# What Did You Call Your Grandparents? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623 "2000-07-31T23:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![realidad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@realidad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/realidad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/21 "2000-08-01T16:52:27Z")
Nanna Marshall was my Dad’s mum, he barely got a chance to know his dad before he died, so I didn’t get have a Pop Marshall, but Nanna Marshall was always a little special to me just because she didn’t have her other half of the grandparent duo thing. The others are just Grandma and Grandad, they are just the typical fantastic grandparents to me, so they got the old favourite name I guess. Sadly Grandad just died. But they are still Grandma and Grandad to me, I just can’t imagine them without the other, it doesn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![ignatiusjreilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@ignatiusjreilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatiusjreilly)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/22 "2000-08-01T19:11:44Z")
Mu (“moo”) and Big “Mu” comes from Mu-Mu which was my cousin’s mispronunciation of “Maw-Maw” when she tried to imitate my aunt, who was actually making fun of my grandmother at the time. “Big” was my own shorthand version of “Big Daddy” which, for some reason was the name the family had decided before I was born that he should be called once I was finally born. Everyone thinks these names are strange, but growing up, all of our friends knew who Big and My were… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/23 "2000-08-01T19:24:55Z")
Being of Polish ancestry on both sides, I called my grandmothers “babci” (pronounced bob-chee"). My one grandfather, though, was “Pop”. My daughter calls her one set “Grandmom” and “Pop-Pop” and the other set “Grandma” and “Grandpop” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/24 "2000-08-01T19:50:10Z")
Paternal grandparents – grandma and grampa Maternal grandmother – Nannie (My maternal grandfather died before I was born.) My parents are called various names by their grandchildren. The oddest is used by one of my nephews – Auji-ma and Pop-pop-Bob. Auji-ma is a kid’s way of saying “Audrey-ma”. His other grandmother was “ma-mel.” ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2000, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/25 "2000-08-01T19:59:42Z")
Paternal GP’s – Gran and Grandy (although kids who came along later, including my own, starting callling Grandy “Pops”) Maternal GM – Mimi. Never knew my paternal GF, but his nickname was “Frog” so there’s a distinct chance I would have used that. My kids call my parents “Daddy Gram” and “Lulu Gram” and my Mother-in-Law, “Grandma Patty”. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/26 "2000-08-02T14:13:42Z")
my maternal grandparents were Gramma and Grampa, while my paternal grandparents were Baba and Dido (djee-doe) and of course my parents were Mom and Dad. It made it very easy to identify everyone because they all had their own name. When I introduced friends to Gramma, she prefered that they simply refer to her as Gramma as well. By the same token, both my brother and I say “Mom” when speaking to others about “my mother”…because that’s her name (to us growing up). This always seemed to bother people who said “my mom” using Mom as a title instead of a name. My wifes grandparents are Nana and Grandad on both sides, which confuses me as I have ask which side to clarify who I should be picturing. Her parents are about to become grandparents which is just going to confuse me more…3 different sets of people called Nana and Grandad? ---
**Author:** ![lunapark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/278dde/32.png) [@lunapark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lunapark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/27 "2000-08-02T14:25:45Z")
Grandma & Grandpap great grandma- Grammy Everyone calls her Grammy regardless of relation though. Am I the only one with a GrandPap? ---
**Author:** ![wacky\_ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/58956e/32.png) [@wacky\_ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wacky_ninja)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/28 "2000-08-02T14:26:39Z")
let’s see…my maternal grandparents are Sabah Benny, and Savtah Malcah. Sabah and Savtah mean grandmother and grandfather \ in hebrew. My fathers parents were Zeidi, and Bubbe. For the longest time I thought Zeidi was my gradnfathers first name. my father is abba, \ and my mother is mommy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/29 "2000-08-02T14:43:12Z")
My father’s parents were Nunny (or Nunna) and Pappy; vaguely Italian slang for Mom and Dad. Since that’s what their kids (my father and his brothers and sisters) called them, us third generation kids picked it up as well. My mother’s parents were Grandpa and Grandma. As someone else noted earlier, having three sets of names made it pretty easy- Grandpa was always Grandpa, and Pappy was always Pappy, and never the twain did meet. I’m looking forward to the day (in four to five years, admittedly) when I get to ask my father whether he’d prefer to be “Grandpa” or “Pappy”. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/30 "2000-08-02T16:52:18Z")
Paternal: Grandma Annie and Mr. Tyson (I never knew him as he died in the early 1950s, but everyone I’ve ever spoken to, including my father, call him that). Maternal: Grandma Ruby and Grandaddy. My daughter knows my father as Bobo (just like Mr. Burns’s bear)and my mother as Grandma. She knows my wife’s mother as Meemaw and her husband as Bennie. She knows my wife’s father as Granpa. While growing up I had a neighbors who referred to their grandmothers as “Nanny with the white hair” and “Nanny with the black hair.” ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/31 "2000-08-02T16:55:59Z")
Also, I’ll second the opinion that no one, not your spouse, your kids, or your own parents love you like your grandparents do. God, how I miss them. ---
**Author:** ![Trout\_Mask\_Replica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Trout\_Mask\_Replica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trout_Mask_Replica)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/32 "2000-08-02T17:10:30Z")
My maternal grandparents: Grandma and Grandpa My paternal grandmother (my grandfather died before I was born): Gram ---
**Author:** ![Fillet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/2acd7d/32.png) [@Fillet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fillet)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/33 "2000-08-02T17:45:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Oma (grandmother) and Opa (grandfather) … it is a dutch thing! It’s a German thing too - both sets of my grandparents went by Oma and Opa. Now that my nephew’s around, my parents are Oma and Opa, and my grandmother is Nana. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/34 "2000-08-02T18:07:52Z")
Growing up, I had two sets of Grandma and Grandpa, and we usually used last names to differentiate between them. (Either that, or the name of the city they lived in: e.g., “We’re going to Albany to see Grandma and Grandpa.”) My son is two, so we’re just getting into this now. My wife’s parents are Grandma (her mother was a Nana, and I don’t think she ever wants to have the same title as that…sadly departed woman) and Poppy (which is what the little girl across the street has called him for the past decade). My mother’s another Grandma, and my father (who lives far away, so doesn’t get mentioned much) is Granddad, more or less because of a Teletubbies episode. The interesting thing is that when we have to explain which Grandma we’re talking about, it’s always “Grandma and Poppy” vs. “Grandma and Cleo (her cat).” I’m sure there’s some deep psychological undertones there. ---
**Author:** ![Gravity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gravity/32/14322_2.png) [@Gravity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gravity)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/35 "2000-08-02T19:44:14Z")
My maternal grandparents were (and are) Gramme(said like GRAM-me) and Grampa (GRAM-puh.) My paternal grandfather was Grampie (GRAM-pee.) My little nephew calls his my parents Ima (EE-ma) and Pop-pop. He calls my grandparents (his great-grandparents) Poppy (female) and Poppa (male.) K. ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/36 "2000-08-02T23:37:11Z")
Maternal grandmother: Grammie Rand Paternal grandparents: Masy and Pasy (pronounced MAH-zee and PAH-zee) I don’t recollect, but apparently I made these names up and from then on, EVERYONE called her Masy. At her funeral many folks commented that they never knew her name was Thelma. To the world, she was Masy. And she was the best. I get teary thinking about her and she’s been gone almost 15 years. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/37 "2000-08-03T02:45:57Z")
::names changed to protect the innocent:: It was so unfair. My maternal grandmother lived with us. She was Grandma. My maternal grandfather did not live with us, but was regularly visited. He was Grandpa Johnson until my paternal grandfather died, when he became just Grandpa. When _he_ died, he reverted to Grandpa Johnson because now verb tense couldn’t distinguish one from the other. Grandpa Johnson had remarried. She was Grandma Maude. My father’s family and he were estranged for a good part of his life, so we saw little of his family. Consequently, my paternal grandparents were always Grandpa Smith and Grandma Smith. That’s the “so unfair” part. That way of referring to blood relatives by their last name always struck me as cold. On the other hand (and I can’t believe this is only just now occurring to me for the first time ever), they were blood relatives only to my father and I, since my siblings were from my mother’s first marriage. So, I guess what was really happening was that my mother was just helping keep it straight for them, who had for a good part of their lives 7 grandparents to keep straight. I fell better about that now. Thanks! This has been really therapeutic! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cessandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cessandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cessandra)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/38 "2000-08-03T03:20:39Z")
minlokwat > [@](#): > > Now my great-grandmother went by “Mimi” and now that you mention it, I have no idea what her first name was. I’m assuming she actually did have one. my great-grandmother also went by mimi; it _was_ her first name. mine are/were: adopted paternal: granny and papa (pronounced pawpaw) great adopted paternal: great-granny and great-papa step-paternal: ma and pa or barbara and harold (i can’t get used to pa and ma) maternal: grandma and pepa (prounounced pee-paw) great-maternal: nana (this was mimi) and papa (pronounced poppa) i was the eldest grandchild on all sides (except step-paternal), so i had the luxery of choosing names. my granny didn’t like “granny,” she wanted to be called “grandma.” but i was a stubborn child. my step-step-niece (my step-brother’s step-daughter) calls my step-father and my mother grandpa mike and elaine. i don’t think my mom is quite ready to be a grandma, considering her eldest child is only nineteen. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/39 "2000-08-03T03:24:09Z")
Both sets were grandma & grandpa. My son now has a grandma & grandpa on one side, and a nana on the other. I wouldn’t go for nana, I think it sounds old. But that was the in-law’s name for her grandma, so… My mom had a ga-ga, I think that’s cool. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2000, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623/40 "2000-08-03T03:42:21Z")
Paternal side: “Mammaw and Papaw” Maternal side: “Rose and Will” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-you-call-your-grandparents/27623.md?page=1)