Anyone else's Grandma....

[me4real]

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?

My mum’s great-grandmother was known as Nan, so she associated that with being VERY old, and instead opted for grandma!

Sorry haven't read the whole thread but I live in the South east where a PP said:
Granny. - Upper class/Aristocracy

I am Granny and am definitely not upper class or aristocracy. My working class MIL likes to be called Grandmother by her grandchildren, which I find a bit stiff and formal.

I had two grandmas and I think grandma is lovely. We always said it and spelled it granma.

My DCs have no Granmas, which I thought was kind of sad. DH’s mum wanted granny and my mum said she could never be a granma and wanted Nana.

My mother was Irish - her family didn't even speak English at home. She was Grandma. I can't even imagine any debate about it. The idea of being nanna or nanny was completely foreign to her. My husband's mother wanted to be known by her Christian name! My children adored their grandma. They hardly gave the Christian name one a second thought. My husband's New Zealand stepmother was known as Nana [Christian name] and she has been a wonderful grandmother figure for my children too despite having her own biological grandchildren. I think she was just being careful not to usurp the grandma title that belonged to their grandmothers.

Nanny. Which makes me sound as though I grew up in South Kensington with Mary Poppins, instead of a Brummie terrace 😋

@SpidersAreShitheads

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.

Maybe in England but definitely not in other parts of the UK.

Mine was always Grandma ... calling her Granny was the worst thing we could do, and never, ever Nan. (But then she did have a rather over inflated opinion of herself, bless her ..... )

I think it tends to follow traditions in families- it's grandma in mine and my MIL is ya-ya as they lived in Cyprus when dd was little- FIL is pappous which is so cute!

@BlackberryMuncher

Both of mine were Nana, the one who lived further away was Nana Surname. My mum is Nana, MIL is a made up name passed down

My94 yo Aunty (full of beans) is Grandma to her lot, my Aunty is Nanny to her lot. My best friend is Grandma as her mum was.

Grandma always seems 'older' to me than Nana, but each to their own 💁🏻‍♀️

Oh that's interesting! To be 'nana' sounds really old haha - it's weird how we have different ideas of what words mean.

For me (with 2 'grandma's) - grandma was the standard, gran seemed weirdly informal, nan and nanny for very old ladies, nana was a bit common (sorry!!! I know now that's a very classist and wrong take), and granny for 1892828822 year old grannies/great grannies (you know the really tiny wizened old ladies? Those ones).

We shortened grandma to 'grams', pronounced 'gromms' though. So god knows what everyone would think about that!

I'm 30 and have a granny and a grandma.

We called our grandmothers Nanna. I always hated it. I thought it sounded rough. When I had children our parents were known as grandma. I just prefer it.

@Yogsgirl

I think it tends to follow traditions in families- it's grandma in mine and my MIL is ya-ya as they lived in Cyprus when dd was little- FIL is pappous which is so cute!

Oh I love this - we have family in Cyprus and I'm always a bit jealous my cousins have a 'ya ya' instead, it sounds so nice!

My son has a granny, as she thinks nan sounds common and horrible. He also has a nan, as she thinks granny sounds decrepit and ridiculous. Neither know of each other's reasons for choosing their preferred name

I'm from Lancashire. Had two grandmas.

Also had a nanny goat.

I had a Grandma and a Nanna (we were told that spelling it Nana was wrong as it would sound like the end of banana 🙄)
I always though, as a child, that you automatically had one of each!

I'm mid fifties and it was always Grandma, though my paternal was Gra ndma surname, and although I didnt see her as much always wondered if it bothered her not to be just Grandma.

When I had DS1 mid 80's my MIL said she wouldn't be Grandma but Nanny which I also thought was a goat. She excepted Grandma

I had two Grandmas - one was very insistent against 'Nanny', as that was 'staff' apparently. Hilarious as no one in our family has ever had a nanny, or staff of any kind! She also doesn't eat sweetcorn as that's for chickens. I think you're allowed to be a bit eccentric in your 90s aren't you?

My dh called his both grandmas. I called mine nanny.

My own grandmothers were nans. I am a grandma.

My mother wouldn't be Nana because that was the name of the dog in Peter Pan! So the dig was the children's nanny.

An interesting discussion. The class aspect is not something I've ever thought about. MIL is Nana and she thinks she's posh, but she sees Granny/Grandma as old-sounding.

In fact thinking about it all dh's side have been a variation of Nan. Nana, Nanny etc. No grandmas at all.

My mum definitely thinks Nana common - she pronounces it in a weird way too na na arr. She is grandma. All grandchildren’s other grandparent prefer Nana so it’s fine each to their own. So my dc has a grandma and a nana.

She hates Grandma surname too but that’s what we had growing up ?!

I'm grandma. My MIL who was the best grandma in the world was grandma. My own preferred grandmother was grandma. The grans and grannys in my life were far from being role models as grandparents.

None of us grandmas were/are posh. Not even close.

This has been an interesting read.
MIL insisted on Nanny. She won't call the DC Kids (they're not baby goats) but the Nanny Goat connection clearly hasn't occurred to her!

I had a Grandma and Granda - refined up north, and a Nanny and Grandad - East end of London.

I've no idea what I'll be when the time comes.