Grandma Nana – Nicknames for Grandma and Grandpa
Grandma is my chosen nickname, even though I considered a variety of grandma and grandpa nicknames including “nana” when I found out I was going to become a grandparent for the very first time.
For a little while I struggled coming up with a nickname for myself because, to be honest, I truly felt I was too young to be a grandma. There’s a joke about being too young to become a grandparent, but I don’t remember how it goes anymore. Something like, “don’t call me grandma”, I think. Maybe my memory is starting to go, I don’t know.
Nana is a nice nickname I guess, but it just didn’t fit with my personality. It comes across to me as an old fashioned nickname and I’m not old fashioned one bit. Some nicknames for grandparents that I’ve seen just sound ridiculous to me. Nicknames like Busha, MomMom, PopPop, Oma and Opa, Meme and Pepe just don’t fit.
By the way, how do you pronounce “Pepe”? Is it pee-pee (I hope not) or is more like Pep-aye as in pepe le pew? Please let it be the later. I can only imagine the embarrassment of strangers hearing my grandson or granddaughter calling out “Peee Peee!!!” in the grocery store or mall. Oh heavens no!
Grandma – Nana
Gosh, some nicknames for grandma’s or grandpa’s just might get a kid in trouble if they ever called me and my husband such silly names. Like Abi-Gabbi or Butterbutt. Seriously?! Granny as a nickname just sounds too old to me. I’m not 93 (yet), and I don’t wear aprons or have rollers in my hair, so very old nicknames just don’t work very well.
Come to think of it, the nickname “Nana” doesn’t sit well with me because that is what my children used to call a “banana” when they were learning how to talk but couldn’t say it right, so they always said “nana”. Nope, Nana doesn’t work for me as a nickname but Grandma is the name that exudes honor and respect (probably because of the grey hair typically associated with grandma’s and grandpa’s), and Grandpa sounds just as respectable.
Have you ever done a search online for grandparent names or nicknames for grandparents and seen some the god-awful suggested names for a grandparent? I realize that no matter what nickname I have chosen, or that “grandpa” has chosen, our grandchildren will very likely pick their own nickname for us simply trying to call us something. No first names though, we’ll have none of that.
Grandparent Nicknames
When I was looking for a cute nickname to be called by my grandchildren, I found it especially fun to read about different nicknames from a variety of languages. Spanish nicknames for a grandma included “Abuela” which is often shortened into Lita or Litta was a name I thought was pretty cool myself.
Years ago, I knew a Spanish speaking grandmother who went by “Jefe” which was pronounced like “heffa”, and when translated it meant “chief”, or “boss” or something like that. I thought that was a pretty hip nickname but I decided that since I’m not of Spanish origin, it would probably not be a good idea for me.
The Swedish grandma nickname of “Phar-Mor” was nice too, with a comparable nickname for a grandfather in Swedish of “Phar-Phar” was at least different than the other crazy ones I’ve seen. I’m not Swedish, so that one is out too. Pop, Poppa, Gramps, PewPaw and similar nicknames are all very typical and overused. Ordinary and boring, since I’m being so honest.
Despite all the time spent looking for what I felt was the best nicknames for a grandmother and grandfather to choose from, something tells me that when our grandchildren really get to talking and try to get our attention, they’ll somehow come up with a nickname for us that will make us all laugh and giggle…and make our hearts melt.
For now, I’m Grandma and he’s Grandpa and we’ll just have to see what the cute little buggers come up with for us when they start trying to talk.
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I agree with you that Granny sounds really old. I used to call my Grandma Gran or Gram, she was such a sweetie.
My kids call my mom Grandma – and then have taken lately to calling Grammy (not sure I’m liking that much) but it’s cute from the younger ones.
When my dad was still alive, all grandchildren called him papa. Think that made him feel special.
Great Post!
Heather,
From what I’ve heard from grandparents who also struggled picking a nickname, the grandchildren end up picking something completely different and all the time spent trying to choose the perfect name for our personality etc ends being a waste of time. It’s pretty fun though, and seeing some of the names considered to be “common” like Bubba and Busha etc, really made me laugh. No way!
Haha – I think they woulda smacked me if I chose Bubba as a nickname. And certainly my grandkids (if I ever have any) best think twice about it.
Fun!
haha, I’m trying to think of another nickname I heard about the other day but I just can’t think of it. A freind of mine is a grandma and her grandchildren call her Nemes (pronounced (Neeemz) and that’s a pretty unique one. I figure when my grandkids get to where they start talking, we’ll give them a handful of jelly beans to put in their mouth and see what nickname comes out from that!