Names for Grandparents!

[ChickenDrumstick]

Either your own or your DCs? Our family already has a Nanny and a Granny so looking for something different for new gps...don’t like Grandmother/Grandma/Grandfather/Grandpa/Gramps as they’re a bit old fashioned for the people in question!

What different names are in your family?

We've had momma, grandad, granny, nan, nanan, then grandma xxxx, grandad (name of female dog!).

My family had a lot of one particular man’s forename, including my grandfather, who I called Grand’name’. It happened because I said it, rather than because I was told to, but it stuck and was rather lovely.

Well what did you call your grandparents?

Kids have Nanny x 3 on one side so call MIL nanny - her other grandchildren call her grandma

Makes no difference really

In our family we have Nana and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa,although DC2 couldn't pronounce Grandma so it came out as Gaggy.

There seem to be lots of cute variants for grandad, but very little for grandmothers. My daughters MIL was already nanny to her other grandkids, so I was happy for her to be that for my DD's baby. But I didn't want granny for myself (that's what my really difficult mother is to my daughters) so I didn't really have any option but grandma. Which I'm not really a fan of either.
I'd love my DGD to come up with something cute when she learns to talk, but it's probably unlikely. I'd just like something nicer.

My husband's family called her Gamma because they couldn't say 'Grandmere' and it stuck. I had a Granny and a Nan. Our children's are Gran and Grandma.

I think it makes zero sense to get het up about it. The children will call their grandparents whatever they decide once they're old enough to have an opinion. I think my parents and ILs had some conversation about it before DS was born, but as he called all four by the abbreviated versions of their first names from when he was old enough to talk (having heard DH and me addressing them), it was irrelevant.

I'm really surprised to see three Papas on this thread, having never seen it used for anything other than Dad. In real life, I only come across the most common grandparent names.

In my family there has been a Granny, Nana, Grandma, Abuelita (Spanish version of Granny), Grandad, Grandpa, Grumps, Cuckoo. Some of those have had a first name afterward e.g. Granny Iris, Grandpa Pete.

@GreenTulips

Well what did you call your grandparents?

Kids have Nanny x 3 on one side so call MIL nanny - her other grandchildren call her grandma

Makes no difference really

Nanny and Granny, but as I say they don’t like those. They’re quite young and they want to be called something different. I think it does make a difference because it becomes your name in a sense, so you want something you’re really happy with!

My grandparents were Mexican so they should have been called, "Abuela" or "Abuelos" but I called them by their first names!

I'm a grandparent so my husband and I are "Grandma" and "Granddad".

@Dilatory

I think it makes zero sense to get het up about it. The children will call their grandparents whatever they decide once they're old enough to have an opinion. I think my parents and ILs had some conversation about it before DS was born, but as he called all four by the abbreviated versions of their first names from when he was old enough to talk (having heard DH and me addressing them), it was irrelevant.

Who is het up about it? They just asked for some options to explore. Plus as I said, it will become second names for them, so I understand if they want something they like, not really irrelevant if it’s A name that you get called regularly by multiple family members for the rest of your life?

When my older sister had the first grandchild, my mum intentes to be called Nana after what we all called her mother (who became Old Nana. Sadly gone now).

HOWEVER, my mother has lots of dogs (bichons). House always full of them.

When niece began talking, she thought the noise dogs made was “Foo Foo” and used this for dogs in general....and that’s what she started to call my mother - we think as in communicating ‘nanny with the dogs’.

Anyway. It’s stuck. She was Foo-Foo and as such is now Foo-Foo to my daughter for general consistency which is absolutely mortifying, but hilarious is added measure.

I had warned my mother what a Foo-Foo was way back when this all began but she didn’t take me seriously. Now she does get funny looks whenever she is out with a grandchild! Haha.

Moral is....it just takes the first grandchild born to choose the name themselves and it sticks for all future grandchildren!! Ha.

My father is called Badger by all grandchildren and all his kids as is his general family nickname (we all seem to have them...).

Who is het up about it? They just asked for some options to explore.

Let's see, you started an internet thread about it, they've rejected the usual options, and asked you to come up with others? I'd say that was already pretty over-invested.

Plus as I said, it will become second names for them, so I understand if they want something they like, not really irrelevant if it’s
A name that you get called regularly by multiple family members for the rest of your life?

It makes as much sense as those parents on the Baby Names forum who are already determined that their little Elizabeth will be known as Beth, not Betty, Liza, or Liz, before she is born.

In my experience grandparents can decide what they want to be called, but the children will ultimately decide. It's up to the people in question, obviously, whether they want being called Grandma or whatever to be the hill they die on with their grandchildren.

We have Mooma and Grandad, Granny, Grandpa and Nanny :)

@Dilatory you’re way overthinking this. They asked for suggestions as they aren’t fans of the usual, so I thought I’d ask. It’s really not that deep.

But put it this way; imagine someone said to you that they were giving you a nickname for the rest of
Your life and it was going to be ‘cheesy wit sit’ and you told them that you didn’t like it and they said tough?

If you don’t want to engage, then please don’t. It’s just a thread about name options. If their grandchildren call them something else then so be it, but they just wanted some ideas for potential names that differ from ones already being used.

We're Jewish so I wanted one set to be bubba and zeida (Yiddish) but they've ended up as Nana, Grandpa and Bamma and Papa.

My nan has 7 grandkids and 3 great grand kids. 6 of the grandkids (all in their 30s) and the 3 great grandkids all call her nan. Mine and my siblings friends also call her Nan . Odd I know but, we'd always be running in and out of her house for icepops and baby bell cheeses, so for the past 40 years she's always been Nan.

My uncle settled down late in life, there is a massive 26 year age gap between his kid and the other cousins. Uncle and his wife decided that Nan is far too common for their PFB and Nans name is to be changed to grandmama... My nan is getting into her 80s now and can be quite forgetful, when the LO calls her Grandmama my nan rarely responds as it doesn't register that, that's her new name. There is also a lot of tutting and signing from Uncle and his wife when we are visiting at the same time because the rest of us refused to cave in to the demands to change her name.

Granny and Grampa for both sides of the family. When I was little and GG were still alive it was Granny and Grampa Tarscout, then Granny and Grampa

Mine were Grandma and Gran. Both of them thought Granny was far too old-sounding apparently!

I had a Grandma and Grandad and a GanGan and Grampy (we all changed it to Grumpy)
My kids have Grandma and Grandad, Granddotma and Granddotdad coz they call their Stepdad DotDad (his name is Scott and the youngest couldn't pronounce it ❤️)

My neighbours sister is called "National" by her grandchildren as she likes horse racing!

Whatever you tell the dgc, they will mispronounce it at first. Up to you whether you correct them. If you don't, that becomes the grandparent's name. Hence we have Gan and Ganda on one side and Gamma and Gamper on the other side.

If they don't like Granny etc then you're into the bizarre lovely made-up names territory.

Binky and Pops

Mamie and Gumps

that kind of thing.

Do they have family nicknames already?

Moomy/Moomin/Mamie/Mims/Mops - all good for grandma

Pops and its variants (Poppa/Pap/Pog) or a Dad variant (Dadoo/Dada/Dado) are good for grandads