鹅妈妈（英语：Mother Goose），是一个典型的乡村妇女，其被认为是鹅妈妈故事跟童谣的原作者。至今为止尚没有任何特定的作家被认定就是鹅妈妈，这名字最早在一部韵体诗体裁的周记中被提及，且在好几年间经常性的出现，Jean Loret的《La Muse Historique》（1660年）：...comme un conte de la Mere Oye （“就像一则鹅妈妈故事”）。童话体裁的创始者夏尔·佩罗，在1695年使用他儿子的名字来出版一部名为“Contes de ma mère l'Oye”（即“鹅妈妈童谣”）的童话集。

The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes often published as (Old) Mother Goose's Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one nursery rhyme. A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom. The so-called "Mother Goose" rhymes and stories have formed the basis for many classic British pantomimes. Mother Goose is generally depicted in literature and book illustration as an elderly country woman in a tall hat and shawl, a costume identical to the peasant costume worn in Wales in the early 20th century, but is sometimes depicted as a goose (usually wearing a bonnet).