Just for Fun----alternative Grandma Names

Updated on March 04, 2011
M.C. asks from Holmen, WI
49 answers

What do you or your children call their grandma? I'm looking for other names besides grandma. Thanks!

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V.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

My family is Spanish so they are Abuela and Abuelo. When my daughter was younger she could only say "Bella" and "Lolo" and now all the grandkids call them Bella & Lolo =-)

4 moms found this helpful

C.P.

answers from Dallas on

My daughters call my mom their GiGi!!!!! And it totally fits her... she is not the "grandma" looking kind!!!

3 moms found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Since both my parents and my husbands parents are divorced, we have a few different names. My husbands mom and step-dad are Mia and Pappy G, my hubs dad and step-mom are Mimi and Pap, my mom and step-dad are Nunnie and PapPap, and my dad is Papo. Cute post!!

1 mom found this helpful

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S.N.

answers from Minneapolis on

My friend's children HAVE to call her MIL 'Foxy' - gag, barf, gag......

6 moms found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from Dallas on

my children call my mom Honey and my husbands mom No-No

3 moms found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

LOL! My mom is pretty short and my son has called her "dorf" ever since he heard the word "dwarf"!

2 moms found this helpful

E.S.

answers from Dayton on

Another GiGi here...but it is for my kids Great-Great Grandma...G.G..
GiGi is almost 104 so I'm pretty sure she could care less-but to help give her distinction that's what we call her. :)
Other than that we have a Grammy, Mimi, and Grandma Maryanne...None too original.

2 moms found this helpful

C.M.

answers from Myrtle Beach on

She's got a Nana & Mema!

2 moms found this helpful
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K.P.

answers from New York on

I was fortunate enough to have several great-grandparents living until I was in my teens so my parents had to get creative:
- Dad's parents were Grandma and Gramp
- Dad's stepmother was Connie Grandma (she thought it was funny and fitting that the "Grandma" part came after her "name" b/c my dad calls her Connie)
- Dad's grandmothers were Curly Grandma (tight pin curls every day) and GG L'weasel (I couldn't say "Great Grandma Louise" and it came out that way and stuck)
- Mom's parents were Nana and Pop Pop
- My parents go by Gammy and Pops (My mom wanted to be "Grammy", but my son has called her Gammy since he could talk and now the others do too. My dad refers to himself as "your old pops" when he's talking to us, so that's what my son calls him)
- DH's parents and Grandma Janet and P-pop (older cousins came up with those)
- DH's grandfather is from Germany so he is Oppa

1 mom found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Chicago on

My kids call my Mom, Mimi...Like Candon said my mom doesn't look like a Grandma either...She's totally hip with high heels, jewels and designer jeans.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.C.

answers from Tampa on

My son calls one "Grammy" and the other "Mamaw."

1 mom found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Dallas on

I call my grandmother, Nanny. I have heard:

Gigi, Memaw, Granny, G-ma, Hooda, Nana, Mamu, Ma-Mum...

1 mom found this helpful

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Gram & Nana are what we have.
But you could also go with Grammy or something that your child will come up with on their own. Kids have a way of "making up" names for the grandparents... lol.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Phoenix on

My boys both call my mom Nanni (sounds like Noni)

1 mom found this helpful

T.K.

answers from Dallas on

My mil used to like to be called Gramma Bena - 1st name
My mom - Gramma Martin - which was her last name. they both wanted to be gramma and we neede to differntiate.
But now that my daughter is a texting teen ,...They have been dubbed - G-MA. As in.... OMG G-MA,
I'm like WTH, so Whatev
Ahhh teenage girls. Oh well, They answer to it and on't seem to mind. :)

1 mom found this helpful
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M.B.

answers from Springfield on

NeNe and Pop is used at our house.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.J.

answers from Sacramento on

Grandy was the choice of one of my MILs.

1 mom found this helpful
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B.B.

answers from New York on

MIL is Nana by her choice.

My mom is Gigi. She was so upset that our first son started to call my dad papa but couldn't say grandma...so we had worked on gigi for a week and she was sooooooooo happy. IDK if it will stick, right now all of her grandkids call her gigi, but they are all under 3. Who knows?

1 mom found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

My mom expects to be called "Grandmother" just as she expects to be called "Mother". Some weird power trip she has going on I suppose.

No wonder we only see family evedry 3-4 yrs!!

Names I have heard are: Nana and Mimi

1 mom found this helpful
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P.F.

answers from Dallas on

My kids call my mom Grandma and my MIL Grandma X (she always puts an X after her name when she gives my kids cards). I call one of my grandmothers Mom-Mom. My friend's son calls his grandmother Gommy (sounds like Mommy, but with a G).

1 mom found this helpful
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A.S.

answers from Chicago on

my 2yr old daughter calls my mom "Gaga" :) cutest thing ever!!

1 mom found this helpful

T.B.

answers from Bloomington on

We use Mommo, which is what I used with mine. It is really cute when they learn to talk.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Albany on

Grammy and Grampy- Mothers (my) Parents
MeMe and Poppy- Fathers (fiances) parents
Grandma and Grandpa- (my grandmother, his great grandmother)
Gram and papa- (my other gram and papa)
Nana and pop pop- Fiances granparents, sons great grandparents
grandma- fiances moms mom.

Good Luck with all this, my sister does Grammy and Grampy S, B, ( the first inital of the last name)

1 mom found this helpful

E.B.

answers from Seattle on

our parents literally live around the block from one another. so we couldnt start heading to grandmas before first letting them know which we were going to. So, my hubs mom has six mancoon cats that are giants. so they are grandma and granpa kitty. My mom and dad have a dog so they are grandma and grumpy granpa sadie. they only call him grumpy because my mom adds that one in. My hubs parents are split so we are lucky to have three sets so His dad and girlfriend are grandma and granpa danelle....which is his gf name. she is grandma to them as well. i couldnt wait for them to make there names for them. my mom really wanted to be grammie so she referes to herself when they are there as grammie. great post though. i think it is a fun part of childhood with how they bond with g-parents!! thanks for the posting:)

just another mama,
libby

1 mom found this helpful
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M.!.

answers from Columbus on

MaMa

We really have no idea how to spell it.. but they pronounce it Ma (like saying man) Maw (like Paw, lol).

My grandmother, my kids great gma, goes by Nana.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

I'm just "Grandma S." to my stepson's three children. I LOVE being called Grandma! His mother is "Oma" (German) her mother is the Somali word for Grandma "Ayeeyo".

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M.V.

answers from Atlanta on

Our little boy calls my mother and father Oma and Opa (German heritage).

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

For my Mom, my kids call her:
Nana
Grammy
Gramma
Grandma
G (as in 'gee')
Gamma (per my son's pronunciation of it when younger).

All these names, my kids call their Grandma.
All in affection.
My Mom, answers to whatever variation they say. All in affection.

For my Mom-in-Law:
per culture, they call her "Grand-mere"(which is a more 'formal' wording for grandmother) or
in the casual word for it "Mamie" which means "Granny." And is used with affection.

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M.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

my mom & dad are: Mama Nia & Pops
his mom & dad are: Granma y Granpa
my grandma is: MeMe

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E.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

My MIL is Grandma and my mom is Baba

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F.W.

answers from Miami on

We have a granny, grandma & nana.

A.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Memere (pronounced mem - ay) and Bueli

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B.B.

answers from Chicago on

Some find it disrespectful... but we called my grandma by her first name! she loved it!!

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A.M.

answers from San Diego on

nana, poppie, meme, nani, na na, grams

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L.L.

answers from Seattle on

My grandmothers are Nan (real name is Katherine) and Lolo (real name Lois). My mom choose to be called Gran Lou (real name Louise). My husbands side of the family just does Grandma. We are adding first names to that because it is really confusing for there to be 2 grandmas.

S.P.

answers from Nashville on

We say Mamaw and Papaw:)

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S.E.

answers from St. Louis on

I picked Mimaw for my grandchildren to call me. It's different than the usual Grandma XXX, and since I live so far from my grandchildren, I can invent what a Mimaw is to them.

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K.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

My grandparents were Yaya (who was Spanish) and Opa (who was German/Japanese) on my dad's side and Mormor (who is Norwegian) and Grandpa (who was also Norwegian, but somehow ended up with "Grandpa" instead of Morfar). My kids call their grandparents Oma (who should technically be Mormor, but since MY Mormor is still alive and well, we needed something else to avoid confusion) and Opa on my side, and Nonna (Italian) and Dadajan (Pakistani) on my husband's side. Keeps things interesting...

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S.V.

answers from Dallas on

Pompa. When my oldest, now 5, was trying to say Grandma, it sounded like Pompa we thought it was cute so it stuck.

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L.A.

answers from Dallas on

My kids have three sets:

My Dad and his wife:
Gumby & Pokey

My Mom and her Husband:
Nonna & Papa

My In-Laws:
Grandma & Grandpa

Each family had a lot of fun picking their names. :-D

K.A.

answers from San Diego on

My kids have Nanny (a more British varient as my husband & his parents are English) & Grandma.
I had Grandma & Grandmommie.

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M.B.

answers from Philadelphia on

My son calls my mom Meemom and hubby's mom mom-mom.

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B.E.

answers from Minneapolis on

We call my mom "Tati" which is Portuguese for Grandmother. My parents are young and I still have little siblings at home (2nd oldest of 10 here :)) and "Grandma" just didn't seem to fit my mom at all. Tati fits her nicely and it's easy to say :)

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A.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

my older brother tried to say abulita and all that came out was weeta (we spell it wita) So we all call our grandparents Wita & Wito...my other cousins were taught that also because their parents liked the way it sounded.

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S.B.

answers from Kansas City on

ha! My daughter calls my MIL, Just Grandma. My mom is "Other Grandma". My grandma is "great grandma" my other grandma is "great bonnie" my husband's grandma is "other great grandma" and my aunt is "aunt grandma". :-)

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M.M.

answers from Bellingham on

Growing up in my big southern family, my grandmother was "Mimi" and my grandfather was "Papaw". My great grandmother was granny. On the other side my grandparents were "grandmolly" (her name is molly) and "grandjohnny" (named john). My great grandparents on that side were grandma peg and granddaddy john. (also, obviously, named peg and john)

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S.S.

answers from Daytona Beach on

my mom is called yeaya (greek for grandmother but spelled different) when we were younger we called one grandmother Nanny and the other Nana

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D.P.

answers from Greenville on

My mother's initials are B.J.B. So my kids call her "B.B."

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C.P.

answers from Washington DC on

We use the Welsh - Nain - but little man says Nai-nai.
Great grandma is GiGi
Other Gigi is Nanny
My mom is plain old grandma and she is that :)

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