Cuter Name than Grandma!!

We started out calling my parents Grammy & Grandpa. But when my daughter began to talk, she couldn't say Grammy & Grandpa...she said Mimi & Bumpa. So now all the grandkids call them Mimi & Bumpa.

My mother-in-law goes by Nana, coined by my odler nephews.

My parents have the cutest names!! I love them :). I was 20 when I had my first and my parents were in their mid-40's, they were not going with Grandma and Grandpa. So we set on MeeMaw and P-Pops. The little boy I used to nanny for thought MeeMaw was Nemo, and as my daughter started to talk, she just called them Mo and Op.

I think the family I nannied for used Nonna and Pok for their parents. Or even a nickname for you....my siblings don't go by Aunt or Uncle, they all go by nicknames, either given by my kids or ones from us growing up. So they are TM (Emily), Addy (Adam), JayJay (Jason), and Roo (Sarah). My nieces (on my side of the family) call me GG, and my name is Rachel. GG stands for Good Guy, which is what Adam called me when he was younger and couldn't say Rachel :).

Growing up I called my grandparents Grandma (last name) and Grandpa (last name). I didn't realize how formal and odd that was until I was much older. With all of the steps and halfs and honoraries in my kids' lives, they have to use different names to keep everyone straight! They have a Grandma, a Mimi, a Mimi (first name), a Gigi, and a slew of Aunties.

Grandmother?

Well, yeah, SB just summed up my first draft!

The biggest issue I have with the idea of cute names for grandma because grandma thinks she is too young to be grandma is this insanity is pushed only on the first grandchildren. So then a few more come along and the older ones have to figure out why they had to grandma this and everyone else calls her grandma. Worse why do we call grandpa grandpa and grandma memaw or some other nonsense.

You are going to be a grandma, embrace it.

I loved my grandma so very much...I consider "Grandma" to be a title of honor and I will embrace it wholeheartedly when my time comes.

My mom insisted on being called "Nana." She said she was too young to be a grandma. It was stupid, and honestly, with as much as I loved my grandma, I was kind of hurt that she didn't want to be a "real grandma." Luckily, my mother in law is grandma enough for both of them. And loves being called Grandma.

What did you call the grandma you loved? Honor her by taking on that moniker.

Or take on a name that fits your heritage. We're Dutch, so it would be Oma for grandma and Opa for grandpa. But we're also French-Canadian, which would be Mémère or pépère. It's kind of fun to see what our ancestors called one another. :) And the names are lovely and unique.

ETA: Mimi...oh my goodness! "Precious?!" That's cringeworthy.

How about "I'm-pretentious-and-think-I'm-better-than-everyone-else"? Oh, wait, that's just what I hear whenever I hear a name other than Grandma for a Grandma.

Sure, it's cute when you have a name the kid gives you because he/she is too little to pronounce Grandma. And, yeah, you have a baby that will be only slightly older than his/her nephew. But I'm from a tiny Catholic community that had plenty of that happen, and Grandma was always Grandma. Or "Grandma First Name." My husband's step mom tried to tell us they were going to be MeMaw and PawPaw. No way in hell. Unfortunately, my husband's father passed when our baby was around 3 months, but either way, we never would have allowed them to call their grandparents that.

There's not a "dang" thing wrong with wanting a unique name for being a Grandmother. We decided on Nana for my mom & my daughter pronounced it NeeNee. So that is what stuck & what we call her today.

Congrats on your little one & your new grandbaby! Even though I have years to go before I become one (even though I am old enough). I already have my name picked out. It rhymes with my name. Nina sounds cute... and is similar to Nana & T..

T., I will one day be a grandmother - my kids are grown. So I'm talking to myself as much as I am talking about you. Your daughter is the one who makes the decision what to call you to her children. Not you. You can ASK... but you aren't the boss of your daughter or your grandchildren when it comes down to it.

My mom also didn't want to be grandma. We called her Grammy, but with the hope that my son wouldn't really be able to pronounce it and that he'd invent something different when he was a baby. Sure enough, Grammy came out "Gibby" when he said it, and my mom has been Gibby ever since.

Same thing happened in my generation - my oldest cousin said "Gaboo" as a baby and that's what we all call my grandma.

If you have any affiliation - even a loose one - with another culture, you could see what grandmothers are called in that language. Nonna in Italian, Nai Nai in Chinese, etc.

I also have always liked the sound of Nana and Papa for grandparents.

ETA: It isn't pretentious at all to choose a name other than grandma. don't let anyone make you feel guilty for wanting a different name.

To heck with what anyone else "thinks" ... if you don't want to be called grandma that's your option ... it's not pretentious or anything else.

My parents are Nana & Papaw (mom and step-dad) and grandpa and grandma fun (dad and step-mom ... he chose this).

My grandparents were Grams (dad's mom ... my dad's dad died when I was very young but he was just grandpa "last name"). Grandma and Grandpa (mom's parents) and Gram (my mom's grandmother ... so my great grandmother).

My sister and an aunt go by Granny.

But I also grew up in a predominantly German area so there were LOTS of Oma and Opa's.

One of my professors goes by Dram (her first grandchild couldn't pronounce gram and turned it to that) and even has students calling her that :)

Maybe look up different languages ... in particular ones that show your heritage ... and pick one from those :)

Met a woman at the grocery store and her grand kids call her Precious!

What's your cultural heritage? My mom is called "Oma" (long story short, she's Norwegian so she SHOULD be Mormor, but MY OWN Mormor is still alive and having two Mormors would be confusing, so we went with "Oma" to honor the German part of my family). My MIL is "Nonna" (she's Italian). My niece's other grandmother was called "Nana". My brother's kids call their other grandmother "Obaman" (it's based on Obaachan, she's Japanese).

I've heard Gran, Grams, Grammy, Gammy, Boo (I'm not kidding), Baachan, Gramma, Granny, Gams. And they can all be followed by your first name...or not. Gran T., Grams T, Gammy T., etc. You get the idea...

Congrats on your little one and your soon to be little one!

My mom insisted in Grandmother.

Take that for what it's worth because I was forced to call my mom Mother. If I didnt, my cheeks were squeezed so I got the message of " mo-ther".

I did call my Grandmother Grandmother and many cousins called her granny. My mom is just weird.. She expects that Southern formality. I called my dads mom MaMaw

For me... I don't care as long as my daughter and her children want to be around me and love me.

When I announced I was pregnant with kiddo I asked my parents and mom wanted to be nannie. My dad said he wanted to be called "Sir". Ha!

Well the princess arrived and Mom was Nannie and my dad was granddaddy. But she couldn't say that so it was Ringdaddy. So they ended up Nan and Ring.

I called my grandparents Mego and Papa, Mema and Papa Johnnie. I want to be called grams. But honestly I don't care what my future grandkids call me as long as they call me!!

Congrats!!!!

What is your ethnic heritage? Oma, Nonna, Bubbe, Lola, Tita, Baba, Meme, Nanni, Amma, Nana, Omi... That is usually how people do it here. They call their Italian Grandma Nonna, and German grandma Oma etc.

My parents have been Mima and Papa for years. I love their names. My grandmother was called grannie until she had great grandkids and they decided to call her G.G. I never called her that because she was my Grannie until I lost her at 25. I miss her and am glad my mom is Mima.

I know a lady who is called Honey by her grandkids. Whatever you decide will be great. And for whatever it's worth I don't think it's abnormal to think of a cute name. My sister is called CiCi. Her given name is Cindy.

Blessings!
L.

In my experience - the baby will pick your name. That's what happens in most of the cases I know. The parents/grandparents come up with some cute name to be called, and the baby simply chose what he felt like calling the grandma and grandpa :)

So, feel free to have fun choosing something, but don't get your heart set on it :)

Some names I know: Nana, Gammy, Grammy, Gram, Naneen, Nona, MamaSue (grandma's first name was Sue, and the baby just added it to Mama)

Great answer Momoftwo. I said that when I become a Grandma that I wanted to be called GoGo. It is South African.

No, I am not South African but it is so cute and it is cultural..

It will be whatever the first grandchild calls you. In my group we do not have a nana, grandma etc. We have Bahdee, Oma, and YiaYia.

We call my MIL nana first name.

We call my mom Grammie.

I am a very young Grandma (37) so there is no way I was going to be called "Grandma"...lol! So, my grandson calls me MeMe.

Well, see what the kid says when he starts talking. We call my mom "Nana" because that's what she and the stepkids came up with. My sister's kids call her Grandma and their other grandmother Oma. I know a grandma that the kid nicknamed "haha" and it stuck. I've also heard Memaw, Memo, Mama, Mom-mom, Mimi, Gram, Gran, Granny, Grandmom....tons of names out there.

I know a "gigi" - if you're T., what about "Titi"?

I know a Geeg, a Nunnie, a Grammy, and a few Gramas.

In Spanish it would Abuelita, Our daughter calls my mother "Aba"

I have heard Gama, Gran, "Gran T" wold be cute.

This link has a ton of suggestions!
http://www.grandparents.com/family-and-relationships/gran...

I like going with family heritage. I have Filipino friends and we all call the grandma Ama (pronounced Ahma) and the grandpa was Tatay (pronouned tie-tie). I love it. My sister in law's girls use the Lebanese words but I don't recall what they are. I wanted my daughter to call my grandma Bopka (Polish) but she refused. My grandma not my daughter. So they are all Grandma followed by the last name. :(

I called my grandma (Mom's Mom) Nana. My Mom wasn't sure what she wanted to be called, but also wanted something different from Grandma or Nana. Turns out my son picked the name and just naturally started calling her Nama. It stuck and was such an ode to my Nana (her Mom), that she just loves it.

I've asked friends who are grandmas what their grandkids call them and here's a list of some of the names:

Nonni
Mimi (pronounced meemee)
Mima (pronounced meemaw)
Gma

Gammie, Mimi, Oma, Nana..

My M-I-L is "Mimi" to my kids. They call my mom "Ra-ra" which came from my younger son mispronouncing Grandma. My cousin's kids call her mom "G" which I have always really thought was cute.

The Ultimate Guide to Grandparent Names

http://www.grandparents.com/family-and-relationships/gran...

I felt exactly the same way about being called "grandma" UNTIL my first granchild was born. The minute he popped out, I looked at him and said "Hi, I'm grandma" which surprised ME but it just felt right. So, come up with all the names you want, but when that baby is born, you will KNOW which name suits you best.

Congratulations on both bundles of joy!

My kids call my mom by her initials which is BB. I did have a friend whose kids call his mom "Grand-MaMa" (roll the r with a British accent and everything). It was a hoot (she has the best sense of humor).
I called my grandma "Moo" for years. My grandfather was trying to get me to call her "Muh" (which she did NOT like- he was trying to be funny), and well that was what stuck. She never complained about being called "Moo", but "Muh"- well that would have drove her crazy!
I'm sure you'll think of something fun!

A friend of mine just became a grandma when her 18 year old daughter had a baby. She is using Nana T.

My daughter calls me her dogs' granny.

Not many grandmothers in my country are called Grandma. There are lots of Nana, Nannies and Grans and other names. My husband's grandmother was Gong Gong because that's what my husband could pronounce, and it stuck. I had a Nanny and a Gran. My children have a Granny and a Nanny. We called my great grandfather Daddy Cosh (which I think sounds kind of rock n roll).

There are all sorts of names find one you enjoy, and use it! I would never ever think that people are doing it to be pretentious. Anyway, what I, or anyone else thinks is not important.

Nana
Nanny
Grammy
Gigi