What to call Grandparents?!

cjx95

My mom has made it clear she would not like to be called Grammy since we had a Grammy Jen who recently passed and she is also Jen it is a lot to live up to and she would be happier with something else. I am totally fine with this, but she can't decide what she would like to be called. Of course my dad is down for whatever and she would like it to match somewhat so we're looking up options. What do you guys plan on having your kiddos call their grandparents or if you already have kiddos what do they call their grandparents?? I'm definitely open to all options since my mom's shut down the few I've come up with!

muchwanted

Your kid might pick out names him/herself. My daughter started calling my parents Gaga and Pop-pop when she was about 14 months. No idea why, but it's stuck.

My MIL goes by Tutu, which is the Hawaiian term for grandmother. There's also Nanna and Nonna.

purplegoldfish2

We have grandma/pa (first name) for all of our parents.  My boys ended up shortening my FIL to Pa, sometimes Papa and very rarely grandpa (they are closest with him).  For our grandparents, my kids call them what we call them (my grandmas are grandma last name and my husband’s grandfather is gramps)

mama2boffour

We always just called my parents “grandma” and “grandpa”, but it morphed into “tama” and “papa” between my 3-year-Old and 2-year-Old.

nasalot188

My Mum goes by Baba (slovak) and my Dad goes by Grandad (British). They are divorced so doesn't matter they don't match haha. My son hasn't got Grandad well yet but Baba is easy peasy. 

theglitteredpterodactyl

My mom is nana, my mil is gramma and my fil is grampa ( two year old doesn't really use that one yet but meh)

purple_2012

I told my parents what I would like for our kids to call them. They liked the names! (Grams and Pops) My MIL and FIL came up with their own names. (Grandma and Poppa)

tinattt23

We just use grandma and grandpa for both. Figure DS will come up with whatever he wants. My step dad struggled with grandpa (he felt old  ) so he chose Papa. And now he swear DS calls him Papa all the time but really he’s saying pup pup at the dogs. 

jengibre_zorro

My MIL insisted on being called “B.G.” (Best grandma) but it backfired and she is now “baggy”. I think you can sway them a little, but in the end they will say what’s easiest for them, lol.

missmaehurt

We have an Oma and Opa (German), a Gma, and a Grams (I hate Grams, but my mother insists).

cdepperschmidt

My parents are just Grandma and Grandpa. Their last name is really long so we leave it at that. My MIL is Grandma plus her last name which is 4 letters. My H grandparents are Great Grandma and Great Grandpa since we see them often. Both of my grandmothers are still living, but one has late staged dementia so he will never meet her. He’s met the other twice and we just called her Great Grandma as well. 

sunnyknightsarah

My mother in law is torn between Grandma (which she likes but kind of makes her feel old) or Grammy C. My father in law is going to be Grandpa. 

My parents will go by Nonno and Nonna (Italian). 

midwestmom12

My mom is Nonna and my dad is Vanpa (variation of his actual first name). MIL and FIL are MawMaw and PawPaw. 

knottieamusements

My Mom didn’t want any of the more common names, so she decided on Dobie, which is also a nod to her Mom. My Dad hasn’t indicated a preference, but I assume will be Grandad. 

One of the things I did for my Mom was google for alternative names for grandparents.  There are literally hundreds of them. 

krzyriver

My parents are Nana and Papa. My MIL was Grandma Donna. My SS is 17 so it’s possible I’ll become a grandma in my 30s, so I wanna be straight up GRANDMA cause I think it’ll be hilarious. Lol

coffee-saur

nasalot188 said:

My Mum goes by Baba (slovak) and my Dad goes by Grandad (British). They are divorced so doesn't matter they don't match haha. My son hasn't got Grandad well yet but Baba is easy peasy. 

I didn't know Baba was Slovak! My mom's mom went by Baba and she was Japanese. 
My mom had thought of going by Baba but I thought Nana was easier for this old fashioned neighborhood and family, but when my sister had her first baby they call her Baba. 
My dad goes by Papa Jon. (Divorced)
DH's folks are Grandpa and Grandma. 

tinattt23

Oh, and MIL really wants to go by Llama. Because she really likes llamas. We have not been encouraging that one...

Mylitta

My mom is Mimi (French) because her grandmother didn't feel old enough to be a grandma, so was Mimi. It's a nod to her.
MIL/SFIL is grandma/pa P. FIL/SMIL haven't really settled yet, but they're out of state. He's met them once and is too young for skyping to mean much. So I haven't pushed it. 

Literally there's tons of you Google alternatives. 

elynds

My parents are Lolo and Papa, MIL is Gigi.

HoosOnFirst

Your kid will probably decide on their own.

my mom is Grandma, MIL is Gaga, there’s Grandpa Paul, Grandpa Chris (stepdad) and confusingly, another Grandpa Chris (my dad). I guess luckily we don’t see my dad much so it doesn’t come up. But my niece calls my mom Meemaw even though my kid called her grandma and it’s fine.

There are three great grandparents left, the couple are called “great grands” any my grandma goes by GG.

ninji15

My mom is mimi and my dad is papaw. DHs mom is just grandma (she just says gram right now though). They all chose their names and it pretty well stuck. 

nasalot188

@coffee-saur that's so cool! I was surprised how popular Baba is actually. It's used for Grandma in many European backgrounds!

drb2424

We have a lot (8 grandparents and 2 great grandmas)

My dad and stepmom wanted to be called grandma and grandpop but my daughter named them mom-mom and pop-pop.

My mom is Mimi and her fiancé is Grandpa Doug but I joke about calling him Didi

My husbands mom was grandma + first name but has recently become gigi and her husband is Grandpa + first name.  For some reason DD kept calling them great grandma and uncle + first name so hopefully that changes.

My husbands dad is Papa (chose by DD) and his wife goes by her name Ceci (she is my age so no grandma needed).

The two great grandmas are grammy and the other is great grandma.

sammierose464

SS calls his mom's parents Nana and Papaw. He calls DH's parents Grandma/pa Mac (a nickname for our last name) and then my parents Grandma Jean and Grandpa Aaron (their first names). My aunt had joked about my mom being Nana, I refuse though. I can't stand SS's nana and do not want that relation. I called my grandpa Papa, so I'm partial to that. 

My great-Aunt is Nonnie to her grandkids, which I like too.

purplegoldfish2

krzyriver said:

My parents are Nana and Papa. My MIL was Grandma Donna. My SS is 17 so it’s possible I’ll become a grandma in my 30s, so I wanna be straight up GRANDMA cause I think it’ll be hilarious. Lol

I have a friend that is 37 and her first grandchild is due next month!

norahkate

Between my sister and I the kids really just came up with names on their own. My mom really pushed for Lala (not sure why, and for some reason it annoyed my sister and I...probably hormones) but it never stuck. the kids all call her grandma (grandmaw) and they called my dad Papa.

Our kids refer to DH's mom (who died before I met him) as Ama, because she was Taiwanese...but it makes it easier because his dad is remarried and so they call her grandma *last name. but for a while they kept referring to his dad as great-grandpa, and then to her as great-grandma, which really entertained us but bugged her. she is younger than his dad by quite a bit, so only about 15 years older than my husband.

tinattt23

@norahkate My mom is working on Lala. Her name is Angela and my stepdad and step sister call her Angela-la-la-la randomly. We’ll see if it sticks. 

cjx95

My mom liked Nonni but since she isn't Italian she wasn't sure if she should go by that but my dad's got Italian in there some where so I think it would be okay. She's just so indecisive lol

jynjer4

My dad is a huge fan of stupid humor. (the whole entire family is known for totally awful lame jokes) So they are leaning towards Lolly and Pops. When you say them together it’s “lollypops” and both of my parents think that’s the greatest idea ever. The names do actually fit them both pretty well so since I told them they should come up with what they want to be called we’ll see.. Neither of them want to be Grandpa and Gramdma because that’s what my sisters and I called their parents which I understand. 

nugget2ehf

The girls in my family went by first initial, so Nana V, Aunt E, etc.. The guys went by first name, Papa Ed, Uncle Tom, etc. No idea how that started. But my niece and nephews totally screwed up that tradition, so I probably don't have much of a choice on my side. Not sure yet on husband's side since this will be first. They're Egyptian, wonder what grandma and grandpa is in Arabic....

coffee-saur

@nasalot188 I was just telling my mom about it and she said they used Baba cuz it's a nickname for the Japanese word for grandma, obaasan. 
I just found that so interesting! The more you know....

DunkinDecaf

In laws are Granny and Hab. MIL wanted to be Granny because that’s what everyone called her mom, and Hab came from someone telling FIL that the Hebrew word for Grandpa is Saba and it means “to spoil and adore” or something like that. DD1 couldn’t say Saba and it became Hab.

My mom wanted to be Mama Weeze (her name is Louise) but I stomped on that idea because it sounds like a fake rapper who’s endorsing a cough syrup or something. DD1 started saying Gummy in an attempt to say grandma so now she’s Gummy. My dad is Obi because we’re notorious dorks and we’ve called each other Obi-wan/Padiwan since I was a kid. 

debbyjane

My older sibling had kids first and they kind of chose names for my parents (Papa John and Grandma Carol) My husband's mom and step dad are Grandma T and Papa Dave and my husbands dad is "the grandpa with the beard" according to my 3 year old. Not super unique but he knows the difference between them all. 

I called mine Nana and Papa which i still love the names. 

debbyjane

@DunkinDecaf i love the "wheeze" and obiwan! Seem like super cool grandparents

DunkinDecaf

@debbyjane lol they certainly think so 

pumpkinpancake

My mom is grandma, and DHs parents are nana and papa. My mil loves that she’s nana because it’s a lot easier for babies/toddlers to say, so DS was able to say that a lot earlier than grandma. It’s ok though because on my side, my grandma is nana, so it would have been confusing if my mom was nana too then. 

jennybean80

Everyone is grandma/grandpa. We’re boring. My ILs are Grandpa Craig, Grandma Leita (stepMIL), and Grandma Jo. My parents don’t get added names...

Laumb11

I was showing my son pictures of his grandparents when he was about 2 and he named them himself. My mom is Baba and MIL is Beebo and FIL is up down lol b/c he would take him in the elevator and say "up down" all the time so now that's his name. My dad and stepmom are grandma and grandpa. bleh

cjx95

Loving everyone's stories! My dad suggested GamGam from Beerfest and my mom was quick to shut that one down!! Lol After watching the movie today she decided Nonni would be just fine!

Kate63

The only name worth telling is my dad’s. He goes by Big Daddy. Sounds creepy at first:), but he has 9 grandkids from 12 to 2 and it is just too cute to hear it. We all love it.
My dad is the sweetest too, so that helps:) I think it would make a big difference if he wasn’t. 

nmadjeski

I loved reading this thread. So many cute stories!

DS is 18 months and doesn't really call his grandparents anything yet but if you say there name he looks in that direction or goes over to them.

My parents are nana and poppy. SO's dad is Pop Pop. My bio dad (we hardly see him) is just grandpa.
But as far as what he's going to call them we shall see. Lol