Entry · catalog no. 0034
fam
/ fæm /FAM
noun · AAVE / nationwide · 2010s
✓ Verified
1.
One’s close friends or community, held as family.
“My fam been with me since day one.”
2.
(as address) A friendly term for another person.
“You already know, fam.”
Origin & Attribution
Clipping of family. Extends the Black tradition of kinship-as-community — where belonging is chosen, not only inherited — into everyday address.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
AAVE / nationwide · 2010s
Spoken by
Black communities nationwide
$FAMThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady4 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
68/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2012
in the culture
Recorded here
2024
point of first record
Mainstream crossover
2016
search interest spikes
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
See also