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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Anyone else's Grandma....

425 replies

me4real · 16/09/2021 03:50

I happened to see this mentioned somewhere presumably as a joke, but my nan insisted on being called Grandma, as she said nan was a goat etc etc.

I hadn't heard the above reason until my uncle mentioned it a while back. Also presumably she thought it common.

I always thought it was sooo formal - quasi-Victorian, although she will've been born in about 1915 or something. She died in the early 90s. I don't recall ever challenging the status quo.

She wasn't well off financially or anything.

Anyone else?

OP posts:
Jamnotjelly · 16/09/2021 03:52

I'm in Aus. Grandma is more the norm here I think- I know of a lot more Grandmas than Nans. Although quite a few Nanas as well.

1forAll74 · 16/09/2021 04:11

Two Grandsons. aged 15 and 11 call me Nan, as I told them I liked it better than Granny or Grandma etc

Original poster
me4real · 16/09/2021 04:14

I personally agree with you @1forAll74 , it's warmer, at least than Grandma.

OP posts:
webuiltthiscityonrockandwheat · 16/09/2021 04:19

My grandma wanted to be grandma, she said gran or granny made her sound too old. Nan was never on the cards I don't think. I had my own name for my other grandmother

GeorgiaGirl52 · 16/09/2021 04:25

Never known Nan as a name for grandmother. It is short for Nancy or Nanette. In our area it is Gran, Granny or Memaw.

MummyInTheNecropolis · 16/09/2021 04:26

My nana was Irish and always insisted on being called nana, which is what my DC now calls my mum. We used to call her grandmother to wind her up sometimes as she hated it!

custardbear · 16/09/2021 04:28

Both mine I called Nanny, my cousins called them
Nan though. I was quite shocked when my MIL said (very dramatically but that's her all over!) ...'well I just don't understand why on earth people want to be called nanny as it's a goat' .... my mum wanted nanny when our children were born ... Mil didn't know my mum Per se, it how bloody RUDE!
So yes I agree, each to their own!

LizziesTwin · 16/09/2021 04:30

I remember hearing the nan & goat comparison & also the kid & goat comparison. Don’t remember which grandmother said it, one was grandma & the other granny. One grandfather was grandad & the other grandpop.

Pemba · 16/09/2021 04:38

Grandma sounds quite normal to me. Remember the school choir (St Winnifred's?) with their hit single 'Grandma we love you', back in the 80s? My own mother has ended up a Grandma. I think I'd rather be a Granny myself, if it ever comes to it.

I don't mind Nana, but Nanny always sounds confusing to me, because it's the same word as for someone you hire to look after DCs. Norland nannies, Mary Poppins etc.

starrynight21 · 16/09/2021 04:43

I'm a grandmother, and I like to be called Grandma. My favorite person in the world as a child, was my Dad's mother who was known as Grandma Alice so to me the name is lovely.

I don't understand why you'd say that Nana is "warmer" or that Grandma is "formal". The names are all fine, there is no need to compare them.

MrsPnut · 16/09/2021 04:49

I had two Grandmas, big Grandma and little Grandma. We only have little Grandma with us now at nearly 90.

My mum and MIL are both Grandmas too but if my girls have children then I will be Granny and DH will be Grumpy.

KihoBebiluPute · 16/09/2021 04:57

Grandma or Granny seem normal to me and neither is particularly formal. "Grandmother' or "Grandmama" would certainly seem weirdly Victorian and formal but not grandma. Nan has never been used on either side of our family. i think within reason the grandparents in question should be allowed to choose what they are known as, so long as they don't choose something unbearably twee.

AtlasPine · 16/09/2021 05:04

Love being granny, because I loved my granny and my children loved their grannies. The other grandmothers in all of my grandchildren’s lives prefer different names including nana for one in-law family so that’s great. It doesn’t matter at all as long as everyone is happy. I know one or two people who are a bit snobby about nana though - a hang on from the ‘U and non-U’ past; happily this kind of snobbish behaviour is dying out.

lemonsyellow · 16/09/2021 05:15

My DC’s grandma is called Grandma. Seems normal to me. My own grandmas were called Nana and Gran.

SpidersAreShitheads · 16/09/2021 05:25

My DM is nanny or nana to my two DC - but that follows our family traditions. I imagine it will evolve into nan - in the same way that I'm still mummy at the moment, but it will change to mum.

On my DP's side, there is a tradition for the grandparents to be known as Ganny and Gandalf so that's their names. No idea where that came from but it's quite cute and it makes it easier having different names than two both called nanny!

SpidersAreShitheads · 16/09/2021 05:26

Sorry, forgot to add - granny, grandma or gran seems very formal and unaffectionate. Perhaps a bit old-fashioned too? I know that's not necessarily the case but definitely is my perception of it.

Blueuggboots · 16/09/2021 05:32

I had a grandma and a grandmother......

starrynight21 · 16/09/2021 05:32

I don't recall ever challenging the status quo

Why would you "challenge" the name she liked to be called ?

"She wasn't well off financially or anything "

Same with this odd comment - names for grandparents have no connection to class or finances . You're massively overthinking the whole thing. There are dozens of terms to denote grandmotherly status - none of them have any bad connotations, they are just nice terms to show a relationship.

gofg · 16/09/2021 05:55

My grandmothers were Nana and Gran.

FangsForTheMemory · 16/09/2021 05:58

Mine were both Grandma. I don’t think it’s posh.

Billandben444 · 16/09/2021 05:58

I'm Granny and historically we've had Nana and Gran. I used to bristle when I picked up my grandson from nursery and they said 'Nanny's here!' as I hated that name as it did sound like a goat (and her kid!) or the paid help. Each to their own though.

ChewChewPanda · 16/09/2021 06:12

I had a Nana and a Grandma. I never saw the names as being different in formality or class but I liked having that we could differentiate easily.

My mum and MIL picked Nan and Granny which is fine by me and again I’ve never thought of which is nicer or more formal or anything like that.

TheRebelle · 16/09/2021 06:14

I prefer Grandma to Nan or Nanny, I just think it sounds nicer.

Goatinthegarden · 16/09/2021 06:17

I grew up in Scotland but had an English Grandmother who went by ‘Nanny’. If I ever said to kids at school that my nanny was visiting, they assumed I had a Mary Poppins childminder and I was relentlessly teased about it. Didn’t help that I was quite scared of her.

I just wanted a ‘wee granny’ like everyone else.

FawnFrenchieMum · 16/09/2021 06:19

Mine was called Nanna by everyone. Couldn’t imagine her being called anything else now but my own mum (Nanna was her mum) choose Grandma. I think it’s just a preference, no right or wrong. Although I think grandma is the most common now.
I’m a step grandma to my husbands older children. As a joke because of how young I was when the eldest grandchild was born, my DSD called me Granny F (with my real initial obviously) and its stuck, I never ever imagined being called Granny, and none of the others call me it, but it’s cute and lovely from my eldest DGC.