What do you call your grandparents?

[sheilaincali]

My grandparents were all from the same town.  To their face we called them all Grandma and/or Grandpa.  At our house if were talking about one set or the other it would be Grandma K/Grandpa K or Grandma Last name/Grandpa Bud.  Everyone called my paternal grandfather Bud.
The grandfathers have both passed and both sides of my family are Catholic (so I have dozens of cousins on both sides and there are over 20 great grandkids on both sides and counting).  All of them refer to my grandma's as Great Grandma.  


My DH is an only child and I have the oldest grandkid on my side.  So I told the parents- you can pick what you want to be called.  In my mom and dad's case whatever they picked would be what all the future grandkids called them.
DH's mom and stepdad are Oma and Opa and my folks picked Nana and Papa.  All of my nieces and nephews refer to my parents as Nana and Papa because that's what they were always referred to as.  "We're going out for dinner with Nana and Papa" or "look Nana sent you a card", etc. 

Now that my DS is 15 it does sound a little odder when he calls my dad "Papa" than when my 4 year old nephew calls dad "Papa". 

FWIW- we refer to all Aunts/Uncles by what we consider their full name (Aunt first name, Uncle first name).  All of the nieces and nephews call me "Aunt Sheila"  Don't know why, but they never just call me Sheila. 

[Wisconsin Beth]

My Mom called her Polish grandmother Busha I think.  Not sure how it was spelled. 

[bean29]

My Mom's Mom and Dad were Grandma (first name) Grandpa (first name)  Dad's parents were Grandma and Grandpa.  My cousins on my Mom's side started the naming tradition and we just followed it.

I had cousins on my Dad's side that called their other Grandma and Grandpa Nana and Papa - I thought it was an ethnic thing but I have no idea what background my aunt has.

We call both sets of grandparents Grandma (first name) and Grandpa (first name).  Nana and Papa does not seem natural to me.

One of my nieces calls my Mom Granny - she is a young adult and it is a joke between them.

[michelyn8]

My co-worker is called Honey by her grandkids. Too cutesy for me but she was a teen mother and a grandmother in her late 30's so wanted someething that didn't sound "old".

My mom's parents were Grandma and Papa.  My dad's mother was Grandma Gracie; his father passed away 6-7 years before I was born.  I've been researching my family tree for 15 years now, so when I talk about my paternal grandfather to anyone, I refer to him by his first name. 

My parents were GrandMa and GranDaddy to my children but I refer to my mother as Granny for my granddaughter because I wanted her to call me Gramma (although right now she calls me Mama and her mother by her first name because that's what she hears at home more often than not).  Funny thing is my mother refers to me as Granny when she talks to DGD because she is so used to being called GrandMa.  Her paternal grandmother is Nanny and her Nanny's grandmother is called Nanny Bowe.  My ex is Grandpa and his father is GrandPapa.  For my children, I referred to my ex's parents were Grandpa Dale and Grandma Debbie just to differentiate from my parents but the kids call them Grandma and Grandpa when they see them.  Come to think of it, we've never determined DGD should refer to her my ex's mother and she does see her. 

Oh well...........not a big issue when you really think about it.  DGD can call me whatever she wants right now as long as she still gives me hugs when I get home from work.

[Deleted]

I called my grandmother "Grandmother" and my grandfather "granddaddy."  My kids called their grandparents "Grandmother" and "Papa."

I guess that is why I was the only one on here that didn't see Grandmother Susana as a mouthful.

[alabamagal]

Sept 5, 2013 10:54:30 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

My Mom called her Polish grandmother Busha I think.  Not sure how it was spelled. 

Babushka is the polish and russian work for grandmother - not literally translated though, but commonly used.

It also refers to the scarf worn by Polish and Russian woman, or could refer to any older woman.

[Chocolate Lover]

I called my grandparents MeMaw, Paw Paw and Maw Maw.  Mom's dad died when she was 15.  When Maw Maw remarried when I was little her husband was Uncle first name until she got rid of him.

My parents talk about their grandparents as Grandma last name for a couple of them (from the stories they tell, they were mean old ladies) and I don't recall what the others may have been called. 

[Angel!]

Sept 4, 2013 16:50:15 GMT -5 @missmargarita said:

Totally off subject here but one thing I find kind of quirky with the Mexican population is the parents call their kids "mama" or mamas" for the little girls and "papa/papas or poppies"  for the little boys.  Even when someone is talking to an infant they call them mama or papa...

 

I didn't realize this was a mexican thing.  I call DD "mama" all the time.  Or some other similar nickname "little mama", "baby mama" (which I realize sounds weird with the more traditional use of baby mama), or "baby girl" or a bunch unrelated like "sissy", "bug", "sleepy-bug", "munchkin", "stinky-butt", etc.

DS has a whole host of nicknames also, but I've never used "papa" though.  I basically call my kids whatever name happens to pop into my head at the moment.  Does that make me weird?

[raeoflyte]

I don't think so Angel. I call ds "babe" probably 90% of the time. I never liked that nickname between couples but it just happened with ds and stuck. I also call him monkey, boy, and nudey-butt.

[aprilleigh]

My maternal grandparents are Indonesian-Dutch, so we called them Oma and Opa. When I was little, Opa was married to a Hawaiian lady, and we called her PoPo. My paternal grandparents are Grandma and Grandpa.

My son is 6 now. My mom is now Oma (and MY Oma became Omi, which is what we called my great-grandma, but I don't think that strictly translates!). My mom suggested that Opa could be Big Opa, but he didn't like that much! So it's still just Opa. My mom remarried when I was 8 months pregnant. Her husband never had kids, but he and my son have an amazing relationship. He was never close to his grandparents, so he Googled the Polish name for Grandpa, and he goes by Dzia Dziu (pronounced Ja Ju). Although I've seen a few other posters talk about Polish grandparents, and maybe this is a bad translation?

My son calls my dad and step-mom Grandpa First Name and Grandma First Name. She insists on the "grandma" part, and it rankles. I always just call her First Name, even around my son. We don't get along... My husband's parents are Grandma and Grandpa. No clarification necessary!

I really love the heritage that comes with these different names. It felt weird when I was in school, though, to bring Oma for Grandparent's Day. Kids can be rude.

[Nazgul Girl]

   My grandparents on both sides were addressed as Grandma & Grandpa Last Name.

   My mother went by Grandma First Name with her grandchildren.

   My father just goes by Grandpa First Name or Gramps ( his choice ).   He even signs his emails to his grandchildren  as "Gramps" sometimes.

[Deleted]

 In some families, grandchildren call their grandparents "sir" and "ma'am".
 (Do England's Will and Harry address their grandmother as "your majesty"?)

[spartan7886]

I have Grandma and Pop on one side and I had Mamaw and Papaw on the other. Grandma's mom was Meemaw. DH has Grandpa and Marie (the second wife).<br>

[chiver78]

if BBC interviews can be believed, they do in fact address QE2 as "your majesty". they schedule appointments to see her, too.

as much as my family might exasperate me, I'm so very thankful that we are allowed to live our own lives and not be tied to any stuffy protocols. it's even worth going without the public dole to be allowed to ignore my mom's cell calls every now and then.

[taz157]

Growing, I only had my mom's parents as my dad's parents died before I was born.  My mom's mom was called Mamaw and my mom's dad was called Pawpaw.

With DH, he only had his mom's parents growing up as his dad's mom died before he was born and his dad's dad walked out on the family when his dad was 8.  DH called his mom's mom Grandma (I did the same when I came into the picture) and I think his mom's dad was Granddad (died before I came into the picture).

Now that DH and I have DD and 2 sets of grandparents (both of our parents), they are called:
  - My mom: Nana (was Granny but switched per Nana's request)
  - My dad: G Dad M
  - DH's mom: Memaw
  - DH's dad: Granddaddy

Now that DD is getting older and is starting to talk more (she's 2), I'm not sure if they'll stick or not.    We'll see what DD choices when the time comes.

[moneymaven]

DS has all 4 grandparents here and he has a different name for each of them. Names mostly driven by foreign languages, and DS being poly-lingual.

He has 2 paternal great grandmas, 1 paternal great grandpa, 1 maternal great grandma. They each have their own name too, given by DS.

My BIL (my sisters husband) is Italian. When his parents visit from Italy, DS calls them Nonna and Nonno which is Italian for grandma and grandpa.

All of them love their special name given by DS.

[Tennesseer]

Mother's parents were grandma and grandpa.

Father's parents were grand-mère and pépère (French/French-Canadian).

[ZaireinHD]

Sept 4, 2013 14:41:30 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Back in the day, I just called my grandparents "Grandma" and "Grandpa."  But these days it seems everyone is coming up with new and cutsie names for grandparents.  It appears "nana" and "mimi" are becoming popular.  Also, it seems each individual grandparent needs to have their own name.  Whatever happened to "Grandpa Jones" and "Grandma Smith?"

What are the grandparents in your life called?

yea - for me it was grandma or grand-dad.

laughing now cause yea I've noticed this too (well from movies)
and it appears that some grandparents find it offensive to be called grandma?
but again that is based on movies I've seen.

[taz157]

My dad thought he was too young to be a grand-dad (he was almost 65) so that is why he settled on G Dad M. 

Keep in mind, my DD is named after my maternal grandmother (so DD's maternal great-grandmother).  For my dad, my mom's parents where more like his parents longer than his parents (due to their early deaths) so he was used to my DD's name as an older woman's name for many years before that. My parents are divorced, and my brother and I hadn't spent a Christmas together with both of them in 20+ years (they get along, just lived in different states on the big day).  For DD's first Christmas, my brother came to town with his wife and both of my parents were in town so for me, it was a big deal!    Anyway, I'm the one that moves the presents from under the tree to the recipient.  For the presents from my dad to DD, he put his first name on them instead of anytime of grand-dad nickname.  Almost 2 years later, he still gets teased by me for that.  Don't worry, I'll tell DD too and I've already told him that she's the only grandchild that can him by his first name.    On the Christmas card he gave to DD that 1st year, he put G Dad M and that was one of the last things I opened. 

[Chocolate Lover]

Sept 7, 2013 13:49:53 GMT -5 @tbird said:

for my kids, it was gran(d)ma and gran(d)pa.

I will likely be grandmama.

See, I hear "grandmama" and think Addams Family