Baba (honorific)
Baba is an honorific term, of Persian origin, used in India and several West Asian and South Asian cultures.
It is used as a mark of respect to refer to Hindu and Sikh ascetics and is used as a suffix or prefix to their names, e.g. Sai Baba, Baba Ramdevji, etc. Baba is also a title accorded to the head of certain order of Sufi monks, as in Baba Bulleh Shah and Rehman Baba. The term was also adopted in Malaysia as an honorific of respect to address Chinese people born in British Straits Settlement.
Baba is also the familiar word for "father" in many languages ; in India it has even been adapted to address male children.
