I found the most popular nicknames for a grandmother
When I became a new grandma, I wanted to look up nicknames for a grandmother that would reflect me, my lifestyle and was easy for a child to say.
Even before my grandson was born in 2018, I wanted to decide on a nickname for myself and grab it before the other Grandma would! 🙂
I’m French Canadian so the most popular one is Grand-mère (Grandmother in English) but that was way too formal for me.
Plus I’m not your typical grandmother, I’m a geek Grandma (I love everything digital, internet, etc.) and I hate cooking and still very active, at least mentally.
I went in search of “nicknames for Grandma” that would sound perfect in French or English. It also needed to be short.
A Google search brought back many lists with 50 or 100+ of nicknames in different languages.
I browsed Facebook groups where other grandmothers were also looking for one.
I asked my friends and my sister-in-law what do their grandkids call them.
And I compiled this list of my favorite and cute Grandma nicknames I could find.
As for myself, I love the one I picked “Mamie”. Now it remains to be seen if my grandsons (another one is due to come into this world in March, 2020) will use it. 🙂
If a grandfather is in the picture, I also listed at the bottom some good ones I found.
Popular Nicknames for a Grandmother
- Amma
- Baba (Russian)
- Bubbe
- Da
- Deedee, Didi
- DooDah
- Gaga
- Gamma
- Gan
- Geema
- Gigi
- Glamma
- Gma
- Goma
- Gram
- Gramms
- Grammy, Grammie
- Grand
- Grandy
- Grandma
- Grandma Nanny
- Grandmaman (French)
- Grandmommy
- GranGran
- Granni
- Granna
- Grannie
- Lala
- Mamé (French)
- Mamie (French)
- Mama (Spanish)
- Mimi
- Momo
- Momsie
- Lala
- Lolly
- Maymay
- Mimi
- Mommom
- Momo
- Nam
- Nan
- NaiNai
- Nana
- Nani
- Nanny
- Nena
- NeNe
- Nona, Nonna
- Oma
- Toot
- Tutu
- Yah-yah
- Yammy
Let’s not forget the Grandfathers
Don’t know about you but when I asked my husband what should my grandson call him, his immediate answer was “grandpapa” of course, duh!
Men usually don’t fuss over this kind of details. So I wasn’t surprised.
As I was googling nicknames for grandfathers, I had to laugh when I found “Grumpy” – I think that one might fit well for my husband. (Oops! he’s going to read this post and might object! LOL)
Popular Nicknames for Grandfathers
- Ampa
- Badda
- Beebop
- Big Bear
- Big D
- Bobo
- Boom-pa
- Bompa
- Boopa
- Bubba
- Dadoo
- G or Gee
- G-daddy
- G-pa
- Gamps
- Grampa
- Gramps
- Granda
- Grandpapa
- Granddaddy
- Grandad
- Grandpa
- Grandpop
- Grandy
- Grapa
- Gumpa
- Gumpy
- Nonno
- Opa
- P-Pop
- Pa
- Pap
- Papadaddy
- Papi
- Papo
- Pappy
- Pe-pa
- Pepo
- Pop
- Popo
- Pops
- Poppa
- Poppie
- Poppop
- Poppy
- Pops
- Popsie
- Popsy
There are many more nicknames in different languages and different cultures that you can find online. Some lists featured more than 100 alternative names for grandmothers and grandfathers.
I thought it might be helpful to narrow the lists down to make it easier to choose. Too many choices might make it harder to pick one.
Even after doing all this research, the grandkids might be the ones deciding on your nickname.
Maybe they’ll struggle to say Grandad and it will sound more like Ganda. Same for Grandma, might come out as Ganma.
My brother and sister-in-law also told me that their nicknames changed over the years as the grandkids got older.
No matter what my grandsons call me, being a grandmother is so much more than I expected. It’s hard to explain but it’s a different experience than being a mother and I cherish both of these life stages.
If in your family, you are using ones that are not listed, I would love for you to tell us in the comments below.
My mother-in-law was called Mammaw, which is popular her in Texas. But our son always called her Meemaw for some reason!
Thanks Sue. That’s what I was told by my sister-in-law that in the end, the kids will come up with their own nicknames 🙂
I am Lolly and my husband is Pops…the kids love coming to Lollyandpops house!
LOL that is so cute! Thanks for sharing 🙂
We are gonna be first time grandparents. My husband is gonna be Poppy but i xant come up with a cute name for myself. My name is Cindy. Any ideas
Congratulations! You’re going to find it is so so nice to be grandparents and different too. Like you, I wanted a cute and short name for myself that would be easy for a child to pronounce but my husband didn’t. He wanted to keep grand-papa (we’re French Canadian) and my grandson took a while to say it but eventually he came up with grand-papa Pierre (my husband’s name) and it is so cute to hear.
For you, I did a Google search for nicknames of Cindy. And the only cute one I found was CeCe or CeeCee, which I like but don’t know if you do. It’s short and easy to pronounce for a child but you also have to love it.
Hope you can find one and let me know what you decided on. 🙂
My granddaughters call me Gerr. My oldest granddaughter had a hard time saying Grandma. It came out Gerr! I love it!
Hi Gerr 🙂 That is a cute name and I love how it was your granddaughter who came up with it on her own. Thanks for sharing.
I wanted to be Granny but my grand daughter Harriet chose Nang! Also get Nangy! I love that she chose what to call me. By the way there is a Spike Milligan song On the Ning Nang Nong! 🥰
That’s a cute nickname and different. My oldest grandson, he just turned 3, can speak now and has chosen to call me GrandMamie instead of Mamie which he did when younger. I like both versions. The other grandson just turned 1 so too young still to call me anything 🙂
Thanks for sharing Mandy
My only granddaughter created her own name for me accidentally. She walked into our home, seeing me she calls out “Memama!” it stuck.
Oh, that is a very cute name. I love it. She made it easy for you 🙂