Special Names for Grandparents??

Updated on August 10, 2007
R.T. asks from Tuttle, OK
19 answers

I'm not a very creative person, and I'm seeking suggestions for creative, special names for grandparents? My son is 17 months old and his Grandma's were Gramma, & Nan, but now Nan wants to be Grandma, so I'm looking for a special names for my son to call my mom!

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for your responses! We've decided to let my mother in law be grandma like she wants, and I'm talking to my mom (who's been grandma up to this point) to find out if she has something special she wants to be called. Looks like we may just have Grandma + first name on both sides, works I suppose! Thank you!

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N.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

My twins call grandma = Gia and grandpa = Pogg...
They did that all on there own!!
I think its cute though!

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B.A.

answers from Tulsa on

My kids call my dad and step mom grampy and gramy. My mom and step dad are called mimi and papa and my inlaws are poppy and nani. Hopefully this helps!!!!

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J.H.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I am not very creative either when it comes to this, but I atill have a while to decide, my daughter is three months old. I would sugest letting the child decide on what to call his grandparents. Whatever they start saying let that be it. I used to all my grandparents Grammy and Grampy, or Grumpy. I called my other grandparents Mamaw and Papaw.

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C.G.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Our different ones are Grammy & Pappy, GG (which stands for great grandma) & Granddad, Oma & Opa, Gran Gran, Nanny, and Papa (pronounced paw-paw)

I have also heard MeMe, Nanny Memaw, Nanny & Poppy and then their first or last name, Granny

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D.M.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I dunno if it would help.. but I used to call my Grandma "Noma".. my grandpa was "Opa".. I think it's dutch.

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A.T.

answers from Enid on

my parents are mommom and poppop
my husbands parents are grandma and grandpa
my husbands grandparents are mema, pepa, and nana
my granddad was papapa
my grandmother is nana kitty
they didn't know my dads parents. they passed away in the early 90s

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M.R.

answers from Tulsa on

lets se we have alot...we have nana & papa, grammy & papa, mimi& papa--that covers all the grandparents, then their greats they call ma-maw & papa, granny & poppy, grandpa & grandma...the kids pretty much came up w/ what they called all their grandparents, but the greats had already been named by the "original" grandkids. Mine seemed to be a little bit more creative w/ the grandmas, then the grandpas, so we usually just say papa and their name after it....

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D.T.

answers from Tulsa on

Are there any ethnic groups in your back ground? Pulling the words from those languages gives a good sense of the past.

My mother's parents wanted to be called Ma Della and Daddy Bob but I had an uncle who refused to allow his girls to call anyone else Daddy and so they were dubbed Grandma Della and Grandpa. It worked out for them cause there was only one other grandparent and she was called Grandma Chloe. My sister and I were younger than the other two so we followed suit and called them Grandma and Grandpa. Our other grandparents were dead. But the ma and pa or daddy was a long standing family tradition on my Grandmother's side although my Grandfather's parents insisted on being called Mr. and Mrs.

But when I had a child of my own I saw the problem. I was lucky, I had taken to using French terms of endearment and Gammie fit right in. So my mother is Gammie. My oldest uses a abreviated form of grandma==gramma for his dad's mother and had started calling his grandfather, grandpockets when he was a baby but I don't think that stuck.

all the other "names" that come to mind are gran, memaw, mammie, twists on their own name like nan, grandmere, gammie, dear+their name, and poppy and their last name. find a country that you love with another language and pull the words for grandmother or mother from it would be my first suggestion. I know the words for grandmother in Spanish and that empire's offspring but at the moment, I can't think of it.

have fun!!!

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K.

answers from Oklahoma City on

When looking for names for my children's grandparents, grandmother's especially, I went to the public library and researched 'grandma' in other languages. As a result, we now call my mom Koko, which is an African word for grandmother.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.A.

answers from Oklahoma City on

mine calls hers mimi and pops ;) thought it was cute and something different

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J.V.

answers from Tulsa on

i agree with the one that says to let the child pick their name. every child has a different way to pronounce things. I also think the name becomes unique cause they picked it themselves. My children call my mom "nana" and their other grandparents are "mimi" and "papaw"

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J.S.

answers from Tulsa on

I don't have any unique ones, but I have a grandmama, nanny, nana, gamma boo, grammy, and grandma Marie, and Grandma Pat. There is also granny and me-ma.
For the guys we only have pa-pa, papa (pronounced pa-puh),gramps and Grandpa. I kinda need help on my end for the guys, gramps thinks that's too old sounding! lol...
Hope that helps!

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J.D.

answers from Topeka on

This is the perspective from my family...
My grandmother and mother wanted nothing to do with anything that insinuated "age" such as "Grandma, granny, memaw, mamaw, etc." They aren't/weren't as vain as it sounds, they just didn't want to be 'old' before their time...fought it every step of the way you might say. So, they went by "Mama" and their first names...Mama Ruth and Mama Ann, or Mommy Ann, depending on the age of the child. It felt more 'youthful' to them. I would say that I don't particularly care for the children 'naming' the grandparents only because the first born grandchild is the one who gets to name them and the subesquent grandchildren are 'forced' to say whatever goofy name the first one came up with...even though they grow up and the grandparent is still alive and having 30 year old grandchildren calling them names they couldn't pronounce when they were 18 months old, like "MeeMoo" or "Grundy", or whatever. (This happened on my husband's side and there are grumblings of regret.)

I think it's fair to let your mom tell you what she wants to be called and then work with the grandkids on pronouncing it. That being said... every family is different and some are more easy going about names and nicknames than others. Either way, I hope you enjoy a big happy multi-generational family!

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J.L.

answers from Wichita on

Try Nana, or maybe nana and the first letter of each of the grandmothers first names

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B.L.

answers from Tulsa on

My kids call my mom and step dad= mimi and poppy
call my dad and step mom= papa sam and mamaw debbie
call my boyfriends dad and step mom= papa and mamaw
call my boyfriends mom= grandma ronda

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K.D.

answers from Oklahoma City on

We have Grandma, and Nanny for grandparents, but my son came up with "Grand" for his great grandma. I love it, sounds regal and respectful. I want to be a "Grand" when I grow up. Ha

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A.F.

answers from Tulsa on

I wouldn't change a thing. He is 17 months old and set in his ways of what people are called. Does he see her often or do you have to tell him every time he sees her that "this is Nan" and he follows along? If he already calls her that on his own, tell her she is stuck with it. My boys grandma, who they see onl;y 1 or 2 times a month, decided she didn't want to be called Memaw after my youngest was sbout 14 months old, and told him to call her gramma, he was very shy of her after that, and distanced himself from her every time we went over there after.

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R.U.

answers from Oklahoma City on

We let the kids decide. My son came up with Boppy for my dad and Grandad is hubby's. My grandfather is known as Boompa. But we couldn't get away from grandma for our moms, lol.

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C.O.

answers from Lawton on

We have Nonna (because my mother's name is Donna) and Nana and Pa and GranBob (step-grandfather). Before my father-in-law died he was PaPa.

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