This past Saturday morning I went to Panera so that I could try to get some writing done. Please make note of the phrase “try to” – because what I didn’t know at the time was that there was a huge soccer tournament in Birmingham this past weekend, and starting about 11:00, one soccer team after another filed into Panera for lunch. I was at a table in a little alcove by the cash registers, and at one point I counted 22 other people who were attempting to share that little alcove with me. Some were sitting, some were standing, some were crouching next to tables, and while everyone was very nice and well-behaved and etc., there were moments when I thought that it sure was going to be a shame when I experienced a bout of claustrophobia in the middle of a bunch of 11 year-old boys who just wanted to eat some turkey sandwiches and hang out for a little bit before their next game.
WELCOME TO BIRMINGHAM, YOUNG SOCCER STARS. PLEASE DO ENJOY THIS PUBLIC DISPLAY OF MY CRAZY.
When I got home later that afternoon, I cooked supper, visited with my people – and while the little man read what I’d written earlier in the day (listen. that child is going to be our family historian before it’s all said and done.), I tried to re-work the beginning of a chapter in my head. I had an idea, but I needed some input – and I thought the Twitter might be able to help.
So Saturday night, I asked the Twitter a question:
And y’all? The answers?
Oh my goodness. If I could, I’d carve them into some sort of Southern Mamaw Monument. They are priceless.
Here’s a little sampling.
Is that not some Granny Goodness? The nicknames made me so happy – and that’s not even half of them.
Mary Lauren was one of the people who replied, and she mentioned that she’d written a post on grandmother names. After I read it I realized that I don’t remember any grandmothers who went by “Grandma” when I was growing up. There was the occasional “Grandmother,” but mostly I knew MiMis and Mamies and GaGas and MeMaws. I’d never thought about it until the Twitter helped me out.
So what about y’all? What did you call your grandmothers?
And better yet, if you’re a grandmother, what do your grandbabies call you?
By the way, I’m hoping that I’ll get to be Shug or Honey one day.
Maybe even SoSo.
But definitely not BooMamaw.
Which means that’s exactly what I’ll be.
I had Grandmama and Nanny. My mother tried to be Grandmother but the kids called her Grandmaw just to irritate her but I think she love the teasing. I am Nannie and my husband is Papa George or Papa G. My sister-in-law was Nana already. We also have a Pampaw and BeBe and Pawpaw. My cousins called their parents Babe and Ebud so the grands do also.
i forgot Shorty, my only grandfather, Grandmother Catherine and Grandaddy. My children called my Daddy, Granaddy, no middle d’s.
My paternal grandmother was Mam-Maw. My maternal grandmother was Grandmom, until she had great grandchildren and we called her Grandmom-mom. My sons called my mom Grammy and they call their paternal grandmother Nana.
I had a Nonnie and a Grandmother. My mother-in-law is Mama D (her name is Dorothy) and my mother was shooting for something like Mrs. Greenway — kidding — no, really something like “Grandmama” with a little Cajun inflection and my daughter – her first grandchild — clearly and unmistakably began calling her “Bamp” at a very young age. (pronounced “bawmp). Bless her heart, she’s been Bamp for 24 years and 7 grandkids now and has a really hard time explaining it. (In an interesting twist, we learned later that my Dad’s mom called her much-beloved grandfather – a riverboat captain resembling Mark Twain in only grainy picture I’ve ever seen of him – Bamp. Weird, huh?) I think I want to be “Honey” or “Shug” — one day!
I only have great-nieces and nephews…no actual grandchildren–but they call me “Aunt Granny” and it is the sweetest name my ears have ever heard! They elevate me to true grandmother status!
I had never heard of grandparents being called anything other than that until I was almost twenty. And I grew up in NC! But my mother’s family is from MN and my father’s is from TX. It was always a name: Gramma & Grampa Petersen, Gramma Gene, Gramma Smith, Gramma Reese. But, oddly, my Midwestern family referred to aunts and uncles by first name, no Aunt or Uncle prefix. I’m so homesick now!!
We had a DeeDee and Grandma, and a Pa and Syl (my grandmother insisted we call her by her first name because she was too young to be a grandma!). We called my great-grandma Granny Fanny. My parents are Papa and ChaCha (my Mom’s name is Charlene) to my little girl!
Boring northerner. Two Grandmas. :)
MeMa, PaPa and Pappy. My cousins call their grandmother ‘Noner’ (pronounced Nahner)…? I have no idea where that came from!
My daughter calls my in-laws Mema and Pepa. We also have Nana and Gan-Gan (We also call him Bo Winkle).
My mama is actually Boo Mama, well actually right now Boo Boo cause my sixteen month old cant figure out who is mama and who isn’t otherwise!
In my family, it was MaMaw, NeNe, Grandmomma, & Ma. The males were , PaPaw, Granddaddy & Pa. My husband and I are GiGi and Pops.
Others that make me smile are NeNaw, Poppa, DeeDee, CiCi, Mimi, YaYa, Tutu.
One of the best: Mean Momma (from an old Ann Landers column about being proud to be a “mean momma”) and Big Daddy. These folks are from Mississippi.
My grandparents were both Grandma and Grandpa, but they were all from Minnesota so that might be more of a northern thing. My mom is now called Granny and my dad is Papa. My nephews call their other grandparents Mawgaw and Pawpaw.
My daughter had “Grandmomma Dot” and “Grandmomma KK”… now that she has her own children: I am simply “Grandmother.” My husband (the avid golfer) is “Putt-Putt.” So appropriate.
My grandparents were called Grandmama and Granddaddy on my Daddy’s side and MaMa and PaPa (prounounced Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw) on my Mom’s. My parents are Nana and Poppy. My husband’s great-grandmother was called Monnie (I have no idea why), and his grandparents were Honey and Pop. The story goes that he heard Pop call his grandmother “Honey” when he was two, and it stuck. His other set of grandparents were Granny and Grandpa. His parents are Mamaw and Papaw (also prounounced Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw).
My maternal grandmother is Chi-Chi (that’s pronounced “chee-chee”).
My paternal grandmother is Nana and my great-grandmother is Janie.
My maternal grandmother (Ethel, still so thankful for how you connected me with Ethel gloves!) was called…Grandmother. I know, original :)
My paternal grandmother is Jewish and I think she was referred to as Bubbe when I was little. However, I grew up calling her Grandma.
My husband’s grandmother was Memom and it fit her little Texas self perfectly!
My mom and I were discussing grandmother names for her recently. I’m not prego, it was just prompted by another friend’s grandparent names dilemma. Since my sister and I have always referred to her as The Queen, I think we may call her Queenie when grandchildren finally do arrive :)
I absolutely ADORE the grandmother name Honey. It suits you :)
I had a Grandma and two Paps. My other Grandmaother died before I was born. My great grandparents were Big Mommy (she was actually tiny but strong willed) and Big Daddy.
My son called my MIL Nina and FIL Granddaddy and my dad Granddaddy. We always knew who he was talking about but we’d sometimes add the last name.
I’m hoping for Big Mommy and Big Daddy, but I guess we’ll wait and let the unborn kiddies name us!!!!
I saw your tweet and meant to reply thinking I had unquie names, but I’ve seen them here. My maternal grandparents -Granny and Honey My paternal granmother was Peacho and her husband who died when I was 5 was Granddaddy. My father died our Sr Year in college, but my children call him Pop Trippe.
I was one of those crazies in town for soccer. They had us stashed up in a neighboor playing. I thought of threatening the family to track you down as I guessed you might be hiding out to write. I soon found myself a frozen popsicile and opted for Sister-in-laws for more coffee. As we passed Chuey’s on the way out of town Sunday, I waved as I knew you might be enjoying your Sunday lunch. Maybe next time I will crash your little party! Happy writing-soccer free this weekend.
There are 2 grandmothers in our church who are sisters. They’re both 70+ in age and work in the nursery and have for years and years. So, not only do their own grandchildren call them by their grandmother monikers, but so do all the children (and their parents) in the church. The older of the two is called Sissy. The younger is called PeePee. I have no idea why, and it doesn’t seem odd to anyone but me.
I am old school myself. Or maybe I should say my parents were. I called both my grandmothers Grandmama followed by their respective last names to distinguish between the 2.
My name is Becky and my husband’s name is Randy. We have two very precious granddaughters, Presley who is 6 and Lilly who is 1. We picked our grandparent names; they call me BeBe and my husband’s grandpa name is Chief. Chief is a nickname that my father used to call all of his friends and he and my husband were real close. So, when we were searching for grandparent names Randy decided as a tribute to my father he wanted to be called Chief. And he also tells the girls that anything they want to know they should come to him because “Chief” has all the answers :-)
My mother’s name is Janice so all of the grandchildren call her Janny, now most of her friends do as well…
I had a Granny and a Grandma Hattie. My kids have a Meemaw and a Granny B (Barbara). My son kept calling her Barbara so she suggested Granny B and it stuck. I have a friend who is called Queenie by her grandkids and my sister-in-law is called CeCe.
OK all my side of the family is Northern so I have a Grandma, Meme and Nana. My mom is now Grandma.
My entire husband’s side are all MawMaws. You have MawMaw Bennett, MawMaw Bessie and MawMaw Margie. How’s that for Southern?
We live in the northwest and my kids call their grandparents by their last name. Like grandpa and grandma brown and grandpa and grandma smith. When they were really little and hadn’t made the connection of the names they called them swimming pool grandpa and grandma(my parents have a pool) and lake grandpa and grandma( my husband’s parents live on a lake). When my niece was little, she couldn’t say grandpa, so she called my father-in-law crappaw. We got a good laugh out of that!
When I was pregnant with my first child ten years ago (ten years? gah…), my mom was HELL BENT that she would be called “grand-mere” by her soon-to-be first grandchild. Yeah…we aren’t French and don’t speak it, so I can only guess she got this idea from a movie or something. At any rate, my son was born and when he started to talk, he looked squarely at her and proclaimed her “maw-maw” and that was that.
We called my moma’s mother, “Momer”. This was a smash-up of “Moma” and “Mother”.
(P.S., I’m a proud graduate of Mississippi State, myself! Class of 1982. Go Dawgs!)
I had a Granny Margaret, and a Grandma Night-Night (her last name was McKnight).
My son has a Granny, MawMaw the Great (Great Grandma), and Granny-with-the-mean-cat (all one word)!
My grandmothers were Mamaw and Grandmother. I have just become a grandmother ( January 15!! Adrienne Merritt!! Whoo to the Hoo) and I plan to be called KK. BUT the name I wanted most to share with you is what my now 24 year old son calls my mother. For the first 6 years of his life he called her Mama Joy. Then her father passed away. Nick went with her to the cemetary and she confided in him that she no longer had a father on earth. Nick told her that he would be her Fadder and she could be his Son. From That Day on, he has called her Son.
I’m a born & raised Californian (try not to hold that against me), but my dad’s family was from the great state of Oklahoma. I was the very first grandchild, & apparently I took to calling my grandma, “mom,” because that’s what I heard everyone else calling her. It stuck, and every grandchild after me, called her mom. It’s pretty cool to be a trendsetter.
My great-grandmother was, “MiMi.” I don’t know why. They’ve both been gone for a couple of decades, now, but, my… how I still miss them.
Both of mine were Grandma. (I did, for a very short time, call one of them Mongo. I have no idea where that came from!) I guess I’m a northener from the old school. I STILL miss both of them so very much. Just the thought makes my eyes well up. I hope to be a grandma someday (I won’t care what the darlins call me!)
My mom wanted to just be called “Grandmother” (which is what we called her mom) but my niece pronounced it “Butter” so that is what the grandkids call her now. :)
We are Nonnie and Daddio
We are Oma and Opa (German) and my parents were Great Oma and Great Opa. When my youngest grandson was little he would often refer to me as “regular” Oma!
My paternal grandmother was Gram, and my maternal grandmother is Grammy… her mother was Nan, and everyone called her that… a lot of times even her own kids.
But I’m from Jersey so I don’t count lol.
And is it totally horribly wrong that when I read “Shug” all I could hear in my head was Miss Celie? “HAY SHUUUUUG!”
I had a Granny & DooDaddy and a Ganga & Pappy. I was the first born grandchild and have no idea where I cam up with those. My son calls my mom & stepdad Maw & Pops. Be sure and draw the “Maw” out a few syllables ;-)
The best I have heard is one of my best friends, her grandparents were Puff & Pop. Puff’s name was coveted by several other ladies and when one of them finally bacame a grandmother she announced that she wanted to be called Puff. when they turned to her husband, the new grandfather, and asked him what he wanted to be called he replied, “well I guess Puff Daddy”. True story!
Alert: Minnesota Girl
My Grandma was Grandma. My other grandma I made the mistake of once calling “my other grandma.” She signed everything “Grandmother.” Now that we have kids, she goes by “Gigi” for Great Grandma. She even signs things that way. Whereas when I was a child, she seemed horrified to be of grandmother age, now at 88 she seems to revel in being Gigi. And as a side-note, do you know what she did a few weeks ago? Hopped a bus from Minnesota with her new Kindle Fire and headed for Mexico. Just to get a little sunshine and see some sights. May I please be that kind of 88?
BOOMAMAW would be priceless…a one of a kind!!! :) too funny!
I had a Granny. I loved to tease her and call her Gladys (her real name) every now and then. :) I have a friend who goes by Honey Gran. My mom is Baba because we lived in Ukraine the first time when our oldest was learning to talk- baba is the Ukrainian “granny”, short for babushka.
Sweet Roll was a nickname one of my cousins gave my mammaw. In my family we have the Mammaws, Pappaws, Pap, Nana, and me…MiMi (newly minted 12 sweet weeks ago).
My daughter, for whom I am praying for Jesus’ mighty hand of deliverance, wants her daughter to call me Granny. Y’all! I’m 40 years old…Grannies are (no offense, bless your hearts) a bit older than 40. If y’all could please help me pray the devil outta my daughter, I would so appreciate that.
Let me add to that, that we also have an Auntie Nin. Her name is Gwen, but my kids couldn’t pronounce that and it stuck and she is now and forever will be known as Nin.
I know you weren’t asking about the extended family, but I thought I’d throw that one in there for free. You’re welcome.
We have Grenna and Grandpa, Grandmama and Grandaddy Bob, Nana and Papa, Grangrad and Grandma!
*snickering at BooMamaw * :) We have Granny, Nana and Baba. My sweet mom just started her Eternal life last month, but her grandkids called her Gigi (not pronounced like G.G. but instead rhyming with “jig-e”.) She wanted to be called “Grammy” but my nephew couldn’t say it and his name of Gigi stuck!
I loved writer Roy Blount Jr.’s decision that he should get to choose his own grandfather nickname. He coached his grandkids to call him, “Dante.”
My grandparents were Grandma & Grandpa and Granny. In my generation of grandmothers (50 somethings) we tend to think we are not old enough to be called Grandma so have more “cutsie” names! I am LuLu and my sisters are Na-Na and Boofie! I have friends with grandmother names like GiGi, KayKay, MiMi and Deeda.
One of my best friends suggested that my grandbaby call me “O High Exalted One”, but we finally settled on YaYa.
I’m Mimi. I have friends who are Honey. Couple names I know are Granny & Pappy, Kelli Mom and Sir and my favorite – Buzz & Bee.
my paternal grandparents were MooMaw (Kathryne) and Grandaddy (Raymond); my maternal grandparents went by T (Thelma) and Bopey (James); each was named by the oldest cousin….I think Moomaw was an attempt for him to say MeeMaw, but Moomaw stuck…love them all and miss them everyday :-)
My kids call my mom Toodles (actually started as Tootie) and my dad is Pop. :) My hubby’s side is Grammee and Papa.
My maternal grandparents were Toots and Honey (we picked up on what they called each other). Our grandchildren call us Nanny and Big Daddy. Sometimes they drop the Daddy, and just call him Big. Our 17 month old granddaughter is trying to rename us Nandy and Pig. If you’re interested in southern, my best friend called her grandparents Mee-maw and Pee-paw.
I have a Mammaw, Granny, Grandmama and Grandaddy, Mamaretta (Henrietta) and Rachel (she didn’t want a fru-fru name…said she was too young to be a grandmother when my older brother was born!). My kids call my mom M (just the letter! first name starts with an “m”) and my MIL is BeBe. I also know a Happy, Oohwee (for Ouida), DeDe, Gammy, etc. Grandmother names are the best!
I had a Nanny, Granny and Mamaw. My mother, however, had the best name for our kids to call her… Ranny. Her name was Randa but said she didn’t want to be a nanny or granny so she came up with Ranny. Love that name!! I want to be called Lolly and my husband to be Pop. We can be LollyPop! :)
Well, I’ve officially decided I want to be Lolly! I love that!
My grandparents were Gran and Grandpa Charlie. My kids have Grammie and Papa Pete, Gram and Papa Bruce, Grandpa Ken and Gramma Ruth, and Nani Kay. I had heard that Nani meant “beautiful” in Japanese, but just found out that it means “what or why” in Japanese. However, it DOES mean “beautiful” in Hawaiian!
My precious grandmother that I dearly miss was called “Mama Hon”. I called my other grandmother “Grandmother”. Our children call my parents “Pop” and “G” and call my husband’s parents “Grandmaw” and Grandpaw”.
(BTW – when I’m a grandmother one day, I’ll take almost anything but “big red”!!!!)
We called both grandmothers “Grandmama,” usually followed by their first names, like Grandmama Maxine and Grandmama Evora. (Yes, Evora. Her goodness made up for her name.) My mother called one of her grandmothers “Duddah” because that’s what came out of her mouth when trying to call her whatever it was that was originally planned. Her other grandmother was called “Mama Dear,” and I think that’s the sweetest thing ever.
I called both of my grandmothers “Grandmama.” My brother and male cousin, however, called my paternal grandmother “Mama Dennis” (her last name). My mom is already a Mimi (and will be two times over after my sweet baby girl comes in June/July). My MIL wants to be called “Emme.” My husband always called his grandmothers “Mamaw.”
Love hearing all the different names.
I just had a Grandma Doris and a Grandma Peggy. Very original- ha! However, I blame the lack of creativity on the fact that my great-grandparents were still alive when I was born and they already had Nanny and Granddaddy and Granny and Pawpaw. Today my kids have a Nanna and Poppa J, a Gammy. and since my hubby’s family is German they also have an Oma and Opa.
My grandmothers were Bama (totally unrelated to Alabama) and Grandmother Lastname. My mom is now Honey and my MIL is Mimi.
northerner here. Never knew there were so many nicknames for grandparents. We were a German family, so it was Oma and Opa, and I am now Oma Angela. I had never heard of mamaw or honey or meemaw before. must be very southern.
My grandmothers were “Ma” and “Grandma”; my great-grandma was “Grandmother”.
My daughter’s grandmas are “Grammy” and “MeMe”
I know you are not asking about grandpa’s but the best one I ever heard was some kids who called theirs “Mama’s Daddy”.
Love all the grand names!
My two great-grandmothers on my mother’s side of the family were Big Grandma and Little Granny. My grandpa’s mom (Big Grandma) was tall and thin and my grandma’s mom (Little Granny) was tiny like a little bird. Both my great-grandfather’s had long since died before I was born but my mom painted a picture of one of them and I remember I got lots of laughs when I asked if it was Big Grandpa.
My grandparents were Mamaws and Papaws. My own mom is called Bobbo by her grandkids. She chose “Bobby” (a play on “mommy” pronounced by a kid with a head-cold…old family joke), but my son mispronounced it Bobbo, and that is what she’s been ever since. My dad is Poppy T. to his grandkids. He chose it and intended it to be spelled Papi (Spanish spelling), but alas for phonics and kindergartners. I have a good friend whose kids call her mom Beep-Beep. :)
I had a MamYaw and a Maw Maw. Our kids call our moms “MeMe” and Nana. The PawPaw’s are fun too. My kids have had a Big PawPaw (my daddy), Farm PawPaw (husband’s daddy) and More PawPaw (my PawPaw). My son was the first grandchild and decided on the different pawpaws when he was about 20 months old. I also had a Grand Daddy which is so delightfully Southern! We love and miss my grandparents (married 65 years and passed away within 6 weeks of each other in December and January) so very, very much!
I LOVED reading all the names! I called my grandparents Nanny and PawPaw. Did not know my Dad’s parents, but they were simply Grandma and Grandpa. With our first grandchild I always said they could call us dumb and dumber as long as they called us something!!! Thankfully, we are Nana and Papa!!!
Gurney. “Granny”, mispronounced by my cousin as a toddler, and it stuck. I’ve never known another Gurney, and goodness is she loved!
Well,I had a granny,a gran-gran,mamaw(with the 1st a pronounced lie apple),a Mama Mary( she said she was far too young to be a grand anything) in the mix of grandmothers and great grandmas.
my kids have Grammy and Grandmom… i had Grandma, Dee-Dee, and Nannie… mom had Nana and Big Nana. one of my friends is Lolly and her husband is Pop. :)
My grandmother name is Dandy! I love it! My husband Dew Dah! What about that—-Dew Dah and Dandy :)
Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation” was Boompa–my husband said something about that 22 years ago when we were expecting our first grandchild. Well, twenty two years later he is still Boompa. I am Mimi.
BUT the cutest grandma name I’ve ever heard is this: Mama Doll–I just love that. I think it is priceless! I have a friend here in Arkansas whose grandchildren call her that.
My grandma was just that…Grandma. My children call my mom Nana and hubby’s mom Grandma. But we’re from California, so…apparently we’re not nearly as creative with our grandparent names!!
How fun seeing all these responses.
We have always just called our grandparents “Grandma & Grandpa” and then their last name. We’ve taught our children to do the same.
Oh! My precious, much-loved grandmother was Gally. I miss her so much! She was as proper and Southern as ever a woman was.
I had a Mamaw and a Granmaw. Now my kids have Nanny and Grandma. But Grandma is also called Mamaw by their cousin. That is so confusing to me!
Oh, you know I am from the South. I have a Grandma Fannie Bell and an Aunt Toots.
I had Nanny and GranGran, Mema and Grandaddy. My husband had Big C and Beaumama, Gramma and Grampa. My kids have Grammy and Grandaddy, Gramma and Pops. And my great grandfather was Doc ( he was a dentist).
I always called my maternal grandmother “Mom” because that is what I heard my Mom and my aunts say! My paternal grandmother wanted to be called “Muvver” rhymes with Mother – not sure where that came from – but I did call her that while I was the only grandchild that could talk. Then my cousin started calling her Momo and it stuck. Everyone started calling her Momo after that and I eventually dropped the Muvver and she has always been Momo since! My Mom is called Gammy!
Stopping by from my sick day at home….haven’t been able to read many blogs lately. And, loving this list of Grandma Goodness. =)
My sons called my mother Maw-Maw and Stepfather Paw-Paw….but my in-laws, we called Grandma or sometimes Maw-Maw Missy and Grandpa or sometimes Paw-Paw Mike.
I called my one grandpa Pockets because he always had candy in his pockets. As I grew it switched to grandpa. Another of my grandpas was called Grandpa Holy Mackerel (because he always said, “Holy Mackerel!”) and other times we called him Grandpa Dundee because he had this hat that reminded us of Crocodile Dundee.
I am hoping for Nana. Sounds a little younger and classier than grandma or maw-maw. ;)
My parents were from the North (I know, I know!!), so my grandmothers were called Gramma A or K (those being the initials of their last names). One of my grandfathers passed when I was little so I called my remaining one Grampa.
My daughter calls my mom Grammy and my dad Papaw. My husband’s parents were Mamaw and Papaw.
We love the nicknames and did not wait for grandchildren! I am Shugi (Sugar) to my nieces and nephews. My sister is Baby. We have a Dodo too. My parents are Boo and PopPop or Poppy. But, i have to admit that I LOVE my Aunt and Uncle — they are Loli and Pop. LOVE THIS POST and the comments!
All my cousins on my mother’s side called our grandmother “Nannie” but I rebelled and called her Grandma. And my grandfather was Grandpa Mundie (last name).
My father’s mother had a nickname, Noolie, supposedly from some cartoon character. Somehow that became “Noonie” for us grandkids. We called my grandfather “Poppy.”
My maternal grandmothers name was Anna Lea~ we called her Grananna. My paternal grandmother we called Grandma.
My paternal grandma is mema, maternal are Grandma and Grandaddy, great grandma is, Big Mamma, and her husband was Daddy Bishop. (that is what I call them all).
Now my kids have a nana, papa, and gaga. They call my grandparents-Gmamma and G-daddy and Mema is still mema.
Soph – had to comment on this one! My mother, Christine, was named Aunt Nis by her first neice who couldn’t say Christine, shortened it to Chris and with child-like tongue turned to Aunt Nis. So, of course when the first grand arrived she became GranNis – like “her grandness”. Some people might think we are a rather haughty family. :-)
My grandparents are bebe, mimi, and gram-gram!!! And when I get older I will be gigi!!
I called mine Grandmama and Grandaddy. Also had a Meme and Pepaw. My great-grandparents (who were both Southern Gospel preachers together – I have their dating letters where he proposed to her via letter while off preaching in another state, SUCH A JOY to read through them!) were Big Mama and Big Daddy. My great-grandmother in Virginia, who I had the pleasure of knowing til I was 15… she was known to all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren as Boogie. (she’d told my mom and uncle once when they were small “if you keep doing that the Boogie-Man’s gonna get ya!”… well, they laughed so hard they started calling her Boogie from there on out.) (I think it’s even on her tombstone.) :)
We have in our family also: Nana, Mimi, GiGi, Nena, Grandmommie, Grumpy, GrandNanny, and Poppy. (My kids call their paternal grandfather Grumpy. His dad was always “Grampy”, so he didn’t want that one, and since he’s literally always grumpy about everything, he decided his own name should be Grumpy!)
ps… he is so easy to shop for at the Disney stores. They have hats, coffee mugs, t-shirts, etc etc with Grumpy all over them! haha
I am from Iowa and it’s all Grandma and Grandpa here or at least in my family. I do know one that is Mimi and Poppy and love that….and one that G’ma is known to the grands at Queen!
Love this. :) I had a Nanny and a Memaw. Miss them both. :)
Well, before my daughter was born 15 years ago, my mother decided she would either be Grandmother or Grandmama (emphasis on the last syllable, giving it a rather French pronunciation). Well, you would never guess what she ended up being called. Meemoy. Yeah. You read me. Meemoy. But my daughter called my father Granddaddy right from the start. She could get out the word Granddaddy, but somehow couldn’t make Grandmother work. Anyway, my mother wouldn’t change Catherine’s name for her for anything in the world. Grandparents are the best, aren’t they??
Yankee girl – grandparents were MomMom and Papa, and Nana and PopPop. My born in Texas daughter called her Texan grand and great grand Mimi and Mamaw. The Nana name has been passed down to my mother and now to me.
I called my maternal grandmother “Bean.” Her name was Maboline, and when I was little I would mispronounce it as “Mabo-bean.” So that got shortened to Bean.
My other grandma was Gangy, pronounced Gang-ee. Not sure where that one came from.
I feel so un-southern without a MawMaw or MeeMaw, haha. I am from Louisiana, though :)
My mom is Nammie because my niece couldn’t say Grammy eleven years ago. It stuck, and now there are eight grandchildren who love their Nammie to pieces! I think it’s precious!
My niece’s daughter calls my sister-in-law Dobie Doo, and my mother-in-law Grammie Graham Crackers! :D My grandmothers were both Grandmama, and my kids called their grandmothers Grammy or Grandmama. My Mom wants to be called GiGi for Great Grandmother. I just want a grandchild – I don’t care WHAT I’m called.
I have always wanted to be called Gammy like my great-grandmother was when the time comes, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Lolly one (Little Old Lady Loves You)… is that not the most adorable thing ever??
My husband calls his grandparents “Margo” and “Fossil.” This is unusual because her name is Elaine, and “Fossil” is offensive.
My mother-in-law (an unpleasant woman) once informed me that she would only be addressed as “Grandmother.” I have decided that if I ever have children, I will train them to call their paternal grandparents “DoeDoe” and “Pippy” just to make her mad.
My mother says she will answer to anything but “bit*h.” Attitude makes all the difference.
The best I’ve heard is a sweet sweet lady at church whose name is Nancy. Her grandkids call her Grancy. My kids call my mom Nanach (pronounced Na Notch) because when my oldest son was little my mom would say, “I’m not ya mama” just kidding with him when he wanted something and it stuck as Nanach. We had to make up the spelling and Hallmark definitely doesn’t make a card with “We love our Nanach” :)
I called mine Grandmama with Duke and Grandmama with Billy. Duke was the dog. Billy was my slightly older than me uncle. Because heaven knows all the ladies in my family go by Grandma or Grandmama. My children call their grandmothers “Grandma” and “Grandma Ann” and their great-grands Granny and their last name. I am now in the grandma camp and could not stand the confusion of yet another Grandma so I am called “Nona” just because I liked it. My granddaughter whose name is Nora and is 19 months old, calls me “Known” and calls herself “No”.
The men? Granddaddy, Papa, Pappy and Buddy.
I loved reading all these precious names! My grandparents were Mom and Dad. My parents were Granny and Grandy (My brother and sister-in-law adoped these as their names) We have eight grands ranging in ages from 18 down to 22 months. My hubby is either Papa or Grampa. I get called Gramma, Grammy and G-Ma by our 17 year old grandson who thinks he is cool. ;)
My dad is Pop and so my mom chose Tootsie. She wanted something to go with Pop and Blow just didn’t sound right.
All of mine were grandma…whether they were great or just the regular variety. My kids call my mom Bama (pronounced bomb-uh) and three sibling’s have their kids call her Gummy. One sibling’s kids just call her grandma and think we’re all weird for the different names (which we cannot help – she was called Bama/Gummy because whoever started it couldn’t pronounce Grandma – we tried). I call her Stella and she answers to it – think Seinfeld episode. My mom loves her names. My dad is just Papa to all but what a Papa he is!
We called our maternal grandmother Presh & I always thought it was so unusual! I’m not sure how that got started but should find out. :) We also have a Dodie and DeeDee in our family. I know someone who is called Butterfly and a lady in our church is called Grand Lady by her grandkids. Grandparent names are fun!
My kids call my mom Granda. My dad was supposed to be Grand-daddy. But, his first name is Gene and Bryce (my son) kept hearing my mom call my dad by his first name. So, he started calling him that too. We corrected it, and it somehow morphed into G-Daddy. But we ALL love it. Even the older grandkids that used to call him Grand-daddy call him G-Daddy now.
So, now it’s Granda and G-Daddy!