Grandparent Names

marley42 · September 2014

Hi there! I am almost 11 weeks and DH and I are getting ready to tell my Mom and in-laws we are expecting. His parents will be first-time grandparents and I'd like them to go by a different name than Gma/Gpa because my Mom is already Grandma to my brothers kids.
Do any of you have suggestions for Grandparent names? Traditional or modern, just looking for something else.
Thanks!

kmerkle1 · September 2014

First time mom here. Not sure what I want my in laws or my parents to be called. My friend wanted her dtr to call her parents Nona and Papa, but she couldn't pronounce Papa when she was young, so she called him Papu. The name stuck. I kinda want to wait & see what my sweet pea calls his/her grandparents on their own. So sweet:)

vickersh1 · September 2014

You can choose, but the kid will ultimately have the last say. My nephew calls my in-laws Nona and PawPaw just fine...but its our names that he has made his own.
DH "Andrew" he calls him "Dew"
Me "Heather" he calls "La-La" - we really tried getting him to say my name and it came out "Heifer" so I was like AHHH La-La it is!!! He can say my name now that he is 2 - but I like the name La-La

starshollow · September 2014

We tried to choose for him but my stubborn toddler chose his own. He used grandma/grandpa. He uses hamma/papa. Sometimes you don't get to choose.

bowman958 · September 2014

All of our parents and step-parents prefer to be "grandma" or "grandpa," and it's fine. The nieces and nephews know the difference, and when DD is older I'm sure she will too. If we are talking about them, we say "Grandpa Phil" or "Grandma Lu," etc. H and I were the last to the kid-having party among our siblings, so we didn't get any say at all.

Suesse2009 · September 2014

We referred to my parents as grandma and grandpa but let Nina decide what she calls them. My dad is papa although she is calling him grandpa more now. My mom is fuh fuh. Before Nina could say many words she called everything fuh fuh. Now my mom is only called that :-)

taahira · September 2014

I agree kids decide for themselves my first DD was the first grandchild, she uses GaGA for grandfather and Nanna for grandmother. It has stuck, all the other grandchildren followed suit. Even now my DD is 14 she still calls them GaGa & Nanna. I don't believe as parents we get to choose. Our gorgeous babies do that.

yarnymommy · September 2014

I agree, you really don't get to choose. That said, it is nice when each grandparent has a different name. My mom originally wanted to be called Grammy, but DS named her Na-na. My dad wanted to be called Pappy, but DS named him Pa-pa. My ILs are Gramma and Grampa, but he doesn't see them as often, and DS didn't really name them so much, he just kinda learned whatever they were saying.

redneckmomma25 · September 2014

I would ask and see what they would prefer. My IL'S are Omi and grandpa, my mom and step mom are both grandma and my father is grandpa. She has started saying Mima for grandma and bepa for grandpa so I guess that's what they are now

sulala12 · September 2014

My parents are nanni and Tata and my in laws are grandma and grandpa.

lindsayanne14 · September 2014

We asked our parents. My mom wants to be called Mimi, DH's dad goes by PopPop. DH's mom said she didn't care so we call her Grammy. This is the way we refer to the grandparents, when DS is older and more verbal I guess we'll see what he calls them! Already at a year if I ask him "where is Mimi?" He'll look at my mom.

I would be hesitant to just assign a name to them, if it's something they dislike I wouldn't want them to be stuck with it!

drmrsmantis · September 2014

We tried to pick out grandparent names ahead of time, but DS just went with what he could say. DH's parents are Nana and Bapa, my mom is "Pie", and my step-mom is Mimi.

abc829 · September 2014

My dad has chosen to go by Zaidie which is Yiddish for grandpa my mom had chosen to go by grandma my DHs parents will be Grandma and Grandpa

marybeth05 · September 2014

My girls call my husbands grandparents grandma & grandpa (his parents aren't in the picture)
They call my mom Mimi.
My oldest called my dad buhpa- she was almost 2 when he passed away and to be honest I'm not sure where the buhpa came from?

Hummingbirdbaby3 · September 2014

They chose their own names. My parents wanted to be called nana and papa. Dh mom liked Grammy. DH dad and stepmom go by opa and Oma.

picklesx · September 2014

We always knew that my parents would be Grandma and Grandpa but we weren't sure what to do about my in laws. Fortunately they had already decided they'd be Grammy and Papa so that saved us the awkward conversation.

cperkins6 · September 2014

I would let them pick and then whatever kids call them as a variation will be what it is... My in laws were already Mimi and Papa, but he's pops half of the time... My parents chose Grams and G-Daddy (don't ask) but thankfully my girls call him G-Da...

My DHs grandmas both wanted to be Granny so they called them Granny Doerre and Granny Lorene...

crossfit704 · September 2014

We will ask them when we tell them about baby. Ultimately, like everyone else said the kid will be the deciding factor in what they are called. Both of our parents will be first time grandparents and our kids are likely the only ones they are getting (DH only child, my sister is bat shit crazy and not stable). I assume my mom will want Nana (thats what I've always called my grandmother, and my great grand mother when she was alive was Great Nana), my dad likely wont care. DHs parents probably will want Noni and Papa (Italian).

Duffgurl · September 2014

Our LO doesn't have any grandparents since my father passed. Although we call him Papa or Grandpa.

I also have a friend who is like a mom to me and our little bear calls her Grandma B.

I have a friend who's mother has the kids call her Lola. It means grandmother in Filipino. She wanted to be called something different than the other grandmother.

There are so many different names you can use. I am sure you can look up different ones. Whatever a child hears is what they will go with. At least until they decide they want to use a different term.

MudLover · September 2014

My mom is Neenee my dad is Poppy and my bfs mom is Nonna. My nephew is 2 and not speaking too well he doesn't have a problem saying Neenee but poppy is paw paw to him.

knitfastdiewarm · September 2014

My mom chose "GrandLilly" (Bc her name is Lilly) and my stepdad chose "Pappy" We will see if these stick. I had a Grandmother and a Granny growing up. I tried to call my Grandmother "Nana" but she was more stubborn than me

I think Grandparents should get to pick their names and it's up to them if they want to try to enforce it with the kid. I'm not going to worry about it.

mrsmopar67 · September 2014

My son came up with the names except for my MIL. DH & I were joking that we would teach him Grandmother and that's what he calls her. My mom is Gramma. My Gramma is GG. My dad is Gram-pop (totally my 2 year old) and his wife is just her name. And my FIL is PeePaw. He calls my husbands parents Grandma and Grandpa. No idea how he picked what.

MaMa~MoOrE · September 2014

Ours call in-laws G-ma/G-pa but my parents are Oma/Opa and great grandparents are PaPa (like pop-pop) and GG

marley42 · September 2014

We will most likely call my Mom Grandma (just like my brothers kids do). I was mostly wanting my DH's parents to have a different name.
I like the suggestions about just waiting to see what my child ends up calling them though. I think that sounds like the best option, bc then they can go ahead and choose their own. That way they feel excited about it.
Thanks for the comments.

EssJayCee · September 2014

It doesn't matter what name you try to stick, if the child has a different idea, that will be the one grandparents go by. My mom was taught to call her grandpa, granddaddy. She called him geedaddy instead. She taught me geedaddy, and I picked up dedaddy instead. My uncle was Nelson, and I called him Nanu. Years later, that's what his grandkids now call him!

mrsalvidrez · September 2014

My sister and I just had a conversation the other day about how weirded out we get when we find out a friend calls their grandparents weird names like "papa". (No offense). My grandparents have always been grandpa and grandma but now because my sister and I find it so hilarious and weird I swore to her I would force my child to call my mom something hideous like "gammy".

lelaboo290 · September 2014

Nana and papa or nonni and papa (papo) mamo and dado (not sure on spelling but that was the grandparents on my Irish side) there's norna (I think Greek) and some kids make up their own like my mom is Grammy but my nephew calls her gammy and her husband is grumpy to all the kids instead of grampy. It just stuck

momtosam · September 2014

My mom and step-dad are Grammy and Poppy. (My dad died which is why no name for him.)
My FIL and MIL are Nanny and Grandpa.

ETA : We asked them what they wanted to be called. Mind you it may change when your child starts talking. Fun names come out and they stick.

[Deleted User] · September 2014

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Kath1083 · September 2014

My moms parents are Yiayia and popou and my dads were grandpa and grandma. However I knew the Greek thing was different so I always referred to them as grandma and grandpa last name if I was taking about it with someone unfamiliar with the Greek titles. We are going to ask our parents what they would like to be called.

JulieMarie21 · September 2014

My mom wanted to be G-ma, but it came out as Gia, so Gia it is. Grandpa came out as Bocka. My dad wanted to stay bocka but as soon as DD could say grandpa she refused to go back to bocka. So grandpa it is. Yep, sometimes the kid picks.

missab · September 2014

Dh and I are both only children so this kid will be the only grandchild of four different grandparents (unless we are eventually blessed enough to have another). We have two Grandma Barbara's (my mom and my MIL) so I'm hopeful one of them will be in favor of a nickname. I would not 'assign' a name to anyone, though.

mindala31 · September 2014

This was already chosen for me because we aren't the first to have grandkids on either side. My parents will be grandma and grandpa, both of my own grand parents are still alive, so we'll either get creative or just call them great-grandma/pa B or K. My DH's parents will be called Ah Mah and Ah Gong, because they are Chinese/Thai and that's what my niece and nephews already call them.

Pix3lle · September 2014

I just go by what they seem to want, luckily for me my mother wants to be grandma and my partners mother wants to be nan.
Though my nephew has 4 people wanting to be called just grandma so that's pretty confusing, he has made cute little nicknames for them all though!

kmparker421 · September 2014

My mom is grandma, my dad was called grandpa until my first started talking, and then she named him Bapa. My mil wanted to be called gran and my fil wanted to be called papa. He has now turned into pops thanks to my youngest! So they may "choose" a name but your kids will end up naming them!

Ncountrygal · September 2014

My in-laws go by Tata and Weta (Abuelita). My parents are new to the game as DD isn't talking yet. They'll probably get creative and go by Grandpa and Grandma.

wolowizard · September 2014

This will be my parents first grandchild and they want plain ole Geandma and Grandpa or Granddaddy. My MIL has four grandchildren from her stepdaughters who call her Nanny but she wants our child to call her Glammy or Glammommy. I pointed out that she already has a grandparents name but she's stuck on Glammy.

OliveMom3 · September 2014

My mom chose gamma. Though I'm not the biggest fan of not pronouncing things correctly, it's not an argument I care to have. I'm from a single parent family so I'm not sure on grandfather names. My dhs family are francophone and want the full name grandmaman Angele and grandpapa Jacques. I'm curious to see what DS comes up with when he tries to pronounce those long names.

Sarah04Marie · September 2014

Our parents will be the deciding factor in what our children call then. My brother is raising his girlfriends son and my mom refers to herself as Memere (French) and my dad Grandpa. DH's parents are divorced. His moms refers to herself as grandma to her grandpuppies. We are telling her next weekend on her birthday. We bought her a necklace engraved "Grandma"

she is going to be beyond excited and I can't wait to see her reaction

SuperFudge00 · September 2014

I just want to add that if both sets of grandparents want to be called grandma and grandpa you can always just add their names for differentiation, I.e.: Grandpa Joe vs Grandpa Ted. I don't think one set should get dibs because someone else calls them that first.

cwiceangel · September 2014

My nephew picked my parents names. Pop and Grammy or Granma... He switches. He also uses poppy but I think that has to do with what his dad and I call our mom's dad... Poppy. My in laws, they apparently go by some Spanish, Basque words for grandmother and grandfather and I have no idea how to spell them. We shall see what happens.

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