# What do you call your grandmother? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607 "2013-11-10T23:06:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/1 "2013-11-10T23:06:31Z")
Put this in subtle (or not so subtle) linguistic clues about your background. My grandmother, long since deceased, was always “Nana”. Never really thought about it until I was thinking about what other people call their grandmothers. Looked up “Nana”, and it apparently is indicative of being from “the Northeast [of the US]”. And I am from the Northeast (as was Nana). So, what do you call granny (there’s one, right there)? Does it say anything about your background? Speaking of “granny”, I thought it was quite interesting that in _Downton Abbey_, the very upper class girls call their grandmother “granny”, whereas that would be considered a hick term in the US (see: _Beverly Hillbillies_). ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/2 "2013-11-10T23:14:46Z")
Mine were always “Grandma,” and my family was from Pennsylvania. My husband’s was also “Grandma,” and she was from Iowa, and that’s what our girls called both of their grandmas as well. Regardless of what your source may have said about regions, I’ve seen “Nana” from native New Mexicans quite a bit as well. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/3 "2013-11-10T23:18:25Z")
Mother’s mother was “Granny”. Father’s mother was “Grandma”. Father’s father was “Grandpa”. I forget what we called my mother’s father since he died when I was quite young. I’m originally from Ottawa. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/4 "2013-11-10T23:20:17Z")
I only ever knew one grandmother as the other died before I was born. I and all my sibs and cousins called her Mommo (and we called grandpa Poppo). This was as far as I was aware unique to our family. The name came from the old jazz song “Oh Mommo Mommo Mommo, where were you last night? 'Cause the last time I saw you, your hat didn’t look just right.” Poppo was an obvious analogy. I grew up in the Cleveland OH area. My son called my mother and father Gramma and PopPop. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/5 "2013-11-10T23:23:43Z")
My one grandmother died before she was old enough to have grandchildren. My other grandmother was Nana. Which is not usual in Italian families. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/6 "2013-11-10T23:25:20Z")
My mom’s mom is grandma and my dad’s mom is grandmother. Sorry, nothing linguistically intriguing or revelatory about that. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/7 "2013-11-10T23:26:39Z")
I only knew one pair of grandparents (one from each side, married to each other), and they were “Grandma” and “Grandpa,” kind of slurring into “Gram-ma” and “Gram-pa.” ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/8 "2013-11-10T23:27:28Z")
I never knew my maternal grandmother, as she and my mother were estranged. I called my dad’s mother “Granny.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/9 "2013-11-10T23:33:34Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > My one grandmother died before she was old enough to have grandchildren. My other grandmother was Nana. Which is not usual in Italian families. My Italian friends generally use some variant of “Nonni”, not “Nana”. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/10 "2013-11-10T23:34:48Z")
The one grandparent I had was grandma. I’m Georgia (USA) born and bred. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/11 "2013-11-10T23:36:32Z")
My father’s parents were Gram-ma and Gram-pa. My mother’s mother died before I was born but we knew her father as Poppa. These were Irish-German and Irish families in the Bronx. In my neighborhood I never knew anybody who called their grandmother “Nana.” ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/12 "2013-11-10T23:41:10Z")
The only grandmother I knew I called, “Grandma.” She was from the Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/13 "2013-11-10T23:56:49Z")
My father’s parents are Grandma and Granddaddy. My mother’s mother was Granny. My mother’s father died long before I was born. My family is from the South. Georgia and Alabama to be specific. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/14 "2013-11-11T00:00:44Z")
Gramma or Gramma [Lastname] if there’s a need to differentiate which one. Likewise Grampa. One of my cousins calls our mutual one “poppa” though, which I find utterly weird. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/15 "2013-11-11T00:07:35Z")
Mom’s side: Gram and Gramp or Grampy. Never Grandma and Grampa. Only used firstname or lastname with “Gram” or “Gramp” if we had to differentiate them from other grandmothers or grandfathers. Dad’s side: “Gram \” and “Grampa \”. “Gram \” wasn’t unheard of but not as common as “Gram \”. Never “Grampa \” as far as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/16 "2013-11-11T00:09:48Z")
I had a Nana (she was from California) and a Grossi (she was Swiss). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/17 "2013-11-11T00:13:50Z")
Mom’s mom is Granny or Gran, Dad’s mom was Grandma. My nieces call my mom Granny as well. Mom’s dad was Granddad, Dad’s dad was Grandpa. It made sense to me to have different names for different grandparents, and I wondered why everyone else didn’t do it too. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/18 "2013-11-11T00:18:39Z")
My one grandmother we called “Memer.” That was because my cousin couldn’t say “grandmother.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Real\_Ribeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@The\_Real\_Ribeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Real_Ribeye)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/19 "2013-11-11T00:20:38Z")
From the Mid-Atlantic, maternal grandparents were Nana and Granddaddy; paternal grandparents were Grandmom and Grandpap. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/20 "2013-11-11T00:26:49Z")
I had 2 Grandmas. My maternal grandmother would sign the cards accompanying our annual underwear-and-50-cent-piece package “Grams,” but she was such a harridan that none of us would call her that. Predictably, we lost our good Grandma early on and were stuck with the old hag for decades. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607.md?page=2)