Why can't we refer to our parents by their real names?

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To show them respect. I, personally, adressed my mom just by her first name up until I was 9. I just got used to it - my gran always called her by first name when I was little so I got used to. Btw, in China siblings don't call each other by their first names either from what I read.

I usually call my parents Mom and Dad, but do refer to them by the real names in contexts where such is required, for instance, when asking to speak to them on the telephone.

I always call my mother as "Mom" and my sister as "Sir."

Reasons why we don't call our parents by their real names:

1.} It would be awkward and sound weird.

2.} Like some people have said already, it would be disrespectful.

3.} Kids now may see their parents calling co-workers/other family members/each other by their first names as the norm.

4.} Kids, when at a small age, may be just testing their parents.

When I become a father, I want my {hypothetical, future} children to call me "Dad." Enough said.

Someone the other day asked me why I didn't call my parents Mom and Dad and instead used their real names...I don't know. That's what I do sometimes. Yes, it's a way to disengage I guess? Sorry, I've had enough heartache from them to not always feel like I should call them mom and dad...PS my son, prior to me calling my parents by their first names, has called them by their first names as well...

I remember calling my mother by her first name until I was 6-7 or so.

I don't say mom/dad, I say mother/father or my parents' first names.
The reason is that mom/dad is too endearing. The feeling of closeness is kinda uncomfortable to me.
I prefer to feel detached so I use detached language.

What's wrong calling my parents Mom and Dad? Calling them by their real names sounds very cold and impersonal. Also it sounds like Bart Simpson disrespecting his own dad by calling him Homer. Not that I entirely blame him, because we all know Homer would rather drink a beer than be Father Of The Year.

Apparently proper ladies at my age call their parents Mother and Father. That sounds stuffy and too formal, and who said I was a proper lady anyway? Pbbth!

I do so too, and I have since daycare age. According to my mother I said mom when I was a toddler, but I can't even remember saying anything other than their names.
I would be extremely awkward calling them mom or dad. I'm used to their names.

Maybe I started doing so because they called each other by name. IDK. They referred to my grandparents as grandmother and grandfather, and that may be the reason why I called my grandparents that. Once when I was little (ca 3) I did call my grandfather by name.

I've known since early elementary school that it was considered weird, but it's never bothered me.

I've never called my parents by their first names, and it'd be definitely insulting, but this doesn't mean mom and dad sound inherently respectful to me, either. Often, when they were angry with me, I didn't feel worthy of calling them this way, because I hadn't been a good son. I'm quite used to finding myself in damned if you do, damned if you don't situations, and they sometimes feel like the punishment I've earned. Not only are bad past deeds bad in and of themselves---they also make future deeds of yours worse than they'd otherwise be. Eventually, there's just no redemption for you.

...Hm .

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person on this site who is close to their parents at all.

Hierarchy. Parents are authority figures and are therefore considered worthy of titles from their children in most cultures. No different than calling someone "sir", "madam", "excellency", "lord", "king of the blue people", etc. Words like "mom", "dad", "mum", "papa", etc are contractions of "mother" and "father" or some child like equivalent.

I have read exactly 0 papers, articles, or books on this subject to back up my claims but I'm pretty sure that's how it goes.