# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/121 "2015-12-10T16:37:11Z")
Grandma for both of them. I’m from Pennsylvania as were they. Both grandfathers were grandpa, though one grandmother tried to train the grandchildren to call him Poppy. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/122 "2015-12-10T16:42:30Z")
Maternal were Gramma and Grandaddy (he morphed into Granddad as my brother and I grew up). Paternal: My grandfather died when I was one. My grandmother’s title is kind of a story/legend in our family. For no discernible reason, I very early on started calling her Deenie (her given name was Evie - maybe an early sound association? I never thought of that before). Mom and Dad tried to get me to say “Gramma”, but I loudly insisted, to the point of tears, that that wasn’t right, she was Deenie - and so that’s what she was, even to Mom and Dad, for the last twenty-five years of her life. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/123 "2015-12-10T17:18:30Z")
My father’s parents were Bubba and Zada, identifiably Jewish. My mother’s were Meemom and Peempop. AFAIK, those names, which my younger brother and sister used in their turn, were my own invention. My grandkids all call us Nana and Pop-pop. One of them calls his maternal grandmother Neenee and has influenced a number of his friends to use that term for their grandmothers (he is very persuasive). His other grandfather I think is just Grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/124 "2015-12-10T18:57:47Z")
> [@](#): > > **What do you call your grandmother?** Nothing - both of mine have been six feet under for decades. When they were still alive, I called one “Granny” followed by her first name, and the other “Grandma” followed by her first name. Granny lived in Kansas but was born and raised in Scotland. Grandma was Jewish, lived in Los Angeles, but was born in Kiev and grew up in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/125 "2015-12-10T19:22:25Z")
Maternal and paternal grandparents were Mawpaw and Pawpaw. Oddly enough, paternal was PawPaw Lastname, but maternal were just Mawmaw and Pawpaw. My great grandmother was Granny Lastname. My kids call their grandparents Grandmomma and Granddaddy (paternal) and Grandma and Grandpa (Maternal). I (and everyone except Grandpa) were Georgia born and raised. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/126 "2015-12-11T06:01:33Z")
Gramma Rose. And I still miss her all these years later and use a lot of the things I learned from her. She was really someone worth knowing. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/127 "2015-12-11T19:03:16Z")
Father’s mother was Granma. Mother’s mother was Grandmom, but all my first cousins called her Nonna. Strangest one I ever heard was used by my husband’s nephew for his paternal grandfather-Bompee. It was the closest the kid could get to Granpop when he was very young. We use bompee to refer to suitably wizened elderly gentlemen, especially if they are wearing hats(usually when driving far too slowly right in front of us) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/128 "2015-12-11T19:15:07Z")
Dead – both of them. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/129 "2015-12-11T19:42:35Z")
Both “Gramma”, Quebec and New England. Both Grandfathers were dead before I was born, and I have no clue what I would called them. My father is Gramp, so I would guess that his father was known as Gramp to my cousins. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/130 "2015-12-11T19:48:25Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > 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_). Granny is a Brit thing, I think. Prince William and Prince Harry refer to the Queen as “Granny,” which I find super adorable for some reason. And in a way that makes sense re the “hick” American aspect, because a lot of Appalachian/“backwoods” culture is Scots-Irish based. Growing up in Chicagoland, Nana seemed to be an Italian term to me, nearly everyone I know used Grandma. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/131 "2015-12-11T22:50:37Z")
in my family it was grandma and grandpa, with the appropriate last name added when having a discussion about the full set of four. When the Great Grand Kids came along, GrandmaK (my moms mom) became Grammy (so named by the next generation) and Grandma Guest remained Grandma Guest. The parents became Grandma “chaz’ mom” and Grandpa “chaz’ dad” and the rest of the set called similar. My wife’s dad however is Papa Mrs. Guest’s Dad. Oddly, he is the only Grand to get the name Papa There has never been another Grammy, nor do I suspect there will be for at least another generation. Grammy was special and a true Family Matriarch(also the only one of my original set of four grandparents to see a generation of great-great-grandkids born). Northwest region of the US ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/132 "2015-12-11T23:07:02Z")
Bubba and Granma. Bubba was married to Zayda, but I never knew him. I guess Granma was married to Grampa, but I don’t know. He passed on when his oldest granchild (my older brother) was 6 months old. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2015, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/133 "2015-12-11T23:24:06Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > Growing up in Chicagoland, Nana seemed to be an Italian term to me, nearly everyone I know used Grandma. Are you sure it wan’t “nonna” you were hearing? That’s the Italian term. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/134 "2015-12-12T01:27:30Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > Granny is a Brit thing, I think. Nah, I’ve heard it used a lot in the US. And don’t forget Granny Clampett. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/135 "2015-12-12T04:48:04Z")
New England. All dead. Going from grandmothers to great grandmothers, they were Grandma, Gram, Nanny, Nana, Granny, and Meme. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607/136 "2015-12-12T06:37:55Z")
When we were young they were Grandma Lastname and Grandmother Lastname. One of them became Grandma Lastname became Granny Lastname around the time she became a great grandmother. When I married and had children we gained a Memaw and a Nana. If you count the sisters who are really aunties but also have grandchildren, we also have a Mimi, Noni, Gigi, Mia, Memaw. I seem to be becoming Grammy if the younger ones follow the 4 year olds lead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-your-grandmother/673607.md?page=6)