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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Young grandmother names!

124 replies

Subeccoo · 04/02/2019 08:16

My 21 year old dd is making me a grandma just in time for my 40th birthday!
I'm happy to be nana (because Janice in Benidorm is my grandparent goal but my dd says she'll call the baby Coolio if I go for that) .
Does anyone go by anything less conventional than nan, granny etc?
I'm a bit excited!

OP posts:
BigDamnHero · 04/02/2019 09:35

My mum's also quite a young grandmother and she wasn't keen on Grandma or Nana or Granny etc.

In the end, I suggested 'Meemaw' like Sheldon's from the BBT and that stuck.

ShowOfHands · 04/02/2019 09:39

My MIL was 46 when I found out I was expecting dd and she didn't want to be grandma or granny or similar as she felt too young. She's mamgu (pronounced mam gee with a hard g) as she's part Welsh.

ChocolateCoins567 · 04/02/2019 09:40

My mum was a young grandmother, she's Grammi. Suits her! I'd prefer Nana because thats what we called her mum, but she loves it!

Triffictriffid · 04/02/2019 09:40

I was 55 when DD had DGD1. So I guess about average age. I am young looking and don’t look grannyish but I love being called Grandma. Her other goes as Granny and we are both fine with that. I love that little voice calling out “Gwamar” 🥰.

ShowOfHands · 04/02/2019 09:41

I'm 38 and 2 of my school friends are grandparents already. Others aren't even parents yet.

LakieLady · 04/02/2019 09:41

My step-GD calls me Nana(my name). The other 2 are grandma and nana.

I like the Italian "nonna" but it's probably a bit pretentious in a family without Italian connections.

HellsBellsAndBatteredBananas · 04/02/2019 09:41

Welsh names are ace. Nain/y is pronounced Nine/y and Taid/y is Tide/y. My daughter loves her Nainy and Taidy .

Oldbutnotold · 04/02/2019 09:44

My kids call their Nan and grandad nanga. It's a mix of the 2...

BarbaraofSevillle · 04/02/2019 09:44

It seems that which names are perceived as old or young depends on the age of the people who had those names. I see Nanas as young because the women in my family who were Nanas became so by the time they were 40, whereas my 'Granny' was actually my great grandmother, who I only remember as an old lady.

In other families, the Grannies might have been 40/50 and the Nanas much older, so people would see that different.

Only Nanny is a paid childcarer rather than an older female relative. Nanas, Nans and Nannas are grandmothers.

kiki22 · 04/02/2019 09:45

Nan nana nanny gran granny grandma GG is great gran. I see nana as old I would go with gran

EhlanaOfElenia · 04/02/2019 09:48

I once heard a child use Grandmama, sounded adorable, if a little too 'plum in the mouth'.

How about a foreign version of Grandma? Loads of cute ones out there!

zazasabore · 04/02/2019 09:52

A few of my children were born in Holland where 'OMA' is granny. Despite now having grandchildren it still seems easier somehow to say granny rather than Oma though Oma is very short....

Ginsodden · 04/02/2019 09:55

In wales we often use Nain. I like that one.

Hollowvictory · 04/02/2019 09:57

Hate 'nanna' it's truly awful and rough sounding.

angieloumc · 04/02/2019 10:02

Hollow Awful and rough sounding? How strange! I love being called Nanna but do like other grandmother names and wouldn't judge whatever they were.

DorothyZbornak · 04/02/2019 10:02

All my grandparents were Nana and Grandad Surname. So bloody formal, especially for a small child.

BarbaraofSevillle · 04/02/2019 10:03

Nanna is awful and rough sounding? Confused

The list of what people on here can be snobby about is truely mind blowing.

Hollowvictory · 04/02/2019 10:04

I am truly snobby about 'nanna'. I fully admit. Don't like nanny either, that's a goat.

Vicliz24 · 04/02/2019 10:04

I was a young granny and chose Gramma my hubs is Grampsy we love our names

angieloumc · 04/02/2019 10:08

I don't understand how you can be snobby about Nanna Hollow, it's just a name like Grandma, Granny or some of the other fabulous ones on here.

Hollowvictory · 04/02/2019 10:10

It sounds common and rough, I just don't like it. Very rough part of town. Personal preference, we all Have them!

sashh · 04/02/2019 10:10

I grew up with a Nana and a Grandma, Nana because she said she was too young to be a grandma, even though she was a few years older than my Grandma.

My brother's children then had Grandma and Grandad and Granny and Pops.

My cousins made Grandma a great grandma and she was then known as GranGran.

Gran can be used as a suffix or prefix for all sorts of cool names. Supergran, Spangran (if anyone remembers the thread with the Spanish Gran) Grannificance, Granyintendant, Granmajor, Primegran, Gran - XL (40 in roman numerals).

angieloumc · 04/02/2019 10:17

Yes of course it's your preference. But I for one Nanna am not common or rough, nor do I come from the 'rough part of town'.
What would you choose as a grandmother name? Not being goady, genuinely interested.

Hollowvictory · 04/02/2019 10:22

Quite like abuela. Grandmother. Grandmama.

Loanhelp · 04/02/2019 10:23

My Welsh husband calls his grandparents Mamgi and Bampi, and I think we'll use those for his parents when we have children, but they're really nice.