Do you refer to non-biological relatives as family?

Question

I know a lot of people (both my sister's friends and some of my more distant cousins) that refer to non-biological or distant relatives as actual family.

For example, I know someone that calls a friend she's known since birth, cousin (even though they are not related at all), calls my dad uncle, and calls some other unrelated friends of her family "Aunt This" or "Uncle That". It kinda makes things confusing because I never know if this person is referring to a biological relative or not. This person is of Italian heritage.

Then, I also know someone else that refers to my parents as "mom and dad" (I think she does this more to be affectionate than other said person). Again, this is just a friend of the family. This person is Hispanic.

And then I have an actual relative, who is a semi-distant cousin. (I think like 2nd or 3rd --- possibly removed a couple of times --- I'm not sure exactly). He calls my dad uncle, where he's just a cousin (not a close one at that).

Why do they do it?

Answer 1

Almost everyone in my family does that, it just makes us feel closer to the person. Because like say the person is your best friend but you want to be closer calling them a cousin makes us feel closer. Most of my cousins are older then me (by like 20 or 30 years) calling them Aunt or Uncle has more of a respect aspect, unless we are close then I call then by their first names. Again it all has to do with being closer to people, also if you have known someone your whole life who has been like a mother/father/grandparent/aunt/uncle or whatever but is not biologically related to you, it shows that you actually cared about the person enough to make then part of you family
hope i helped

Answer 2

I don't know why people do that...I think it's messed up.
Just take life for what it is...my boys have a girl cousin that they love like a sister, but she is a cousin...always will be. My (very nice - I truly love her!) mother-in-law once told my son, "OH, K is like a sister!"... And K calls her grandma "Mom", which is confusing. So I made it very clear that K is to be called cousin and not sister.
Life is confusing enough!

Answer 3

The only non-biological relatives I refer to as family are my sister and brother-in-law. I may be closer to some non-relatives but I don't refer to them as family.

Answer 4

I do, but only a select few. It is because the bond is stronger with friends or distant relatives than it is with closer ones. Friends are the family we choose for ourselves, as the saying goes.

Answer 5

There are people who do that.

My younger brother-in-law has been with his girlfriend for almost six years. She had two children from a previous relationship when they met, and now, they have two children together. I consider her my sister-in-law, and I consider her two older children as my niece and my nephew (the rest of the family feels the same) simply because they've been around for so long.

Answer 6

yes. my parents have been friends with a family since before i was born and we call them aunt and uncle and me and my sister call their kids cousins.

Answer 7

Family is the people your closest too, not always your biological relatives. Some people have more of a bond with people other than their biological. My child has more of a bond with my fianace than her real father, because that's the man who has been daddy. It's all about who shows you love.

Answer 8

The mother of the children has the right to take them to her relatives. However, if the father can prove that the "parents" are dangerous or harmful for the children in a court of law then he can get restriction orders from the court to keep teh children away from her "parents"

Answer 9

yes people i know for a long time like my best friends i call them my cousin,brother,or sister because we are that close