I have six grandparents. Well, four standard-issue grandparents and two step-grandparents. (Fun sidenote: one of the two divorces happened in 1959, when divorces were a Big Deal in this country; the other divorce was in the late '90s after 49 years of miserable marriage.)
**Mother’s mother ** = Grandma Joann
**Mother’s father ** = Grandpa, or sometimes Grandpa Pat Mother’s stepmother = Grandma Lois
*Mother’s mother’s mother ** = Grandma Aabel (I have no idea why my great grandmother should get her last name instead of her first name. She died a few years ago at 102 years old, her life having spanned three centuries.)
**Father’s mother ** = Oma (dad’s parents are German)
**Father’s father ** = Opa
**Father’s stepmother ** = Rosemarie, because she married my Opa long after all of both their grandkids were born.
*Fine. It didn’t “span” them. 1899-2001. So sue me.
I ain’t no spring chicken, but that’s what I called them. This is probably nearly universal for sansei (third generation Japanese American) because the grandparents were born in Japan.
Now, this brings me to this question. My niece calls my Dad “pipon” (sp?). It’s pretty much pronounced pee-pawn. Is this a typical Chinese term of endearment? To me, it sounds completely emasculating. My niece is 4th generation American on my side and 7th generation (Chinese) on her dad’s side. Certainly, by the time you’ve been here for that friggen’ long, you should be called Grampa or something like that? I always thought “Dad, grow a set of balls, don’t let your granddaughter call you such a ridiculous name”. This is the same niece whose diminutive coined by my somewhat naive sister is slang for vagina.
My mother is from Germany, although she lives here now and has for nearly forty years.
My kids call her Oma. In your case, you would be Opa (informal grandpa in German).
My kids have a Grandma (my MIL), Nana (my step-mom), and Oma (my mom).
They call my Dad “Grandpa”. My FIL passed on sometime ago, but he was Grandpa as well.
I was Pop-pop too for awhile. Then it was paPA (very French) but it didn’t last long. Now I’m Pa-Pa (equal emphasis). My poor wife. The kids won’t say Gramma yet. Ask them who’s Gramma, and they point to her. We’re thinking about going with Nana.
BTW Pa-Pa has a great magic trick. The kids don’t have a garage either at home, or at their other grandparents house (He is Poppy). So recently when the kids came over here, I had a door opener in my pocket which is left over from my previous car.
I had them shout UP!! UP!! UP!! and with my hand in my pocket I clicked the button.
WOW!!!
Now, whenever they visit. I must do the trick - UP!!! and DOWN!!! again and again and again.
Every so often, when we’re watching Curious George, and something funny happens, one or the other will turn to me with an amused smile, as if to say “Did you see that, PaPa?”
My grandfather was Pasy, (pronounced Pah-zee) and my grandmother was Masy (Mah-zee, of course). I was the first grandchild on that side, and according to family lore, I named them that when I began to speak. Then they were forever known by those names. Even folks who knew my grandmother by her real name came to call her Masy for the remaining 30 years of her life. Her daughter (my aunt–Dad’s much younger sister; actually closer to me in age) called her Masy. It became her name. (Paternal grandparents)
My maternal grandparents were Grammie Rand and Grampie Rand–I was one of the younger grandchildren on that side and had to go with the established names, boring as they were.
When I become a grandmother, I want to be called Bubbe or Ma or Mimi or ANYTHING but Nana or Grammie.
My mother’s father died when I was 1 year old and too young to call him anything. My father’s father disliked grandpa for some reason, so we always called him Granddad or Grandaddy. Both of my grandmothers were just 'Grandma" with their last names, if necessary.
My dad has always been Grandad or Grandaddy to my kids and nieces and nephews; and my mom is just Grandma.
I plan to be Granny to my grandkids. No clue what my husband will be – both his grandfathers were just called Grandpa.