What it means
ناپدری (nâpedari) means stepfather, the man married to one’s mother who is not one’s birth father. Like its counterpart نامادری (nâmâdari, stepmother), it is formed from pure Persian roots: the negating prefix nâ-, the noun pedar (father), and the nominalizing suffix -i. The word is neutral and appears in legal contexts, school documents, and everyday conversation. A related term sometimes heard in formal writing is پدرخوانده (pedar-khânde), which more specifically means adoptive or godfather-type father, so the two are not fully interchangeable.
How to use it
- ناپدریم اسمش رضاست. (nâpedari-am esm-esh Rezâ-st.) “My stepfather’s name is Reza.”
- با ناپدریم رابطه خوبی دارم. (bâ nâpedari-am râbete-ye khubi dâram.) “I have a good relationship with my stepfather.”
- ناپدریش اونو بزرگ کرده. (nâpedari-sh unu bozorg karde.) “His stepfather raised him.”
- مامانم با ناپدریم ده ساله ازدواج کرده. (mâmânam bâ nâpedari-am dah sâl-e ezdevâj karde.) “My mother has been married to my stepfather for ten years.”
Cultural note
In Iranian family law and school registration forms ناپدری is the standard term for stepfather, used alongside نامادری (nâmâdari, stepmother) on official documents. As remarriage has become more common in urban Iran, families navigate stepparent relationships with varying degrees of formality: some children address a stepfather by his first name, others use بابا (bâbâ) or بابای دوم (bâbâ-ye dovvom, second dad). There is no single prescribed form of address, and families work it out privately.