To have realised I have an irrational dislike of some names for family members

[darkequinoxlight]

Nan
Nanna
Great Nan
Aunty
Mom

I realise it's irrational (and if you use any of the above, please don't take offence.)

But does anyone else hate the 'sound' of them?

Did anyone else have a Nin? That is what my dad's mum was called when I was referring to her. I didn't choose it as I had older cousins who already used it when I was born. My other grandparents were nana and grandad.
Most of my school friends used nan/nana/nanny for one female grandparent and gran for the other.

I hate nanny baba etc too. And my mil keeps referring to me as mam or mammy to my 7 mo daughter which I loathe and correct her each time. I am mummy !

Funny the odd stereotypes that come out, though. Apparently 'granny' is posh? Who knew. My grandpa grew up in Poplar in the 1910s, my granny in impoverished rural norfolk, and yet all the grannies in the family were called 'granny' and trust me they were a very very long way from posh.

Of course I'm aware 90s, it just occurred to me on reading this thread that I don't know anyone who uses those terms so I guess it wouldn't surprise me if someone in my circle had never heard of the usage described here.

I wonder where it came from and whether it's anything to do with grandmothers providing childcare, or whether the childcare usage comes from being a sort of surrogate grandparent. Or nothing of the sort...

I'm interested in the history of language and its evolving usage, more than anything.

I think it's also a regional thing. I am not posh, neither were my friends in North East Scotland. We all had grannies and grandmas.

Someone upthread said that 'the repressed upper classes have Grandmama and Granny'. So do the rest of us, was my point:) well, perhaps not grandmama...

The one which irks me actually is the US habit of referring to yourself as a 'mama'. I quite like mama and papa as it happens, but I thought it was a deep south thing, that now seems to behave turned into a blogging term for earthy flowey crafty baby wearing yoga home schooling types to talk about themselves in the third person ('this mama thinks we should pause and smell the flowers' type thing). Unbearably twee!

Have, not behave!

My mum is frightfully posh, my children called her nanny when they were little and nan now. Has not caused any confusion. Mil is known as grandma ( she is bit hyacinth bucket though)

Crikey.

I have a Mam, Grandma, Grandad, Gran and a Nana

The DC have a Granda too - my friends DC call their GP Nanny and Pops - I think it's lovely, I can't imagine getting bothered by names for family members. Weird!!

We are in the North East so Mam is fairly standard as is Granda

Don't get the sneering about people who have nannies "the staff" . Inverted snobbery

No ones sneering about people who have nannies just people who think having nannies is the norm

I don't care if people have nannies but all this wide eyed astonishment that not everyone has one is ridiculous

No one expressed wide eyed astonishment that not everyone has a paid nanny.

One poster said she had never heard anyone being called "grandma" . No one challenged that as being unbelievable.

Several posters continue to express wide eyed astonishment that I and others had never heard of nanny being used for grandmother. I had never come across this until a very cross-purpose conversation at age approximately 36 with someone who thought I was talking about grandparents.

Had the conversation been with my son, who would have been 6, he would have had no idea the other person was talking about his grandmothers.

I am a nanny and the grandmother of the little boy is known as "nanny". No one is confused. DC calls me by my first name for a start. He knows that my job is a nanny but that that is different to being a nanny as in grandparent. If a 3yr old can grasp that so can most adults I reckon.

My employer and I have a running joke about me being staff (in no way am I treated as such!) and likes to call me "nanny" in a poncy tone now and again. This has led to much laughter from DC and giggling "Daddy, that is not Nanny! That's [first name]! She is a nanny but she isn't called Nanny!!!"

I hate Nanny. There's no logic to it - after all, Granny or Gran is just as easy to say - and it tends to sound as if you're trying to sound grand by implying you have paid staff to look after your children.

Dip in my opinion gran sounds old which is why we don't use it for my mum

Nanny and grandad here and Grandma for my nan.

Aunty is fine as long as you're pronouncing it arrrnty and not anti

Sorry its anti not arnnty, I think that's a north/ south thing. I sound ridiculous sayin "arnnty"

I'm not from the south (west brom ay I ) and I say arrrrnt.

My Mum (Liverpool) chose to be Nanny Barbara - her choice - she felt Granny was old and Grandmother too formal

I am in the Midlands - my children call me Mum - I am not fond of Mom or Bab (for baby)

I don't however HATE different terms or get overly confused by them !

Nannie is just about okay.

It's Nan, Nanna and Great Nan that put my teeth on edge.

Which I know is crazy!

I always thought Grandma was more MC than Nan/Nanny (though not remotely posh) and then I encountered DH's family, MUCH more MC than mine, who use Nan.

I don't think of Granny as posh at all - my father's side use it, along with aunty (arnty).

Wide eyed astonishment that some people have nannies is daft. There are loads of things I have never personally experienced but don't deny their existence because I havent seen with my own eyes.

Take my word for it for it if you are a two parent working family with professional jobs that make strict nursery pick up times difficult and you have multiple kids many families opt for a nanny. Doesn't mean you are a grape eating lady muck or sneering at anyone else. Off top of my head I can think of 8 friends / acquaintances with nannies - teachers, social workers, doctors lawyers. If that offends anyone so be it.