Get used to saying councillor when referring to your city representative.

On Monday morning, city council voted 9-6 in favour of changing the title of alderman to councillor.

The vote ends years of controversy over the title alderman, which many said was sexist and dated.

"I think it's a symbol. It's an important symbol, and means this council is not married to the status quo and language is important," said Mary Valentich with Citizens for Calgary Councillors.

City aldermen voted to change their titles to the gender-neutral term councillor, used in most Canadian cities. Calgary is one of the last major jurisdictions in Canada to make the move.

"It makes a difference to young women who are looking to aspire to political life," said Ald. Gael MacLeod.

"It makes a difference to people who move to this city who don't know who an alderman is. It makes a difference in promoting the city and saying we are actually part of the 21st century."

However, MacLeod was the only woman on council to vote in favour of the motion.

Diane Colley-Urquhart and Druh Farrell both rejected the idea.

Farrell says city hall has a long way to go before it treats men and women equally. The fact that few women sit on the most influential committees shows there is a still a lot of work to be done, she added, and that she's worried this will be forgotten with the name change.

"It's window dressing. The title doesn't offend me. It's how we treat women. It's the fundamentals of our decision that is far more important yet that gets neglected," she said.

Andre Chabot, Ray Jones, Gord Lowe and John Mar also voted against the move.

Aldermen still have some time to get used to the new title. They won't officially become councilors until the next election. However, some of the more enthusiastic ones say they want to order new business cards and use the new title a lot sooner.

City administration estimates the cost of changing letterhead and signs immediately would run between $25,000 and $50,000. Since the titles won't be officially phased in for three more years, that dollar figure should end up being much lower.