I have attempted to show the way in which the terms "mother" and "father"—and, to a lesser degree, other family epithets—play a symbolic part in maintaining and reinforcing the incest taboo in contemporary life. While I have focused on the effect of the incest taboo on family names, I do not mean to exclude the possibility of other modifying factors exerting an influence on the particular form of the name used in certain families. For example, a family which is formal and obsessionally removed from affects may encourage the terms "Mother" or "Mater," whereas another family may employ the more familiar forms "Mom" or "Ma" (see 21). A strict tyrannical father may insist on being called "Sir" or "S.J.," his initials used by business associates, etc. However, they are merely modifications and on the same usage level as the terms "mother" and "father."