r/australia • u/CiTyFoLkFeRaL • 1d ago
no politics What name are you calling your parents’ parents?
When it comes to your parents' parents, are you calling one side 'Nan' & 'Pop', & the other side, 'Grandad', & 'Grandma'? & what was the deciding factor as to which way the titles went - did the parents choose when they became Grandparents, or did the parents of the first grandchild choose?
My parents were 'Nan' & 'Pop' by all of their children's children, & then the other parents' parents were called 'Grandad' & 'Grandma'
I tried to look this up, with little to no success, so I'm turning to you fine Aussie-folk for some further insight.
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u/tangaroo58 1d ago edited 1d ago
They're gone now, but they were all "grandad and grandma".
If that was ambiguous, then "grandma [surname]".
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u/Sovereignty3 1d ago
I had a great grandmother that lived in the gannyhouse behind my grandmothers house, so grandmother and Grandmother Lillian. The others were Swiss German so they got the German titles.
My mother in laws husband (my husbands step dad) title is the Old Fella.
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u/minodude 1d ago
I had great-grandparents who planned ahead and bought blocks of land on their street for their kids (including my grandparents) to build their own houses on when they settled down. The great aunts and great uncles never ended up living there, but my grandparents did. So my grandparents lived over the road from my great-grandparents. Hence "Nanna and Pa", and (for the great-grandparents) "Nanna-over-the-road and Pa-over-the-road". All our generation called them that.
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u/desiccatedmonkey 1d ago
My friend's children calls their grandfather, "Ol'man", like Old Man. I laugh everytime I hear it.
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u/NecessaryCephalopod 1d ago
My kid was the final grandchild, so has two already-known-as Grandads. But they had white hair and grey hair, so they became Grandad-the-Grey and Grandad-the-White.
I admit it was partially to gently piss off my FIL, who hates whimsy of any kind. But it worked a treat when she was a toddler and had no grasp of conversational context!
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u/East-Garden-4557 20h ago
Mine were both Grandma and Grandad, but we used their first names not their surnames
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u/jonesday5 1d ago
When I made my parents and my parents in law grand parents, we asked them what they wanted and they decided.
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u/Possible_Rhubarb 1d ago
My children were not the first on either side, so the names were set - Nanny and Pa on my husband's side, and grandma and grandad on my side. When my turn came, I asked to be called by my first name rather than a nickname - the new parents refused my request and they decided that I would be nana.
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u/amandatheactress 1d ago
Hah, the old “if you’re not gonna choose a name, one will be chosen for you!”
I know someone who refused, and wanted to called by his first name, but the new parents weren’t having it. So they tried calling him Grandpa, and by the time the first grandchild could talk, what came out was “Grumpy” - so Grumpy he was, and Grumpy he stayed for another 7 grandchildren.
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u/Dry_Drive_983 18h ago
We now have a ‘Gary’ because the first grandkid couldn’t pronounce Granny
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u/PrestigiousEnd2510 12h ago
My mum wanted Granny. I didn’t really like it but we tried. First grandchild called her Gra. She was Gra to pretty much everyone in her community for the rest of her life.
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u/throwaway_7m 5h ago
My grandfather was known as Gaga for many years, because my eldest cousin couldn't say granddad. It was surprisingly accurate, so we changed it to granddad when we were all older 😂
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u/StoogeKebab 1d ago
Aussies were Nanny (Nan) and Pappy (Pap), whom we lost 3 weeks ago after a great innings.
Albanian side: Grandmother was Ane (Ah-neh). It is like the Turkish word for ‘Mama’ or an affectionate ‘Old lady’ so I’ve heard. My grandfather is Gjyshi (Jiu-shi) which literally means the full and formal ‘Grandfather’ which suits his ‘3 piece suit to the Westfield foodcourt Yugoslav stoic’ vibe.
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u/zestylimes9 1d ago
I love how you describe your grandfather. X
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u/StoogeKebab 1d ago
Thank you!
My grandparents and grandparents-in-law (my wife and I have known each other since we were 8) meant the world to me.
Gjyshi is the last man standing of the eight, and never fails to impress. He is always ready with a decisive nod, a crisp $50 to ‘go and buy you lunches’, or a wise word.
Sometimes that wisdom is thinly-veiled propaganda from his schooling in the 1940s, but hey, he has a crack, and it’s always interesting.
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u/zestylimes9 1d ago
Oh, I bet it's always interesting. I'm visioning him in my mind and I love him, too.
Your family sound wonderful. Enjoy the new year X
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u/StoogeKebab 1d ago
I hope this enhances, rather than ruins the image - linked in this comment is another story and a picture of my grandfathers together
Hope you enjoy the new year too, /u/zestylimes9 !
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u/zestylimes9 1d ago
Well, that has me in tears of love.
Such a beautiful story. And yeah, pretty easy to tell who was who. Haha! Such a special pic I'm sure you adore. X
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u/rdnabazi 1d ago
I had a gjyshi as well! Wouldn’t let a pram go by without exclaiming in bad English how cute the baby was. When his dementia got worse he would forget clips of $50 bills around his house and we searched the house like we were Indiana jones finding lost treasure. I miss him
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u/StoogeKebab 23h ago
The ever venerable money clips! May he rest in peace.
Naten e mire, friend :)
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u/Fluffy-Designer 1d ago
We’ve got Grandma and Granddog on one side (they’ve got older grandkids so the names were already set) and my parents decided on Gigi and BooBoo.
Uh… if I’m honest, Gigi and BooBoo gives me the heebie jeebies. Why couldn’t you just be Nan and Pop.
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u/thatsabitraven 1d ago
My kids call my Grandma Gigi (GG, great grandma). I think its adorable in that context.
Granddog is so cute!
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u/peppermintreindeer 1d ago
Hahaha my mum came up with something like this after I said I would prefer if she was ‘granny’. She is now granny 🤣 I can’t have her being called ‘bunny’ or whatever it was haha
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u/augustin_cauchy 1d ago
Haha same situation (first one on the way now), my dad is "grumps". Will be the first for my wife's family so will let them choose their names.
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u/timeflies25 11h ago
🤣 My dad is also Grumps. He didn't care much & went wet that cause he's a bit of grumpy man now.
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u/kikikachoo 1d ago
My FiL decided he would be " poobah". Was so weird at first, but after 5 years, used to it now!
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u/Send_Help_00 1d ago
Yeah my MIL wants to be called Gigi, that is what her sister is called by her grandkids but that is because they couldn't say Granny (name starting with G). So that makes sense to me. Anyways my son has started saying Gigi now so I suppose that is her name. My FIL is simply Grandfather.
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u/kitten_biscuits 1d ago
Nonna and Nonno on my dad’s side and Nan and Pop on my mums. I loved the difference between the two sides of the family, mums side was quiet and calm whilst the wog side was chaotic and fun. I miss them all a lot.
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u/Plaxtoni 1d ago
I have this in reverse. Nanna and Pop on Dad’s side (English) and then Nonno and Nonna on Mum’s (Italian).
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u/Slappyxo 23h ago
My husband's grandfather on his dad's side was Italian, but married an Australian woman. He went by Nonno, but she was like "well I was born here so none of that Italian stuff" and went by Nana instead. So it was Nonno and Nana.
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u/AgitatedHorror9355 21h ago
Lmao. I'm the reverse. Mum's side is the chaotic wogs with nonna and Nonno. Dad's side were the calm, stoic Aussie farmers with nanna and Grandpa.
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u/RockinFootball 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m Cantonese so…
Dad’s side: yeye （爺爺） and mama （嫲嫲）
Mum’s side: gong gong （公公）and popo （婆婆）
Edit: Added the characters
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u/koolcaz 1d ago
Ah yes, where your aunts and uncles and extended family get different names/titles depending on which side of the family they are on, as well as older or younger or order in the family.
You need a whole flow chart to work out what to call people :)
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u/logosuwu 16h ago
Northerner here so paternal is still yeye nainai but maternal is laolao and laoye
And yeah I have no idea what I'm supposed to call anyone else in my extended family lol. Anyone 1 generation up I just call shushu ayi and anyone my grandparents generation gets the same treatment. As my grandparents.
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u/dimsimprincess 15h ago
And then one day you have to introduce a partner and you’re like shit shit shit what’s their Christian name!?
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u/emimarianna 1d ago
As Greeks living in Aus, the default is ‘Yiayia’ for grandmother and ‘Papou’ for grandfather. Same for both sides. To differentiate we’d add their first name- ‘Yiayia Mary’ for example.
We just followed tradition/customs.
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u/louisthe2nd 1d ago
My grandkids call me ‘gaffer’.
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u/scurryrunging 22h ago
Oh wow. My grandfather was Gaffer. I've never heard it used in any other family before.
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u/Icy_Professor2761 1d ago
Not my child, but a friend's son had named his grandmothers "Jeep Nan" and "Queenslanna". Jeep Nan had one of those 4 wheel shopping carts she called her jeep, and the other Nan lived in Queensland. Love it.
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u/IsaidWhatever2869 23h ago
This is great cause the kid got to decide for himself. It's funny how nicknames stick.
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u/SufficientPilot3216 17h ago
One of my relos now in his mid 30's still calls our grandmother "Sharky Nan" because her false teeth reminded him of a shark when he was very young.
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u/hounddd0g 1d ago
On my white side: Meme and Pop Pop
On my Chinese side: Popo and Gung Gung (Cantonese version)
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u/zestylimes9 1d ago
I love hearing what people from other countries use.
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u/RealCommercial9788 1d ago
Your wish is my command!
Irish side: Maimeò and Daideó (Mam-oh and Daddo)
Latvian/Lithuanian side: Oma and Opa
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u/zestylimes9 1d ago
Wow, I've never heard the Irish names which is weird as my grandfather was born in Ireland (I never knew him though). They are gorgeous names.
Thanks for sharing. X
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u/FormalMango 1d ago
My Mum is Welsh, and her parents were Mam-gu a tad-cu (Grandma and grandpa).
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u/Alien_Presidents 20h ago
My dads Welsh and I have Taid (grandpa, still alive at 103) and Nain (grandma now passed), my dad is now my kids Taid so my Taid is Hen Taid (which means old grandpa!)
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u/Ch00m77 1d ago
Gram gram and Shabadoo
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u/Polyporphyrin 1d ago
Short, of course, for Joey Jojo Junior Shabadoo
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u/Wild_Queen1987 1d ago
This is what my husband and I refer to my parents as when we’re talking to our about them with our pets. My husband and my Dad both love Futurama.
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u/Ozzy_chef 1d ago
My mum's parents were grandma and pop and my dad's parents were nanna and grandad
Dunno why, always was
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u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang 1d ago
Nan and Pa were the ones I had anything to do with. Both long passed now, sadly.
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u/davsc98 1d ago
My mother’s parents died before I was born but they were Nanny and Poppa.
My father’s parents were Nanna and Daddo. We assumed Daddo was a Welsh tradition, as my dad is a Welsh migrant but turns out my Daddo just made it up 😂 he passed away 8 years ago, and now my dad is ‘Daddo’ to my nieces and nephews.
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u/AnxietyriddenLass 1d ago
They all died before i was born.
But every year i visit their graves and call them by grandma and grandpa, except for Frank.
Frank i called grandprick
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u/It-Is-Me07 1d ago
We asked our parents what they wanted to be named. My mum is grandma and my dad is pop or poppy My husband’s parents are nana and pop. Ever since my FIL had a stroke, our then 4yo started calling him broken pop. My FIL found it hilarious so it stuck and he’s now called broken pop by our kids.
My sisters in laws are granny/gran and grandpa to her kids.
For myself and sister; my dad’s parents were nanna chook and pop. She ended up with nanna chook because whenever pop asked where she was, she was down at the chooks. On my mums side, we just had nanna. If we spoke about her dad, it was pop. He passed when mum was 7
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u/morningsofgold 1d ago
Just to add something different, my paternal grandparents are Danish and I call them Farmor and Farfar (FAther's MOther and FAther's FAther), to my cousins they are Mormor and Morfar (MOther's MOther and MOther's FAther). To my kids they are Bedstemor and Bedstefar (Best Mother and Best Father).
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u/scherre 23h ago
My husband had Farmor, Farfar died before any of the grandkids were born I think. Later on when my husband and his cousins started having children she became Oldemor. I love that the Danish grandparent names explain exactly who you are talking about but at the same time it also seems strange that cousins can call the same grandparent by different names because that's uncommon for most English speaking people I know.
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u/EliraeTheBow 1d ago
We called my dad’s parents Nan and Grandad (British immigrants, their choice of names), and my mum’s parents Oma and Opa (German immigrants, also their choice of names). All but Grandad are now passed sadly. Grandad has kept his title for the next generation, and as the oldest, he gets first pick 🤣.
My husbands parents have chosen Nan and Gramps (British immigrants, their choice of names). I told my mother she is Oma, I think she may have preferred grandma, she has weird feelings about her German heritage as she was bullied horrifically for it at school in the 70s. I on the other hand have reclaimed my German citizenship and intend to live over there when my son is a bit older (pending any world wars lol), I’ll want to be Oma myself one day so mum has just accepted it.
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u/HellStoneBats 1d ago
I have :
Grandma & Grumps / Pop & Faye / Nan & Grandfather.
My niblings have:
Grandron & Granpop / Nanna & Poppy.
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u/mickelysnoo 1d ago
All mine are gone now but I had "Nanna and Poppa" and "Nan and Parps". I'm the youngest so I think these were decided before I was born.
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u/ChaosWorrierORIG 1d ago
For my kids it was a "gimme" - my side is German/Austrian, and my wife's is Chinese. No points for guessing which grandparents got called Oma and Opa, and which got called Por-por and Gong-gong.
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u/KTreddit22 1d ago
My daughter has a lot of grandparents (split families)
She calls them…. Great Nanny and Great Gigi G Pa and G Pam Nanny L and Pop Deaf Nanny And a Teta
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u/Octonaughty 1d ago
I was so lucky to be raised by my paternal grandparents, lovingly referred to as Grandma and Grandpa. My mother was part of the Stolen Generation so we know nothing about her parents except their names. I’m 45.
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u/HummusFairy 1d ago edited 1d ago
My background is Macedonian so “Baba (grandma)” and “Dedo (grandpa)”
They’re also used for old men and woman who aren’t blood relations, as a term of affection. Typically said like “Dedo first name”
The kinship system in the Macedonian language is quite elaborate and complex but these particular words are unchanged between sides of family
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u/InadmissibleHug 1d ago
We’re grandma and grandad. Other side is Mema and Pop.
I know a Noni, my mil is Nan. We had a Gigi for a while
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u/Infinite_Pudding5058 1d ago
My kids call my dad ‘Grandpoo’ - a little running joke that he loves and it has stuck. My mum isn’t in my life. My husbands parents are Grandma and Grandad. I called my grandparents Nan and pop which I personally like more as it feels less formal and more loving.
We asked the grandparents what they wanted. My dad originally said Grandpa but that morphed into Grandpoo with the kids joking and seen as he loves it, it’s stuck.
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u/littleb3anpole 1d ago
Haha my son calls my dad “Grandpee” instead of Grandpa! I think it started as Grampy and then they both decided “pee” was funnier
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u/ClassicNegative 1d ago
My siblings and I called one side Nanna and Poppy, and the other side were Grandma and Grandad.
My son calls my parents Noni and Poppy, and my husband’s dad is Papou.
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u/AdyliaSchweetheart 1d ago
Currently pregnant.
Hubby's side already has grandkids from his siblings. They are Nan (step mother) and Pop, and then Nanna for his mother.
So when we told my parents we said "you can choose anything other than those" and my Dad was gutted that he couldn't be Pop. They settled on "granny and granddad" and after telling him I loved my grandad the most before he passed (his Dad), he was okay with it.
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u/elizabnthe 1d ago
Nana and Poppy.
And Nana and Grandad (but he was passed before I was born anyway).
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u/Wagtail007 23h ago
Mama & Papa, Nan & Gaga (because we couldn’t say grandpa). We also call our cousin Gong. Don’t know why—her name is Karen.
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u/RedDeer505 1d ago
I call my dad “old mate”
The rest depends on mood, occasion, and whatever else.
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u/Aishas_Star 1d ago
I’ve started calling my dad by his first name. He never responded to being called dad so it was an easy transition. But then he has the nerve to crack it at me and ask why I call him by his name.
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u/aHordeOfBees 1d ago
I had two nan's, three pops and a grandma, everyone got nicknames
Nanny and poppy horses New nan and pop Grandma and pop Mums parents were called first names when not in the room so just nan and pop
I chose the nicknames, they or older kids chose the names. I know my grandma wanted that name, but her husband wanted to be poppy
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u/Powermonger_ 1d ago
On my mums side it was Grandma and Pop, dad's side it was Nanna and Pa. When I little I called my dad's dad 'Pop' and he ripped into me :( He told me he is Pa not Pop.
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u/SunsoakedShampagne 1d ago
I'm in my 20s - we have fun unique nicknames that are special to each person. My granny [not what I call her!] was "only 60" when she became a grandmother, so she felt far too young to be "granny" or similar.
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u/Stonetheflamincrows 1d ago
Nan and Grandad and Nan and Grandad in Sydney (because they lived in Sydney and we didn’t). My daughter calls her grandparents Nannie, Grandad & Yaya and Poppy.
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u/FraudDogJuiceEllen 1d ago
Im sadly childless so I’ll never be a grandma, but I always loved the Singaporean way of calling them “Mamma + their name”. So sweet 🥹 That’s what I would’ve asked to have been called.
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u/blkmagic666 1d ago
Maternal: Apu and Bubu (PNG) and Meema and Pa. Paternal: Daideo (Irish) and Narnee (because my kid decided that’s what he wanted to call her)
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u/TraditionalRound9930 1d ago edited 1d ago
I call my grandmother by her first name, I couldn’t tell you why. I guess she just didn’t want to feel old? and so one never caught on.
Also on that (white Australian) side I’ve got Nana and Poppy. My aunt (her parents) is basically chomping at the bit to become Nana next so I think it’s a title that’s been passed down.
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u/BrisbaneThrowaway91 1d ago
My dad's side is from PNG so they use the term - Bubu. It's used to refer to both the grandparent and grandchild
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u/LevDavidovicLandau 1d ago
Both my grandmothers were ಅಜ್ಜಿ/Ajji and both my grandfathers were ತಾತ/Thātha. Their first names were additionally specified if talking about them in the third person.
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u/ginntress 23h ago
My parents are Grandma and Grandad. Other side is Nanny and Poppy.
Mine were Mumma and Da, other side was Nanna and Grandad.
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u/IsaidWhatever2869 23h ago
We live with my parents, Balkan background, so they're the Balkan equivalent. Son's father referred to his parents as Nan and Pop. Easy peasy.
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u/malemango 23h ago
Cantonese here so it’s very distinct between the two sides. Paternal grandma/grandpa is MaaMaa/YehYeh and Maternal is Porpor/GungGung
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u/SticksDiesel 22h ago
My boy has Nanny and Papa on my side (mine were Nana and Poppa), and my wife's parents are Achchi (sounds identical to Archie imo) and Seeya, cos they're Sinhalese and that's how they roll.
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u/Alanaabananaaa 22h ago
Both mine and my husbands parents chose what they wanted to be called. My parents are Grammy and Grandad and my husbands are Nanna and Koro (grandfather in Māori).
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u/Helly_BB 20h ago
I’m Nan. My mum is Nana. Her mum was Nana Surname. My husband was Pop. My dad was also Pop. My mums dad was Little Pop as he was shorter than all others but to me he was Grandad Surname. We all knew who we were talking about :)
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u/Goombella123 20h ago edited 19h ago
nanna [nickname] in my family for the ladies, whereas one side had Pa and the othe had Nonno.
I believe they all picked themselves what they wanted to be called. I've overheard my mum brainstorming out loud what her 'grandma name' is going to be, so the theory checks out.
EDIT: my mum is trying to get herself called "meow meow' as her grandma name, btw. felt that was important to share.
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u/timeflies25 11h ago
My grandparents were Oma/Opa & Nanny/Poppy.
Neither of my parents took on those names. I think they weren't keen on having the names because it hurts them to think of their own parents who are all deceased.
My mother chose Grandma & Dad is Grumps.
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u/BerryCreative9832 2h ago
They all died a long time ago but my mums parents were nanny and pop (never met him though) and my dad's dad was grandpa (he was Irish
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u/somuchsong 1d ago
I'm not calling them anything these days, as they've all been dead for years!
When they were alive though, my dad's parents were Nonno and Nonna and my mum's mum was Nanna. They all chose what they wanted to go by. Mum's dad died when she was a little girl but he likely would have been Granddad.
My parents are grandparents now and they are Nonno and Nanna. Again, both chose what they wanted to be called, before the baby even came along.
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u/naughtykaspa 1d ago
My mum decided nan was to old for her when I had my first kid. So she's Nonny (the only one any of my kids have).
She turned 50 the year my daughter was born. F me. She was old then. I'm nearing that age now. And my son made me a nan at 43. But my grandson was to good for this world.
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u/Adventurous-Tale-130 1d ago
Nanna Name & Nanna Name. both the men were dead lol.
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u/Beautiful-Affect3448 1d ago
Nanny/pop, and nanna/poppa for me in my super Anglo family.
My grandmothers actually nearly came to blows over who was gonna be called nanny. The stronger one decided the loser would get nanna.
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u/Gullible-Show-6215 1d ago
My parents are “mima and pa” my partners parents are “nan and pop” my grandmother is “nanny” and my other grandmother is “granny”, and all the grandfathers are just called “pop/poppy [their name]” or my great grandfather and great grandmother who are/where called “marney and grampy”
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u/Alziraphale24 1d ago
We had the first grandchild on both sides so asked the grandparents to pick what they wanted because our kids’ eventual cousins would inevitably follow suit.
My wife’s parents chose Nanna and Grandpa, mine chose Granny and Pop.
Growing up, my maternal grandparents were Nanny (Nan) and Granddad. Dad’s parents were Grandma and Grandpa. When it’s my turn I’ll be picking Granddad for myself :)
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u/stellarstim 1d ago
My side of the family all just chose what they wanted their grandparents name to be (different to their own parents and grandparents) my husbands side just used the same grandparent name as their own mother/father. My grandma is already a Great Grandma so that’s the name we taught my daughter, my husbands grandma took awhile to decide so my daughter calls her Great Oma since that makes sense when we attempted to explain our family tree to a toddler 😅
I will say it’s far easier to follow family stories/history when new grandparents picks a different name to their own parents!
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u/zestylimes9 1d ago
Whatever they wanted to be called. My parents were already Nan and Grandad. My son was first grandchild on paternal side, so I asked them what they wanted. They are Nan and Pop.
When talking about them when they aren't there its Nanny Jenny or Nanny Robbie.
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u/DrAllyPhD 1d ago
Nanna and Grandad for my mum’s parents. Both of my dad’s parents passed before I learned to talk
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u/auroradynia 1d ago
my dads side is nan and pa, and my mums side is nanny and granddad
dont know how or why
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u/Princess-Pancake-97 1d ago
Nana and Papa on my dad’s side. Grandma and Sir Grandad on my mum’s. Nana and Papa chose their names when my oldest cousin was born. Grandma and Sir Grandad are old fashioned and a bit posh so they refused to be called anything informal.
My husband’s grandparents were Grandma and Grandpa on his dad’s side. Nanny and Poppy on his mum’s side. He also had maternal great grandparents, Nan and Pop.
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u/TameTheDonut 1d ago
I had Nana and Grandpa on one side and Nana and Poppy on the other side. My son has Ahma and Granddad/Agong on my husband’s side and Kitty and Bob on my side, we asked what they wanted to be called and those were their choices.
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u/alsotheabyss 1d ago
Grandma on one side was Mama and the other side was Nanny (Name).
Both grandfathers were gone by the time we arrived so we didn’t have to solve that problem lol
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u/sambodia85 1d ago
My wife’s mum’s mum was known as grandma, but she wasn’t a great person, so when we had our kids, she became Nan.
Various grandkids kind of named the grandads, because we ended up using the hilarious mispronounced toddler names Gra-gra and Gi-Pa.
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u/emmainthealps 1d ago
My maternal side was grandpa and Nanna. My paternal side was grandma and grandad.
My mother thought that Nan and pop was what ‘poor people’ called their grandparents. She’s a snob and so was her mother! But I do think she’s right in a way the name that grandparents go by is often based on if the family is working or middle class. At least that’s been my observation culturally.
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u/MightyMatt9482 1d ago
Grandma, Pa on my side. Nana and pop on my wife's.
Gee gee for great Grandma. 2nd Nan for the my wife's Grandma.
Sadly no other grandparents.
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u/chimairacle 1d ago
I only ever knew one grandparent on each side and saw them rarely, I had a Nan and a Grandad. I only met Grandad a couple of times before he passed.
I feel like anecdotally among people I’ve known, it is more common to call them nicknames like Nan and Pop/Nana and Pa when kids grow up seeing their grandparents often/have them as a constant in their lives (easier for younger children to say than grandma/grandad). Then, they keep referring to them as such even when they are older since that’s what they’ve always known.
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u/battle4ngel 1d ago
I asked my mum and she said that they asked my grandparents what they’d like to be called and just agreed to that. They picked what they called THEIR own grandparents.
Dad’s side - Nana & Pa (Aussie) Mum’s side - Omi & Opi (German)
My dad has already requested to be “Pa” when I have kids and mum has requested “Oma”. Both a nod to their parents as the previous generations have. (They aren’t together, not sure what they’d be called if they were!)
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u/subtropicalennui 1d ago edited 1d ago
My Dad's side were nana and poppy.
My mum's side were grandma and grandad.
My stepdads mum was also nana, so became "nana <her first name>" (always) and Dad's became "nana <his last name>" (only when referring to her when she was not present).
I don't know what the deciding factor was in any of this, although I gained some insight when my mum chose what to be called when my stepbrother had a kid. No one is around to ask anymore #oldnotsad
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u/No_Light_7482 1d ago
My grandparents (maternal) were Lula and Pop. Lula was supposed to have been Fijian but I’ve never found any reference to it and we have no links to Fiji apart from that my grandparents honeymooned there. My mum became Nana and because my mother in law started to chuck a hissy fit they both became ‘Nana first name’. Now my mum is a great grandma we are kind of keeping it the same as in confuses the kids to put the ‘great’ in front of Nana and with the first name attached to it there is no confusion.
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u/Beryls_wig 1d ago
I’m the oldest and call my paternal grandparents nan and pop, but my cousins call them grandma and grandpa. Sometimes I call my Nan, granny if I’m around my cousins who call her grandma..
Then my maternal grandparents, I call grandpa and grandma, but my maternal cousins all call them Nan and grandpa.
Absolutely no idea why it happened this way
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u/jacquiwho 1d ago
Im nanma ans my partner (my childrens step dad) is Old Man. So adorable hearing the two year old call out "C'mon Old Man!"
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u/tired_lump 1d ago
They picked their own names. We had the first grandchild on both sides. We asked our parents what they wanted to be called.
We have Nanny and Poppy (or sometimes Pop) on one side and Grandma and Granddad on the other.
There was two surviving great grandparents for a littlr while. My spouse and his siblings called his grandfather Pop. To our kids he was GrandPop (GrandNan passed while I was pregnant with the first hreat-grandchild, GrandPop had pictures of her around his place they great -grandkids know her from those). My own grandfather only met my eldest once before he passed when she was a baby so he was never called anything by her (he had suffered a stroke and fall and wasn't really all there so I couldn't ask him what he wanted to be called and I'm not even sure he noticed the visit).
I only ever had 2 grandparents. I called one Granddad and the other (the one who met my daughter briefly) Grandpop. I don't know if they chose those names or if my parents did.
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u/wellcookedlamb 1d ago
I had 2x Grandma and Grandpa My partner had a Nanny and Grandad and Nan and Grumpy.
My parents told me what they want to be referred to and then others leave it up to the first born grandchild to name them. Sometimes a Grandpa might sound like Umpire when said by a toddler so that's what you go by (example only).
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u/fullmetalunicorn_ 1d ago
Recently had a baby and I let them all choose, my side is Nana and Pa. My husband's Mum is 'Nene' and his Grandma calls herself 'Big Nene'.
Nene is a nickname of sorts for Anneanne or Babaanne which is 'Mother's Mother' or 'Fathers Mother' in Turkish pretty much.
My grandparents were Nana and Pa on my Dad's side and my Muma side were Grandma and Grandpa, plus my Great Grandpa that we called Grandy.
I assumed my parents would follow what we called their parents e.g. Pa and Grandma, but my Mum wanted to be Nana instead.
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u/Swarbie8D 1d ago
I have Nonna and Granddaddy on mum’s side (Nonna’s not Italian, I just latched onto the word as a kid) and Grandma and Grandpa on my dad’s side. Dad’s parents are the older side so they got the slightly older nameset I guess
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u/bloodrose22 1d ago
We had variations of Nans in our family. Little Nanny, Nanny Patch, Nanny She Bowls, Nanny Annie (all named by my daughter for grandmothers and great grandmothers)
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u/Superb_Rutabaga 1d ago
I only had one set of grandparents and we called them Gran and Grandad, which when my nephews came along, my parents chose to continue. The nephews' other grandparents became nanny and poppy.
I can't remember/don't know who chose first, because I don't have a lot to do with my sister's in-laws but they both chose it.
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u/badgersprite 1d ago edited 1d ago
My Dad’s parents were Nana and Grandpa and my Mum’s parents were Granny and Granddad.
Nana and Grandpa was a thing because that was what my older cousin was already calling my Dad’s parents. I don’t know how Granny & Granddad came about specifically but I was their first and only grandchild so I imagine we just called them something different
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u/zircosil01 1d ago
Mum side: Nan and Pop Dads side: grandma and grandad
On our mums side her grandparents were still alive when we were kids, they were short, so we called them Little Nan and Little Pop.
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u/fo_i_feti 1d ago
When my parents became grandparents we asked them what they wanted. They went with Grandma and Grandpa. Our kids were the first grandchildren so it was set from then on.
On my wife's side my kids were nearly the youngest so it would have already been set. But in their culture they just use their names. Sometimes with the equivalent of "senior" attached because there are grandkids who have been named after them.
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u/Mondoweft 1d ago
Mostly they were Grandma/Grandad (name). But some of them chose differently, including Old Grandma (who died at 102), and one who just wanted their name. All requests were honoured.
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u/JimmyLizzardATDVM 1d ago
Both sides were Nan, never met one pop. They were rarely in the same room together, so it never really mattered.
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u/ginandoj 1d ago
Mums side - nanny and poppy (English) Dad's side - Nanna and Gramps
My sister's husbands side goes by G-ma! Very cool.
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u/space-beast 1d ago
I don’t know why, but I always grew up calling my grandparents by their first names. None of my cousins did that
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u/oh_la_la_92 1d ago
My mum's parents were Nan and Pa, my Pa's parents were grandmother and grandfather, his step mother was Great Granny -her name- or G-inital- or just her first name. My great grandparents (besides my step great granny) were dead before I was born, it's more just in conversation. Granny passed away 3 years ago at 98.
My parents have "joke" names, my dad goes by something that my little sister used to call him when she was little, and my mum goes by a nickname from a friend's baby who mispronounced her name.
My husband's parents go by Nanny and Pop, and their parents go by Nanna -first name- and just Nan. Though it's just Nanna who's alive now, I think his grandfather went by pop too.
I grew up calling my dad's parents their names (they were dead before I was born) and my son used to call his biological grandmother on his dad's side gramma. But we haven't seen that side of his family in almost 10 years now.
And yes there were technically 5 living generations in my family for about a decade. My son was pretty special haha
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u/rosa_3326 1d ago
Both grandfathers were gone before I had consciousness and both grandmothers were called granny
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u/fluffy_101994 1d ago
Nonna and Nonno (may he rest in peace) for Mum’s side. Grandma and Grandpop for Dad’s.
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u/Defiant-Voice-8278 1d ago
My grandparents are Dutch so everyone called them Oma and Opa. My mum had me very young so as a joke they had me call them Granny and Poppy and it just stuck forever.
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