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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:
Droite · 16/09/2021 06:57

Nanny or nana is a paid child carer.

whiteroseredrose · 16/09/2021 06:58

I had 2 grandmas, DH had one (other died before she had grandchildren). Our DC called our DMs grandma too, so full house!

I grew up in Manchester though, and the word Nanna (Nanno) doesn't sound great with a Manchester accent!

whereislittleroo · 16/09/2021 06:59

I'm in Aus. Grandma seems to be most common here though within our family we had Grandma, Gran (Grandma's mum) and Nanna.

DoesHePlayTheFiddle · 16/09/2021 07:03

I'm Grandma. Lancashire.

Nana is common. We wouldn't say that now, but when I was a child, we would had no shame about naming it. 'Common' children called their grandmothers 'Nana'.

Nanny is paid. Usually, Nanny is not common. Though I have heard that Nanny might allow 'hundreds and thousands', whereas Mummy would not.

DoesHePlayTheFiddle · 16/09/2021 07:03

have had. Some of us should proof read more carefully.

DinosApple · 16/09/2021 07:05

I had five grandmas and great grandmas alive when I was small.
The four I saw were all Grandma (plus surname to distinguish when not in their company).

My DC had three Grandmas. My mum didn't want to be Nanny (because of the goat thing) or Granny because she thought it sounded really old!

Thatsplentyjack · 16/09/2021 07:06

I wasn't allowed to call one of mine granny, it had to be gran because apparently granny made her sound old Confused. My other gran let me call her whatever I wanted.

headintheproverbial · 16/09/2021 07:07

My grandma thought anything else made her sound old 😂😂 I agree that gran and granny sound older. Where I come from you wouldn't realise use Nan or nanny.

My mum is now grandma and my late MIL was grandma .

Bentoforthehorde · 16/09/2021 07:07

I had a Nanan, which my mum said was because my grandad used to shout her name so much. (Anne, Anne) and a Nana.
My kids have a Granny (because that's what her grandmother was called).
A Nana *Leanne
And a Grandma *Mary
*name changed

I don't know if it is coincidence but with the exception of my nanan, the nanas have been poor and comfortable with their social standing (like me) and the Granny/Grandma's like to pretend they're middle class or something.

Thatsplentyjack · 16/09/2021 07:08

My kids call my mum nana only because that's what my eldest started calling her himself. There other one is gran. No one uses grandma here.

AlexaShutUp · 16/09/2021 07:08

Both of mine were grandma, and so is my mum. I like it. Not keen on nan at all, but each to their own.

FuzzyPuffling · 16/09/2021 07:09

I'm "Granny Fuzzy" and that's fine with me. I personally dislike "nan/ nana/ nanny" as it is a goat or a paid help to me, but each to their own.

TopBitchoftheWitches · 16/09/2021 07:12

I had nanna and grandma when a child, only grandma left with us who is 91.
My ds1 and his gf are expecting a baby in January and because her mum is nanny ill be grandma.

Just hope I can be as good of a grandma as mine was to me.

ProfSprout · 16/09/2021 07:12

I find this bizarre - my grandma was my least posh grandmother (I had 3). None of them were Nanny, to me that’s someone you employ.

It’s just a name, surely the formality is in the relationship you have with the person. My own dc have a Gran which to me sounds more formal/old but that is not who their Gran is - she is full of love, fun & adventure so there is no reason for my dc to see it as formal.

Surely it’s regional in parts?

We let the grandparents choose what they wanted to be called and have then respected that.

MinnieMountain · 16/09/2021 07:15

I had 2 Grannies. One was definitely a snob, the other I don’t remember but I think snobbishness was unlikely.

DH had a Granny and a Grandma from similar non-posh backgrounds.

The one I find odd is a friend from Whitby calls her DM Nanny.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 16/09/2021 07:19

Grandma. She was born 1910 ish.

Nanny was someone who was employed to look after small charges. Nana was the name of the housekeeper.

CeeceeBloomingdale · 16/09/2021 07:19

Most people use Grandma where I live, and all the grandmothers have chosen to use this of late. I certainly dont see it as a push thing. I had a Nanna and a Grandma. No one was keen on Nanna except her. It makes card buying a nightmare and it makes me think of paid help.

Isthereroomonthebroom · 16/09/2021 07:20

Both mine were Nan and Nanny.
We have a DS and my mum goes by Nanny and my dad is Grandad and my DP’s mum goes by Grandma and his dad is Grandpa! I must admit I think Grandma and Grandpa are a bit over the top, but that’s their choice…

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 16/09/2021 07:20

Loathe Nan/Nana/Nanny, as did my own grandma, who was very definitely Grandma.

My DC have three, one is Grandma, the other two have made up "family" names which are nothing like Nan or its variants.

Finknottlesnewt · 16/09/2021 07:23

In Southern England it has historically been very easy to see what 'class' someone comes from by the use of certain words. Female Grandparent is one of these.
Nan /Nanny - working class (code for perceived lower class)

Grandma - Middle class.

Granny. - Upper class/Aristocracy

Nanny - A woman paid to care for children in the private home.

Other similar ' class identifiers' are the use of Dinner /Tea in place of Lunch/Dinner. Serviette/Napkin. Sitting room/Lounge. Settee/Sofa. (hundreds more..)

Obviously time has moved on and lines have thankfully blurred - but those are the origins.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr · 16/09/2021 07:23

Grandmas are BBC to Nans ITV

Paddingtonsmarmlade · 16/09/2021 07:28

My grandmothers were grandma and granny, I believe one had a strong opinion on what she wanted to be and the other picked something different. Nan was already taken by my great grandmother who was still alive.

My mother chose to be nana, I asked what she wanted to be called (mil is no longer with us)

ArblemarchTFruitbat · 16/09/2021 07:28

My grandmothers were both 'grandma' - it was never discussed as far as I know, that was just what we called them.

My family is working class and generally uses working class vocabulary so I don't think it has anything to do with 'Nan' being 'common'. My great-grandmothers were also 'grandma'.

dudsville · 16/09/2021 07:30

I don't mind what people call their loved ones, or what loved ones want to be called, but I feel so uncomfortable using their intimate terms of endearment of I'm not suitably intimate with the person myself. If I'm talking to others about my family then I refer to my mother, father, grandparents, etc., and I do the same when others are talking with me about their family. In a similar vein, I also never shorten a name unless I'm invited to do so, Nicholas stays that way unless I'm invited to use nick, etc. I know this is old fashioned but I like maintaining those boundaries around levels of intimacy. My family isn't posh and we weren't raised well.

JenniferAllisonPhillipaSue · 16/09/2021 07:32

It seems I was unusual then in having a Grandmum! DS has two Nanna's.