I need your help! I have a very important dilemna. I have spent considerable time lately trying to pick my grandma name! I don't want to be just 'Grandma'. I want a different name. We have a large family and there are already lots of "grandma's". I have always teased and said my grandkids could just call me Aunt Robin. But now that I have a little grandbaby coming in June, I need to have a name. A very special name. Some people have told me that my grandbaby will call me what he/she wants to. But I am thinking they will call me what they hear me called. I want a name that will be different, warm and cozy, and well, just special. Here are some suggestions that have been given to me:
Nana (I think this one is too common)
Mia (I do like this one - but my daughter thinks its too much a real name)
Grammie (I'm kind of liking this one)
Granny (Does anybody else hear, "Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed"?)
So what suggestions do you have?
32 comments:
I'm Grandma and I love it!!!
Susan
In my humble opinion I think Mia sounds very much like the name of this adorable little girl we both know!:) Grammie is cute, I often say Grammie when I talk about Grandma to the kids. Although they still say Grandma. My vote goes for Grammie. -Mindy
My children call their grandma on my husband's side... Grammie. My mom is Grandma.
Don't know if that helped any...??
I totally understand that this is seriously important, Robin. It was very, very important to me, just before Cameron was born.
I'm a little partial to Nana for obvious reasons. And although it is probably overused, in our family I'm the very first Nana ever.
All the grandparents have always been grandma and grandpa, with last names attached to the title to separate the two sets of grandparents. I decided Rob and I weren't going to be grandma and grandpa. So we are Nana and Papa.
It felt very strange in my own mouth at first and now it's as natural as can be.
Honestly, I think the sweetest term for grandma I've heard is Mia. I actually love that. Seriously, Mia and Papa?
And you're right about one thing. The baby will call you what he or she hears you being called.
My boys always called my mama Grammie. They still do, in their 20s. It fits. It has always fitted. My daddy was PawPaw.
Now, MY Grandma was known as Honey by some of my cousins. It started with one cousin and just grew. She had 36 grandchildren (first grandchildren) and about half of them called her Honey.
I think you could easily be a Grammie. And no, I do NOT like Granny.
This is a fun dilema, no??
Oh Robin, it will be interesting what the baby calls you. Probably something like "Grandma Robin". My mom is Honey to the younger grandkids because they took care of my nephew alot and my dad ALWAYS called my mom Honey, so Justin just picked it up and now it has stuck. She is Grandma Honey to some, others just Honey. She loves it. She is grandma, grams, granny and honey to about 38 grands and great grands
I'd vote for Grammie. Or maybe Grammie Robin. Just my .02.
Congratulations - whatever you're called, it'll be a joy and a blessing, I'm sure! :D
My mother is Gramsy, since I've always called her Mumsy. Not sure if that fits or not.
My aunt is Mimi to her grandchildren. Mimsie would also be cute.
I also know a Gigi (pronounced G-G), but she is a great grandma.
I also like Gram, Grammy, and Gran.
Definitely let us know what you decide!
I have 7 grandkids and I am called Mema as both of oue parents are still alive and they are Grandma or GrandmaMonroe I just needed something different and easy to say. All you needed to do is have everyone use what ev er name you choose.
Oh, what a fun post! My vote is for Grammie. My kids called my mom "Gram." I agree, I don't care for Granny. Mia is very sweet!
Just Grandma works really well for me. My grands have lots of grandmas and you can't have too many! They do sometimes call me Grandma Dawn - imagine that - to differentiate from all the others. Works for me!
I'm with everyone else on Granny. No.
No on Granny
Yes to Grammy or Grandma Robin.
My younger dd is nicknamed Mia (for Maria) so for me that's not an option. It doesn't sound like a grandma name to me.
My personal choice for my grandson to call me is Nana b/c in Indonesian, the language we all speak b/c we lived there, grandma is nenek and nana is near enough; or maybe Oma, the Dutch word.
I have a little girl in my class this year who always writes about her 'Nama'...not 'Nana', her 'NaMa'! It's pretty dang cute. And I know her Nama (a.k.a. Grandma), and she loves it! :)
Yeah, I didn't care too much for "granny", either. I was "allowed" to choose my own, and I really liked "grammie". Only trouble is, my sweetie grandson can't say it yet, and it comes out "mimi". Just to hear him call me makes my heart melt, and if that's what he can say, then so be it. :o) Although, I'm still working on it with him. ;o)
What's even funnier is my husband is Papa. But Austin says Bubba. Now, we *really* get a kick out of that one!
meemaw is a texas name for grandma.
Lisa
I love MeMe. We started calling my mom Grammy when my nephew was born. This led to my son shortening it to MeMe when he was old enough to talk.
My next two boys started calling my MIL Gackey out of the blue. We still don't know where they got it, but it stuck.
I love unique names that the children come up with on their own. That makes it special. Congratulations!
A fun thing to decide! I like what you said in the above post, you can be bought! I like Grammie, I might should have gone for that but mine sorta evolved. When my son and his wife were having the first they wanted gee gee for me, other kids didn't like it so much and the baby never quite could get it out so they call me Dee Dee. And like 3 of my friends are called that by their grandkids, their names are Debbie.
Be sure to let us know what you decide!
We called my Mum *Nonie*
my MIL *Nana*
I like the Icelandic *Ama*
How exciting for you! congrats
=-)
Jocelyn
Hi Robin, What a fun post...and one I can fully relate to!! Our eldest daughter (of 3) & SIL are also expecting and due May 5th. This is our first grandchild and we are VERY excited, just like you! :-) I am in the exact same process of trying to pick a name. I don't want Grandma...as both of our mothers were "grandma" with their last names tacked on. So...I want to pick something else...something "special". I vote with the others on "no to granny". My top choices are same as some of your: Nana, MeMe (French for grandma & I have French background-so that is fun...I can imagine some unknown ancestor...200 years ago being called MeMe), and I've also been thinking of DeeDee...which is my daughter's favorite, however since my name is Diane...I feel it's pretty close to calling me by my first name and I'm not too into that. My husband's Dad used to call me DeeDee instead of Diane. Also, when my Mother was still alive-her nick name was "Dee". So, anyways, those three are my fav. I have friends that are Honey, Mimi & Grandy as well. It's fun to know we're both embarking on this wonderful stage of life at the same time!! What is your daughter's due date?
I have a friend who is a 'mia' and think it's adorable.
I also love another friends name of 'Bird'. Her granddaughter equated her with a bird's nest at her house and the name stuck.
Bird would be great for you since you are Robin! ;))
Lisa
My favorite Grandma name is Glammaw. It's great for the youthful Granny!!!!!
I realize the post was a while ago, but I thought that I would add my two cents...
My daughter has FIVE! sets of grandparents because of multiple marriages and such, so we had to come up with something for each.
She has a Grandma and an Opa (who is German), a Grammie Sue and Grampie Joe, and Grammy Jane and Grumpy Mike, and Pepere and Memere (pronounced Pepay and Memay) and a Ninnie and Googly. Ninnie got her name because we already had a Grandma and she didn't want to be a Grandma Karen. She liked Nana, but we didn't, so somehow we came up with Ninnie. She thinks it's funny because of the double-meaning and no one else has a Ninnie! Googly got his name from the Monsters Inc movie because in the movie one character's real name is Mike (like his), but his girlfriend called him Googly Bear. Anyway, it works for us! Hope that this gives you ideas or that you've found something that works for you.
P.S. I called one of my grandmothers Gidget because she keeps shrinking each year. It's short for Grandma Midget (a take-off of the Gidget movies). It's cute and she knows I adore her and the shrinking thing is a bit of a family joke so no one takes offense.
My mother felt the same way about "grandma" so she uses Gigi. Its cute and catchy....
My daughter is pregnant and I am also looking for a name other than Grandma. What did you decided on?
http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/grandparents-nicknames.htm (from Rebecca in Antelope, CA) hope you are still looking at ideas, as there are plenty on this website!
I love this post, because I am struggling with the same thing. I will be a grandma in May, but every name I suggest to my daughter she thinks is weird. She always asks, "Why not just Grandma?" I'm very excited to be a grandparent, but I just want to be distinguished from the others. One of my sisters is "Mam" and another is "Grandma Lou." My sister-in-law is "Mammy." I'm kind of leaning toward "Grandmother" even though it sounds really formal. Can't you just hear a cute little toddler trying to say Grandmother? So cute!
I just found out that I will be a grandmother in March. I had already thought about DeeDee (my name is Donna) but, I love Mia. My mother, me,and my daughter (the one who is pregnant) all share the middle name Marie, so Mia would be a good fit. Hopefully, if I have a new granddaughter her middle name will be Marie, too. Good luck to you and the new parents. I loved reading all the posts.
Hello Robin....I noticed your site and that the date on this blog was from 2008. What 'grandma' name did you end up using. I am to be a 'grandma' for the first time to twins early next year and like you am having the same thoughts. The 'other grandma' is going with the name Nana, which would have been my first choice. My first name is Emm (short for Emmanuelle), so I was thinking of Amma. Any thoughts? Thanks and congratulations.
I am so over the moon that I will be a first time grandmother in June. Emma Grace I'm sure will be the apple her grandpa and my eye. I have put alot of thought and study into what I want to be called by my grandchildren for the rest of my life. I'm pretty young and being called grandma doesn't fit. I want something youthful, lively and energitic. My name is Melinda but I do not like MEME. So Mia will be the one. I also like Mima, Lovey, and Pippa. But Mia just fits. My hubby will be Paw. Not to crazy about it, but thats what he wants.
I hope you chose Mia . My grandmother was “ Mia” . Now my sister and I get to honor her in being MIA’s ourselves
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