What Do Your Kids Call Their Grandparents?
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Here’s an interesting question we think will make for a great discussion: What do your kids call their grandparents? Did you stick with tradition or go with something unusual? Did your parents and in-laws agree with whatever you suggested, or did they pick their own names? What did/do you call your own grandparents?
I think I first heard of the not-calling-grandparents-grandparents trend in 2011 when I read a New York Times story called “Who Are You Calling Grandma?” and learned that some grandmothers, feeling that Grandma sounds too old, have instead labeled themselves as Glam-ma, Mimi, Mamo, and so on. Of course, some grandfathers pick alternate names, too, but it seems more common among women, and the grandmothers’ picks in the article are definitely more … unusual. (The article does mention reasonable, practical reasons to use non-standard names, such as remarriages, etc.) Last year, the Times did a similar story, which included an, er, interesting anecdote about a 69-year-old grandmother who refused to accept her daughter’s gift of a “grandma” charm for her charm bracelet. She said she was too old for the nickname and instead requested Sweetie Pie (um).
Here are some thoughts from the moms on the Corporette team:
Kat
When I was little we called the grandparents who lived close Pop-Pop and Gram, and the grandparents who lived far Grandma Vogele and Grandpa Vogele. When it came time for us to pick names for my child’s grandparents, I didn’t like the level of formality associated with last names — I wanted Grandma and Grandpa to be fun! So in full, we call everyone Grandma Linda and Grandma Ann, but in practice just Grandma in person. The grandpas are Grandpa and Grandad. When my grandmother was living, she wanted to be called GG for great-grandma. Not terribly creative but it works for us!
Kate
I called my maternal grandparents (who lived near us) Gramma and Grampa, while my paternal grandparents (who lived in Cyprus) were Yiayia and Papou, the Greek words for grandparents. (Incidentally, I got my name, Katina, from my grandmother.) When my son was born, my husband’s parents, who are Chinese, became Ma Ma and Ye Ye, and my parents were Yiayia and Papou — but when my mom realized that two Y-words for grandparents might be confusing to a little kid, she switched herself to Gramma (like her mom). If my son has kids, I’ll be happy being Grandma/Gramma, and I will certainly not ask to be called Glam-ma.
April
In my experience looking at families around me, it seems as if the firstborn grandchild sets the names of the grandparents. In my family, my nephew, who was the firstborn grandchild, couldn’t say Grandpa and could only say Papa, so even though we all assumed/intended he would be Grandpa, he is now forever known as Papa. On that side, my mother-in-law is Bubbie. For my parents, my mother is Grandma, and that’s what I called her mother. My father started off as Poppy, which I love, but lately he’s been trying to transition to Grandpa for some unknown reason. I thought Poppy was cute and suited him, but it is easier to distinguish between Papa and Grandpa vs. Papa and Poppy.
So, readers, do tell: What do your kids call their grandparents, and why? Did this issue cause any family disagreements? What do you want to be called if you have grandkids someday?
Stock photo via Stencil.
Oldest grandchild here.
My grandma is Tutu, which happens to be Hawaiian for grandma, but really it’s because her name is Tudy.
My grandpa is Poppy. Who is now rebranding as “Pop,” much to my dismay.
Also, saw something recently: https://images.app.goo.gl/AarvmzGrq24NXhQQ9
My mom is grandma Firstname; one set of in-laws is grandma and grandpa Lastname (feels very formal to me, but is fine); the other set is Mima and Papa. My MIL wanted it to be Mima and Pipa (pronounced Mee-Maw Pee-Paw) and even HE never referred to himself that way. I’m ok with it, but didn’t realize think about the fact that Mima would sound too close to “Mama” with a toddler learning to talk, which does kind of bother me. Just glad MIL stopped pushing Pipa because it was…uncomfortable. With three grandmas, I guess the distinction is helpful but it is a bit funny to me because I just called all grandparents grandma/grandpa (and one great grandma was Oma) and it was just fine. (As an aside, my mom thought about being “Oma,” but everyone called my great grandma Oma so it was just too tied to that specific Oma in our family.)
I’m from the Philly area so my parents are Mom Mom and Pop Pop. My husband’s parents are/were Grandma and Grandpa – he has a daughter from a previous marriage, so that’s what they were already. As a kid I liked having Grandma/Grandpa and Mom-mom/Pop-pop so that I didn’t have to say “Grandma Smith” and “Grandma Jones” so that’s why I resurrected it for my kids, even though we’re not in eastern PA anymore!
My MIL requested “Nana” before my first kid was born, she was already using that name with my niece. My mom is Grandma. Both FIL and my dad are Grandpa, and we just specify mommy’s dad or daddy’s dad. We rarely see FIL, so there’s not much confusion.
My grandparents requested some diminutives, but habits are hard to break, so my kids still just call them great grandma and great grampa (even though that’s a mouthful)
The first grandchild picks. My niece was the first grandchild on both sides of her family. She started using “baba” as (according to my BIL) “her honorific for everyone over the age of 40” when she was talking a little bit but not a whole lot. It later morphed into “biba” for my mom, now used for all of. My husband’s parents were already grandma and grandpa by dint of older grandchildren / nieces on my husband’s side.
My dad’s parents went by Papa(First Name) and Ma(first name). My dad has the same name as his father (and my daughter’s name is also a derivative of that same name), so my dad goes by Papa(first name), which was something that I wanted, as an homage to my grandfather, I suppose. It’s a bit odd in hindsight, because my husband also goes by Papa, and DD sees my parents constantly, so there’s a lot of “Papa! Papa(First Name)!” My mother wanted to be “Mema” (Mee-ma) but my daughter has christened her “Nanny-o.” In-laws that my daughter seldom sees are Grandpa (First name) and Grandma (first name). Incidentally, our nanny goes by “Nana” (a derivative of her name that is easier for a child to say). After we had said nanny for a little over 6 months, MIL informed us in a huff that she had always hoped to be called Nana herself, though she never bothered to communicate that to us. (eye roll). My mom’s parents were Grandma and Grandpa.
My mom felt very strongly about this and chose Grammy. My kids (her only grandkids) call her “Grandma” and she hates it (and they do it when she’s annoying them).
My dad didn’t care, so we went with Grandpa, but as it turns out my oldest fave him a nickname and it stuck.
My in-laws are Gran and Grandad; MIL chose Gran when the first grandkids on that side were born. One set of my grandparents are still alive, and we all call them Mimi and Papa. I was the kid that made “mimi” happen because I kept calling her “mama”.
Wow, we are really boring. Every grandparent is Grandma {First Name} or Grandpa {First Name}. I’ll admit it, I’m just not a fan of the cutesy grandparent names and I guess our parents aren’t, either.
We started with Grandma & Papa for my parents. (I disliked Papa, but my kids are last, so I didn’t have a say…) and Grandma for my husband’s mom. However, my oldest went through a “first name” phase. I ignored it, thinking it would go away. It didn’t. So, each grandma (& dad!) are known by their first name, many years later. I got to keep “Mom” and my dad kept “Papa.” Sometimes this comes out as “Grandma First Name” but usually not. My husband seems okay being called by his first name, at least with our oldest.
Another oma and opa here… it was originally going to be just for my parents as our family is mostly German. I studied German all through middle and high school and was a couple classes short of a minor too in addition to doing an exchange program there.
My daughter though has taken to calling both grandparents Oma and Opa which we’re allowing for now as she can’t really say grandma and grandpa. My mom I think is a little disappointed by this as she had specifically asked for Oma, but its not like we can control it at the moment. We’ll see what happens in a few months/years!
My parents: Nana and Granddaddy. These are the same names I used for my mom’s mom, and my dad’s dad. If my mom’s mom hadn’t suddenly passed away when I was pregnant, I have no idea what my daughter would have called my mom since my mom was suggesting some…odd names.
My in-laws: Grandma and Grandpa. My MIL is German, so I assumed she would want to be called Oma, but she prefers Grandma and Granny)
We have Mimi and Papa, Oma and Opa (German version – that’s my dad and his wife… she suggested something bizarre and I had to redirect ASAP), and Grammy.
My MIL decided to rebrand herself with the second round of grandkids… there is a 12 year gap between my oldest 2 niblings and the youngest 5. She picked Mimi (which she occasionally spells Meme) for pronunciation reasons. My mom picked Grammy because that’s what she called her (very close to her) grandmother.
We have Oma and Opa (German). But she often signs Oma First Name which I find strange.
My parents are Grandma and Grandad. My grandmothers were Nana and Nanny (British). Grandma is perceived by my mom to be ‘younger’ but I mostly think of it as American (we’re Canadian).
More common in our area are Nanny and Poppy or Nan and Pop. My DH is Papa and Papa is common for father in so many cultures (Russian, French, Turkish etc) that I’m always surprised when it’s used for a grandparent.
My parents are Gong Gong and Poh Poh (also Chinese – maternal grandparents). Mr GCA’s parents are Grandma (firstname) and Grandpa (firstname), or just Grandma and Grandpa.
My parents are Grandpapa and Poh-Poh (Chinese), and Mr Lana’s parents are Nana and ………….. somehow I don’t know what his father wants to be called and I feel like it’s too late to ask, help!