Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want DC to use Nan/Nana

294 replies

treehousepicture · 10/08/2015 09:52

I have just never liked this word and think I prefer grandma or similar but is it up to the person what they are called?

OP posts:
Weebirdie · 11/08/2015 07:14

Im Nana to my grandchildren and I chose to be Nana rather than Bibi which is what a grandmother is called here. I chose Nana because its familiar and I see myself as a Nana. The other day my dad said to one of my grandchildren - go and show that to your Granny. I liked it as well but Im going to be staying as Nana.

IJustLostTheGame · 11/08/2015 07:44

One set is granny and grandpa and the other is grandma and granddad.
Neither likes nan, nana etc.
Mummy would throw a fit if she was called it. But dd called her grah rah when she couldn't say granny and she loved it.

janestheone · 11/08/2015 08:40

I am Granny Firstname. I decided on the Granny part (the grandparent should always decide imo) and the name got added on. My DCs call me by my first name and nearly always have, and the other gran is Grandma, so no problem.

CheshirePanda · 11/08/2015 08:47

Nan makes my teeth itch. Ugh. Sadly that's what the MIL likes. I still try to avoid using it, which is difficult I admit.

Bunnyjo · 11/08/2015 09:00

My DM is Yiayia to the kids - she is Greek Cypriot and Yiayia is Greek for Grandmother; it just felt right for her to be called that. There are no variations in the Greek language for the numerous names we appear to have - all grandmothers are Yiayias.

My MIL is Granny - she didn't want to be a Nana and she said she was "too old" to be a Grandma, so she chose Granny.

DC only have one Granddad (my DF) and he is called Granddad.

We know of someone whose kids call his DM Nana (rhymes with banner) and his MIL is Na-na (rhymes with banana). I know I sound judgemental, particularly as we have an unusual name for one of the grandparents, but rhyming Nana with banana sounds plain odd to me!

mrshuggybear · 11/08/2015 09:01

I think it depends a lot on where you are from. Down South where we live there are a lot of grans, grannies, grandmas. My husband is Northern and I am Welsh and Nanny seems to be the preferred term amongst friends and family. I don't think my mother in law is keen that there are two Nannys but I have tried and my children just won't say Nana. In this case the children have led the way.

jamdonut · 11/08/2015 09:08

I'm sorry, I haven't read all these pages, but what is it about Nan, Nanny,Nanna that makes you hate it so much???

I will hopefully be Nan or Nanny if My kids ever have children. I think they are much more loveable sounding than Grandma. And Granny just conjours up images of little old white-haired women sitting in a chair ,knitting!!!

My grandmother's were both Nan/ny, and my great- grandmother's were Gran/ny.

Hygellig · 11/08/2015 09:34

I don't particularly like Nan or Nanny, but at the end of the day I think the grandparent has the right to decide what they want to be called. My mum is Grandma to my DCs (DH's parents are dead), as her mum was to us.

nooka · 11/08/2015 17:51

My children only have the one traditionally named grandparent (Grandad) as my MIL died before they were born and my mother couldn't come to terms with any of the grandmother names and so slightly weirdly stuck with her mother name (non traditional at least!). We tried all sorts of options, but I think it was tied up with her not really coming to terms with my brother having a baby in a way she didn't approve of. I would have liked her to be 'Granny' as that's what she referred to her grandmother as and I always thought it sounded nice (she obviously loved her grandmother). It's what I will ask for should the occasion arise.

My family is posh and dh's is very working class. I called one set of grandparents Grandmama and Grandpapa. He called a set of his Nan and Grandad. I don't really see that it matters very much.

ElizabethSpenser · 11/08/2015 18:47

I am Grandma, my choice. My DGD's other grandmother is Nannie. Her choice. Her Great grandmother is Nannie Joan.
I'm just happy we wanted different names. However Much confusion arises with all the Granddads. We have 'Normal Grandad' (actually he is not a bit normal) great Grandad, Grandad Alan, Grandad Brian and Grandad Tony.
(Nannie was a bit of a player in her day....)

GrumpyOldBiddy2 · 11/08/2015 18:50

I'm gutted. I thought my mum was being overbearing when she told us what she wanted to be called and just accepted what my DSD called me (grandma), I'm not keen on it and would much rather be Nanny. And now it turns out that I could have chosen. Gutted, it's too late to change now Sad

DidoTheDodo · 11/08/2015 19:20

Nanny is a hired help or a goat.
I am GrannyFirstname to all my grandchildren. Agreed by all parties.

EBearhug · 11/08/2015 19:50

I'm another who was brought up with nanny being staff (not that we had any staff, but my Edwardian grandmother's family did when she was a child.) I don't know if there was ever any confusion when we were learning to speak (I was the oldest grandchild, but only by a few months,) or whether we all learnt Granny from the outset - she was definitely well established as Granny by the time I was told the nanny are staff thing - I think I was in secondary school by that point.

Purplepixiedust · 11/08/2015 20:03

We left it up to my sons grandmothers as to what they would be called. My mum was grandma and mil was grannie.

magimedi · 11/08/2015 20:04

I have a 12 week old PFGC - at the moment I am known as 'Turbo Gran' as DS gave me & DH a gaggia coffe machine for our big anniversay & birthdays,

Frankly, I don't give a flying fuck what PFGC calls me as she grows up, I will just be delighted to see her & maintain a relationship.

(As she is the most beautiful, wonderful & amazing baby to have ever graced this planet - not that I am biased!)

itstimeforchange · 11/08/2015 21:18

In my family we had Nannie for my mum's mum, Grandma for my dad's mum, and Granddad for both their dads (which always annoyed me).

My mum was happy being Nannie like her mum. My dad happy with Granddad like his dad. Dh's mum was already Granny for my stepson. Dh's dad hasn't had an opportunity to choose. We hardly ever see him (his choice) and just decided to call him Grandpa to differentiate between the two men. He sometimes signs Grandpa and sometimes signs Granddad on things for the kids, so I think it's a bit of a battle! We're not really bothered but as he's the absent one for the most part, we shall probably carry on calling him Grandpa regardless and the kids can choose which one to call him if he ever decides to be more present!

Flutterby24 · 11/08/2015 21:32

I've just recently had a baby. My parents are Nanna and Grandad. My brother got in first with the grandchildren and my Dad is Grand-Pops to them which i hate with a passion. I'm not keen on Nanna either but it doesn't offend me. I would like to be Granny when/if my time comes.

Sallyhasleftthebuilding · 11/08/2015 21:49

My mom has 4 dd and 8 GC each family call her something different, some funny, some stuck from kids sayings - she doesn't care, she didn't ask (how rude).

OVienna · 11/08/2015 21:49

I would def not want to be forced to be nan, nanny, nana or any version if this as for me culturally this would be really weird (didn't grow up in the UK). I think you have to let the person choose. It's not that big a deal if they are granny x and granny why when spoken of in the third person but using the word granny for both in direct speech.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page