Babies' first words

Thanks to everyone who has sent in their babies' first words. Mama and Dada have been the most popular first words, but there have also been a wide range of interesting and unusual early words and associated stories. Following are just a few.

Baby's name	First word	Story behind the word
Adam John	Oscar	Oscar is the cat next door. When Oscar comes in to the house, he always says 'hello' to Adam
Aidan	Croco	He had a book with pictures of animals in it and the crocodile was his favourite
Alison	Doptit	Whenever she dropped something
Alison	Endovit	When the credits came up at the end of Postman Pat
Anaya	Boo boo	Cat's name
Angel	Eddy	This was her sister's name, Elsie, pronounced 'Eddy'
Ann	Again	Looking for more biscuits
Anna	Goo	Anna said 'goo' for juice, picked up from hearing 'there you go' when she was handed her cup by her mum
Benjamin	There	Said while pointing at everything and anything
Dylan	Marmalade	He always wants marmalade on his toast after his porridge
Ella	Pop	When a balloon she was holding burst she copied the word pop
Ellie	Leaf	She liked watching leaves blowing on trees and on the ground
Eliza	Shoe	Looking at her new shoes in awe and wonder
Emily	Batman	As her brother loved Batman
Ewan	Look	Used for anything new or exciting, copying his parents saying 'look at the.'
Girl, aged 10 months	And me	Attempt to keep up with her sisters
India	Book	As her parents used to look through books with her and repeatedly tell her what they were
Isaac	Doggy - woof woof	Said when looking at the china dogs at his nana's house
Jack	Juice
Jake	Whatsat	While on holidays, his parents spent a lot of time pointing things out and saying 'What's that Jake?'
Jala	Achoo!	Parents always said 'Achoo!' to Jala when she sneezed
James	Bar-bite (Marmite)	Used as a full time observation tool by James - shopping causes great excitement as does opening the cupboard or fridge to find the Marmite there
Joanna	Cracker	Because her granddad used to eat a lot of crackers
Joseph	Weather	As he liked watching the weather forecast on TV with his Dad
Joshua	Duck
Kate	Quack quack	Kate started saying quack quack when her parents played with her rubber duck in the bath. Now she gets very excited whenever she sees ducks or chicks in books
Libby	The Grandad	After hearing her 10-year-old brother saying Grandad
Malli	Airplane	His grandmother came to look after him and took him to spot airplanes in his garden, ever since it has been his favourite thing to do
Max	Oh dear!	He would say it whenever he dropped something (often)
Mieka	Brefkist	She couldn't get her tongue around the word breakfast
Milly	Hat	As she loved putting on hats
Molly	Bear	As mum's old bear was always on her bed
Olivia	Grandad	Grandad was behind the newspaper and she wanted his attention, so for the first time demanded it and was utterly delighted with his response
Sam	City	Manchester City is dad's favourite football team
Scarlett	Hi	Imitating her mother
Tobias	Ninna	Tobias' mum used to say 'Are you ready for dinner? Are you? It's dinner time"
Tom	Fish	He loved watching fish in his friend's aquarium
Zac	Tractor	From a book and was the only word spoken for many weeks
Zoe	Light	When changing her nappy, Zoe's parents used to point to the light to keep her occupied

If you would like to share your baby's first - or second - word, email the word and the story that goes with it to sarah.cheetham@literacytrust.org.uk or download our Baby's First Word kit.