Dada is the most common babies first word in the UK!

Any child’s first words is always a memorable moment for any parent. Searches for ‘baby first words’ has gone up by +150% over the past 12 months1, showing our continued fascination with what our child’s first words might be, and how much we could potentially influence them.

With that in mind, just what are the most common first words for babies across the UK, and are there any hidden surprises in store that excited parents can use to embarrass their children when they’re older?

Life insurance broker, Reassured, took it upon themselves to survey 1,000 parents across the UK to find out what the most common first words for babies were.

The survey reveals thar the winner was dada (28%) but mums around the country do not worry as mama (24%) with the third most common word, Mummy, only being spoken 6.2% of the time.

Other common words included the classic Mummy and Daddy, as well as Cat and Doggy, perhaps indicating that the inclusion of a family pet may influence a child’s potential first words.

Interestingly, and perhaps rather shockingly, 1 in 20 (5%) of all first spoken words were mainly swear words. We’ve no doubt that parents were shocked when their little angels uttered a sudden expletive out of the blue.

Looking across the country, there is a definitive common trend with mama and dada appearing in the top three words for all cities. But which cities favoured their mum or dad:

Birmingham – Dada 28%

Bristol – Mama 27%

Cardiff – Dada 40%

Edinburgh – Dada 24%

Glasgow – Dada 24%

Leeds – Dada 33%

Liverpool – Dada 41%

London – Dada 25%

Manchester – Dada – 27%

Newcastle – Dada 42%

Norwich – Mama 36%

Nottingham – Mama 31%

Sheffield – Dada 27%

Southampton – Dada 31%

With regards to a baby’s first words, a spokesperson for Reassured said the following: “There is certainly a correlation that suggests babies are more to try and repeat the words spoken by their parents, whether that’s choice words or the accidental rude word that slips out. Babies are always listening and learning, so parents should be careful what they say around them.”