single word for.

A few details from the KWF dictionary are worth knowing. Biyenan can mean both parents-in-law together, and the dictionary also gives the spelling biyanan. Manugang covers a son- or daughter-in-law, and the dictionary includes a nephew- or niece-in-law too. Bilas is the "spouse of one's sibling-in-law." In English, that's sometimes called a co-sibling-in-law, and our guide to co-siblings-in-law explains it.

Balae: the word English is missing

When two people marry, their parents become balae to each other. The KWF dictionary defines balae as "parent of one's son- or daughter-in-law". Parents often call each other "Balae" as a friendly form of address. English speakers usually have to say "my child's in-laws" or "co-in-laws," which our article on what your child's in-laws are to you covers. The dictionary also notes that kumpare and kumare can mean the father and mother of your child's spouse, so you may hear those words used between balae too.

In-laws in everyday address

In practice, Filipinos rarely call in-laws by the relationship word to their face. A wife will often call her husband's parents "Mama" and "Papa" or "Nanay" and "Tatay," just as her husband does. Older siblings-in-law get kuya and ate. The words bayaw, hipag and biyenan are used mostly when describing the relationship to someone else: "Siya ang bayaw ko" (He's my brother-in-law).

Ninong, ninang and inaanak: godparents as family

Godparents are a big deal in the Philippines, where most people are Catholic. A child's sponsors at baptism become their ninong (godfather) and ninang (godmother), and the child becomes their inaanak (godchild). The KWF dictionary defines ninong and ninang as a godfather or godmother, or a sponsor at a baptism, confirmation or wedding, with padrino and madrina as related Spanish words.

This system of ritual co-parenthood is called compadrazgo, and it came with the Spanish. The KWF dictionary defines kompadre as a man who sponsors your child at baptism, a close male friend, or the father of your child's spouse. That's why Filipino men often call close friends "pare," a short form of kumpare.

How many ninongs and ninangs?

Church law and Filipino custom differ here. The Catholic Church's Code of Canon Law says there should be only one sponsor, or one male and one female, and that a sponsor should generally be at least 16, confirmed, and not the child's own parent. In the Philippines, though, it's common to have many secondary sponsors at a baptism or wedding, sometimes a dozen or more. Families invite relatives, friends, bosses and respected community members, and all of them are called ninong or ninang afterward.

The relationship lasts for life. Godchildren greet their ninong and ninang with mano po, visit them at Christmas, and often receive gifts. Godparents are expected to guide the child and, traditionally, help if the family falls on hard times. Wedding sponsors often act as advisers to the couple. Whether godparents count as "family" is a question many cultures ask; our article are godparents family? looks at it in detail.

Po, opo and mano po: the language of respect

Family terms in Filipino come with a respect system that's just as important as the words themselves. Two pieces matter most: the particles po and opo, and the mano gesture. Both come from Tagalog/Filipino culture and are used across the country.

Po and ho

Po is a small word you add to a sentence to show respect. The KWF dictionary calls po a "politeness marker when addressing a superior, elder, or stranger". It usually comes right after the first word or phrase:

• "Salamat." (Thanks.) becomes "Salamat po." (Thank you, sir/ma'am.)
• "Kumain ka na?" (Have you eaten?) becomes "Kumain na po kayo?" when you ask an elder.
• "Ano?" (What?) becomes "Ano po?" (Pardon me? What did you say?)

In the second example, notice that the pronoun changes too, from ka (you, singular) to kayo (you, plural). Using the plural "you" for one person is another way of showing respect. Kess's 1981 paper describes this pairing of the respect particles with the plural pronoun as the key formal device for showing respect in Tagalog.

Ho is a slightly less formal version of po. It's still respectful and common in everyday talk with strangers, vendors and older people you don't know well. With your own grandparents and parents, po is the safer choice.

Opo and oho

Tagalog has three ways to say "yes," depending on respect. Kess lays them out as opo, oho and plain oo, matching po, ho and no particle. The KWF dictionary defines opo as "yes," a respectful form of oo.

For "no," you just add the particle to hindi: "Hindi po" is a respectful no. Kess notes that younger siblings don't usually use the respect particles with older siblings; the title kuya or ate does that job instead. Children are taught po and opo from a very young age, and forgetting them with an elder can come across as rude.

Mano po

The mano (also called pagmamano) is a greeting in which a younger person takes an elder's hand and gently presses the back of it to their own forehead. The KWF dictionary describes mano as a gesture of greeting in which an elder's or superior's hand is pressed to one's forehead, or kissed, to show respect. The word comes from the Spanish mano, meaning "hand."

Here's how it usually goes:

1. You approach your lolo, lola, tito, tita, ninong or ninang and say "Mano po."
2. The elder offers their right hand, usually palm down.
3. You take it lightly with your right hand, bow your head, and touch the back of their hand to your forehead.
4. The elder often answers with a blessing, such as "God bless you" or "Kaawaan ka ng Diyos" (May God have mercy on you).

Filipino children do this when they arrive at a relative's house, when an elder visits, and at gatherings like Christmas and New Year. Families who live abroad often keep the custom, and many grandparents notice when a grandchild remembers to do it.

A short phrasebook for family visits

If you're visiting Filipino relatives for the first time, or helping kids raised abroad connect with their lolo and lola, these few phrases go a long way. Each one pairs a family title with po.

• "Mano po, Lola." The greeting with the hand-to-forehead gesture.
• "Kumusta po kayo, Tito?" How are you, Uncle? (Note the respectful plural kayo.)
• "Salamat po, Ninang." Thank you, Godmother.
• "Opo, Ate." Yes, older sister.
• "Ingat po kayo." Take care, said when an elder leaves.
• "Paalam po." Goodbye, said politely.

Even if the rest of the conversation is in English, using the right title and adding po shows that you know and respect how the family works. Relatives tend to appreciate the effort far more than perfect pronunciation.

Regional words you'll hear

The Philippines has more than a hundred languages, and family words vary across them. A few you're likely to hear even in Tagalog-speaking areas:

• Manong and manang. Common in the Ilocos region and across northern Luzon, and widely known elsewhere. The KWF dictionary traces manong to Spanish hermano and defines it as a term for an older brother, male cousin or any older male. Manang is the female form.
• Nanay and tatay. Mother and father in Tagalog. Many families use Mama and Papa, Mommy and Daddy, or Inay and Itay instead.
• Kapatid. The general word for sibling, regardless of gender or age.
• Kuya and ate in other languages. The KWF dictionary points to kaka and manoy as related forms of kuya used in other regions.

Many Filipino families switch freely between Tagalog, English and a regional language at home, so you may hear "Tita," "Auntie" and "Manang" all aimed at the same woman. None of them is wrong. Follow what the family itself uses.

Common mix-ups with Filipino family terms

1. Reading "ate" as the English word. It's "AH-teh," two syllables, meaning older sister.
2. Using kuya or ate for someone younger. These titles always point up the age ladder. A younger sibling or cousin is called by name.
3. Thinking tito and tita only mean blood relatives. They're also respectful titles for your parents' friends and your friends' parents.
4. Mixing up bayaw and hipag. Bayaw is a brother-in-law and hipag is a sister-in-law.
5. Mixing up biyenan and manugang. Biyenan points up (your spouse's parents); manugang points down (your child's spouse).
6. Confusing balae with bilas. Balae are the two sets of parents; bilas are people married to siblings.
7. Calling the youngest child "bunso" as a title in formal settings. It's affectionate and fine at home, but it's a nickname, not a respect title.
8. Forgetting po with elders. With grandparents, godparents, teachers and older strangers, add po and use opo for yes.

Try it yourself: worked examples

Example 1: Angela's family

Angela is 15. Her parents are Rey and Maricel. Rey's parents are Lolo Ramon and Lola Fe. Maricel's sister is Grace, who is married to Dan. Grace and Dan have a son, Miguel, who is 18.

• Lolo Ramon and Lola Fe are Angela's lolo and lola, and she's their apo.
• Grace is Angela's tita, and Dan is her tito. Angela is their pamangkin.
• Miguel is Angela's pinsang buo (first cousin). He's older, so she calls him "Kuya Miguel."
• When Angela visits, she says "Mano po" to Lolo, Lola, Tita Grace and Tito Dan.

Example 2: Angela's parents' in-laws

• To Maricel, Lolo Ramon and Lola Fe are her biyenan. To them, she's their manugang.
• To Rey, Grace is his hipag and Dan is his bilas, because Rey and Dan are married to sisters.
• To Grace, Rey is her bayaw.

Example 3: Miguel gets married

Miguel marries Bea. Bea's parents and Grace and Dan are now balae. Grace and Dan's friend Tito Jun is a wedding sponsor, so he becomes the couple's ninong, and Miguel and Bea are his inaanak. When Miguel and Bea have a baby, Angela becomes the baby's first cousin once removed in English genealogy. In Filipino, the baby will simply call her "Tita Angela" or "Ate Angela," depending on the family's habit.

Example 4: Birth-order titles

Bea has three older brothers (Carlo, Jon and Rico, from oldest down) and one older sister, Mae, who is the second child overall. In a family that uses the full system, Bea calls Carlo "Kuya," Jon "Diko," Rico "Sangko," and Mae "Ate." Mae is the oldest daughter, so she's Ate, not Ditse, even though she comes second in the family.

Work out any relationship with the calculator

Filipino family terms are generous: almost every older person is a kuya, ate, tito or tita. That warmth is wonderful, but it can make it hard to know how you're actually related to someone at a big family reunion. When you want the exact answer, such as whether that "Tita" is your mom's first cousin or your second cousin, pick the two people and their shared ancestor and try our free family relationship calculator.

Keep reading: Hindi Family Relationship Names: Chacha, Mama, Bua, Mausi and More and Chinese Family Relationship Terms: What to Call Every Relative (With Chart).

Frequently Asked Questions

What do kuya and ate mean?

Kuya means older brother and ate (pronounced AH-teh) means older sister. They're titles of respect that younger siblings use instead of the older sibling's bare first name, as in Kuya Marco or Ate Liza. The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino dictionary notes that both are also used for older cousins and for non-relatives, so Filipinos call an older schoolmate, a driver or a store clerk kuya or ate. They always point up the age ladder: you never call someone younger than you kuya or ate.

Can you call a non-relative tito or tita?

Yes, and it's very common. Filipinos call their parents' close friends, their friends' parents and many older family acquaintances tito (uncle) or tita (aunt). It's a polite, warm way to address an adult you know personally, and it treats them almost as family. With an older adult you've just met, such as a stranger in a shop, people are more likely to use kuya, ate, manong, manang, sir or ma'am. Add po when you speak to any of them.

What is the difference between diko, ditse, sangko and sanse?

They're birth-order titles for older siblings. Diko is the second-eldest brother and ditse the second-eldest sister. Sangko, also spelled sanko, is the third-eldest brother and sanse the third-eldest sister. The eldest brother and sister are kuya and ate. Boys and girls are counted separately, so the oldest daughter is always ate even if she's the second child. These titles come from Chinese, where the number words for two and three are part of the term. Many families today use only kuya and ate.

Are Filipino family terms from Chinese?

Some are. Many of the respect titles for older siblings and senior relatives came from Hokkien, the main heritage language of Chinese Filipinos. The KWF dictionary lists ate, ditse, sanse, inso, siyaho, ingkong and impo with Chinese as their source language, and diko and sangko clearly contain the Chinese words for two and three. Other terms come from Spanish, such as tito, tita, lolo, lola, kumpare and kumare, while core words like pinsan, pamangkin, bayaw, hipag and balae are native Tagalog.

What does mano po mean?

Mano po is a respectful greeting to an elder. Mano comes from the Spanish word for hand, and po adds respect. As you say it, you take the elder's right hand and lightly press the back of it to your forehead. Children do this with grandparents, aunts, uncles and godparents when they arrive or leave, and at gatherings like Christmas. The elder often responds with a blessing such as God bless you. The gesture is called pagmamano.

When should you use po and opo?

Use po and opo when you speak to anyone older than you or in authority: grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, godparents, teachers, bosses and older strangers. Po goes after the first word or phrase of a sentence, as in Salamat po (thank you). Opo is the respectful way to say yes, and hindi po is a respectful no. A slightly less formal pair, ho and oho, is common with older strangers and vendors. With friends, siblings and younger people, you can leave them out and say oo for yes.

What is the difference between bayaw, hipag and bilas?

Bayaw is a brother-in-law: your spouse's brother or your sister's husband. Hipag is a sister-in-law: your spouse's sister or your brother's wife. Bilas is the spouse of your spouse's sibling, which English has no simple word for. If you and another man are married to two sisters, you're each other's bilas, and the same goes for two women married to brothers. The KWF dictionary defines bilas as the spouse of one's sibling-in-law.

What does balae mean?

Balae means co-parent-in-law, the relationship between two sets of parents whose children are married to each other. The KWF dictionary defines it as the parent of one's son- or daughter-in-law. If your daughter marries Paolo, Paolo's parents are your balae and you're theirs. Parents often call each other Balae directly as a friendly title. English has no single word for this, so people say co-in-laws or my child's in-laws instead.

What is the difference between ninong, ninang and inaanak?

Ninong is a godfather and ninang is a godmother. They're the sponsors at a child's baptism, and the word also covers sponsors at confirmation and weddings. The child or couple they sponsor is their inaanak, meaning godchild. The child's parents and the godparents call each other kumpare and kumare. Filipino families often have many secondary sponsors, so one child may have several ninongs and ninangs, and the tie usually lasts for life, with visits and gifts at Christmas.

Sources

We checked every source below while writing this guide. Last reviewed October 30, 2026, by Joan Ramos.

1. KWF Diksiyonaryong Filipino-English: kuya (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)
2. KWF Diksiyonaryong Filipino-English: ate (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)
3. KWF Diksiyonaryong Filipino-English: sanse (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)
4. KWF Diksiyonaryong Filipino-English: balae (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)
5. KWF Diksiyonaryong Filipino-English: po (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)
6. KWF Diksiyonaryong Filipino-English: mano (Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino)
7. On the Origins of Philippine Particle/Pronominal Sociolinguistic Use (Joseph F. Kess, 1981) (Working Papers of the Linguistics Circle, University of Victoria)
8. Philippine Hokkien: Then and Now (Linguistics Special Lecture Series 2025) (Department of Linguistics, University of the Philippines Diliman)
9. Hokkien Chinese Borrowings in Tagalog (Gloria Chan-Yap, Pacific Linguistics, 1980) (The Lannang Archives)
10. Code of Canon Law, Book IV, Canons 834-878 (Baptism sponsors, cann. 872-874) (The Holy See)