I want to be called Nonna but….

[Moira1951]

I’ve been told Nonna is unacceptable by my son as they want my first ever grandchild (at 73) to call me granny. I don’t want to be called granny, do I have a choice as to what I’d like to be known as?

Why couldn't she be called what she wanted to be, especially as that is acknowledging her Welsh culture and part of the heritage of DGC? I find it disrespectful she had to 'settle'.

My aunt is a step grandma and her brood call her Auntie-Grandma! 🤣

My nephew calls my mum Grandma and my dad Popi and my son calls them mama and papi. Not a million miles away, I know but my mum manages OK.

My mother and mother in law chose what they wanted to be called. It did not bother me. In the end my eldest called my Mum " Bamber" which she rejoiced in. Grandparents are precious. Treasure them whilst you can.

I think the grandparent gets to choose how they want to be named by their grandchildren

My daughter asked me what I’d like to be called. I had a choice but ideally not grandma as her step child called the other one that so she was already named before baby came. I chose nana.

eh I think it’s fine for the grandparents to choose, but be open to some toddlers just deciding lol.

Also I’m a step mum and a bio mum but my step kids are much older and likely to have kids before my toddler lol… so when I become a grandmother I’ll have to choose my granny name after my step kids mum chooses hers! So depending on what she chooses there is a chance I might not get my first choice!

She didn’t say she felt aged by it. That was your assumption. She said she didn’t feel like granny fits for her. Which is fair enough.

Of course you have a say in how you’d like to be addressed!

Neyna, particularly with that spelling isn’t Welsh. Naini, Nain or maybe Naina.

Fairly obvious why..! It s an Italian word and some people seem to think it s an insult to the Italians to use their name for grandmother . That was the whole drift of this original post .. and I reckon most Italians would not be bothered one jot and say Que sera sera !

My kids call my mum grandma (she's 50) and my grandma they call Oma

I get you @Moira1951 - my mum never wanted to be called granny- she was called nanny instead, to be fair noona is what my daughters Greek godmother used is called so not sure that's a word I'd use instead. I don't want to be known as granny either (if I'm lucky enough to have grandkids), it's such an ugly word.

I am a Nonna and let’s hear it for the Nonnas ! Italian English or whatever . I hope you get your way because it really shouldn’t be such abig deal . You could suggest nunna which sounds similar and spells different and that s halfway between nonnna and nanna ! Compromise !

I think that’s more of an issue for that family, my grandparents never had traditional grandparent names, but I knew they were my grandparents!

I think it should be a discussion, but since the name is directed at you, you ought to have the last say in what you'll be called. It's just a name, and once again, both "nonna" and "nana" are just different ways to say "grandma".

But, even if you lose this fight, it's really up to the child once they're old enough. Who knows? Maybe they'll invent a totally different cuddly name for you...

I'll be honest, I never thought to ask my parents or in-laws what they wanted to be called by my children. I always just called them all nanny and grandad.
My children have made up their own variations for each set of grandparents over the years, some due to their younger mispronunciations haha.
If any of the grandparents would have asked for preferred titles I would've gone with it though, why would I not? I can't see the harm?

I love nonna btw, hopefully your grandchild will find their own name for you like my children did for their grandparents x

There've now been hundreds of posts saying that the child will choose. But a) the parents will need to refer to OP Sainsbury's when talking to the baby before it can talk properly, and b) given how controlling they are, I imagine they'll just constantly correct the kid rather than allow him to have his own name for her.

Just out of interest has anyone ever chosen something different to ‘mummy’?

Dammit. Where did Sainsbury's come from?! Too late to edit. Should be 'somehow' of course

Is there a compromise to be found so that everyone is happy? It would be a shame to cause bad feeling over what should be a happy occasion. I think attitude is everything. It’s nice to consult the grandparents & ask them what they would like to be called rather than dictating it but it works both ways. You need to find a name you are all happy with. What is the family history with grandparents names? Do you have negative associations with Granny? My Mum chose Granny to differentiate because her Mum/my Grandma was still alive, so we already had a Grandma & it sounded too cumbersome to say Great-Grandma. But on my husband’s side, his mother also wanted to be Granny, so we had to differentiate again - they are both Granny plus their first names, which I think sounds really nice. Do you think the reason your son isn’t happy with your choice might be because Nonna sounds a bit like a word some people use for vagina when talking to little ones? I agree that if there is no Italian connection then respect their opinion on that & try to think of a more traditional name that you all feel more comfortable with. I’m sure that whatever your grandchild calls you, your heart will melt and you will warm to it. Hope you find a happy solution.

Both our mums kind of chose their own names. MIL was already a Granny as ours was the third grandchild.
My mum just happily became Grandma, like both of mine were called - she'd have said if she wanted that to be different.

FIL was already Grandad. I anticipated my dad wanting to be Grandpa, like his dad was to me. But as they didn't get on well, he insisted on Grandad too. Now he sulks if someone mentions Grandad and don't mean him 😂 It was your choice!

For many years my Mum was any weird pronunciation of the word Grandma - and she loved it. We never tried to correct them or make them say the word better, but it gradually happened as they grew. Just a nice part of growing up - you'll probably find the same happens over time too. Enjoy being a grandparent, whatever they call you - I hope you get to spend more time than you're envisioning with them.

People have weird ideas about names for grandparents and to me Nonna sounds forced . My grandparents were granny surname and granddad surname . My parents were Nan and grandad and I’ve no idea why .Our English grandchildren call us nanny and granddad and to our Welsh grandchildren we are Nain and Taid . I really don’t care what they call us .

Oh fgs! Does it matter? You're a grandmother, just celebrate that! Many don't get that delight!