Genealogy Chat

I always referred to my grandmother as Nanny then Nan as I became older. My mum took the title Nanny when she became a grandmother.

My husband called his grandmother Gran.

I am about to become a grandmother, and I would me mortified to be called Granny or Gran....this title reminds me of a little old lady with glasses and knitting needles sitting in her rocking chair! lol I'm too young to be a granny so I have informed my daughter that my grandchild should call me Nanny Dee!!

I always thought that the name nanny came from the fact that in the past, quite a few grandmother's helped look after their grandchildren or even had to bring them up when their mothers had died....from the term "Nanny" as in the paid job. I may be wrong, but thats how I always saw it.

my kids have 3 grandma s 1 granny 1nanna 1 grandma it seem easy for them as the know who we are chatting about but the have 5 grandads which we just add the surname of that grandfather to who we are chatting about

Hi

My Parents are scottish and so were theirs, and we called our grandparents Gran and Grandad, however since I had my children, my mum has still insisted that she is a gran whilst my m-i-l, who is english, prefers nan or nanny.

May be it is a north south divide!!

Lorraine

Brenda in Wales, I was interested by your post remarking on the formality when we were young. I called both my grandmothers Granny followed by their surnames, my daughters call their grandmothers Granny followed by their christian names.
Must say I think I prefer the latter.

My paternal grandparents were known as Nanny & Poppy, don't know why but I was the eldest grandchild. My Irish grandmother was my Nan and her husband (step-grandad) was Pop's. My grandaughter calls me Nana, my daughter asked what I wanted to be called and my husband is Grandad. My mother and father were always called by thier first names - what they wanted. My son and daughter still call my Mum Kath. But my sisters children who are still young call her Nanny Kath, so do the greatgrandchildren.

Does anyone know if 'Nana' was used before Peter Pan, or after. Or was the dog named that because it took the place of a Nanny or nursemaid.?
As 'Wendy' did not exist as a name before Peter Pan, perhaps Nana was invented by J M Barrie too.

My Mother's Parents were Ninna (because the eldest grandchild could not say Nanna so it stuck through 11 grandchildren and however many great grandchildren!) and Bampy.

My Father's Parents were Nanny and Grampy.

My Mum is Nanny to my Kids
and My wife's parents were Grandma and Bampy


Surprised Bampy hasn't been mentioned earlier - is this a Welsh thing perhaps?

When I was a child, my Grandmother said to me, I am not your Nanny. Nannies are employed to look after children. I am your father's mother, so am your Grandmother.

Also I am not a Nanny Goat.

I always called her Granny, and also my mother's mother was Granny.

My maternal cousins called our Grandmother Nan, but I never did.

This has always stuck in my mind what my Grandmother said.

My husband always called his Grandmothers. Grandma.

Personal choice, but I prefere Grandmother.

Agree with Laura, totally personal choice. I am Grandma, only exception is my 3 yr old grandson who insists on calling me g-ma, and of course my d-i-l's neice who calls me 'Phoenix's Grandma' (Phoenix being the 3 yr old grandson)

My mother and grandmother & gr-grandmother were grandma to the grands and Nana to the gr-grands.

My paternal gr-grandparents were Grammy and Grampy to all, and my mother and fathe out-law are Nana and Granddad to all.

Guess depends on geography, personal preference and amount of 'extended family' you have.

You have set me off now Orange cat! I am on a misson to discover where the name Nana (in place of Grandma)originated from!
I came across this forum, which is interesting, but I still haven't found the answer. I will let you know when/if I do.
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/maternal/messages/41359.html

My dad's parents were Granny and Grandpa
Mum's - Grandma and Grandad.

My dad insists that when I have kids he will be Grandpa, whereas Mum insists she'll be Grandma not Granny! lol

Personal choice and regional dialects too I guess

Laura

My paternal grandmother was Nana, & she came from Lincolnshire. My maternal grandmother was Granny & she came from Cornwall. They were pretty well equal on the social scale.

I only knew one grandfather & he was always Grandad.

Ozi.

My grandmother was granny or gran, my mum is nanna, when my grand daughter first came along, I was granny maggie, but when gran died, I was elevated to just granny!!
Dad's mum was also called granny, but referred to as granny D.....
My grand daughter hasn't got a grandmother on her father's side - well she has, but her father hasn't seen her since he was 5, but daughter has a new partner and grand daughter calls his mum Nanny Net.

Both my grandfathers died before I was born, but I refer to both as Gandad S and grandad D.
Grand daughter calls my ex Pops.

maggie

We are Nanny and Grandan to our 2 Grandchildren, the other set of Grandparents are called Little Nanny and Grandad, Our granddaughter has always called him Grandan, reasons only known to herself:)

My Mum they call Nana but she is also called Nana by her Australian Grandchildren and Granma by the Ozzie and Spanish Great grandchildren very confusing at times.

My Nan or Granma as we had to call her used to slap us around the head if we called her Nan or Nanny stating "Nanny's are employed people, I am your Grandmother! " we loved to tease her and run away before she could catch us:)) , never had a Grandfather they both died WW2

My Granma I believe may give the reason for the difference.

I called my grandmothers Nana and grandfathers Grandad. I always thought that Nana is more common in the north. My ancestors hail from Yorks, Lancs and Lincs. Or maybe it's a class thing.
Helen

I like nan. When the children were tiny it was granny, now they are older it is nan. My great grandson calls me Katey nanny, because he was becoming confused that a "strange" woman was refered to as his nan.

Kathlyn

Both my Grandmothers were Grandma plus their surname to me, my one Grandfather was Grandpa plus surname. My paternal Grandmother was Nana to my cousins, my Dads brothers' children.

I am Nana to all our Grandchildren (my choice because I prefer it) and OH is Granddad. Daughters boys call their Dad's Mum Grandma and son's children call their Mum's parents Granny and Granddad.

I think it is all down to personal choice, I didn't want Grandma being only 48 when the first Grandchild was born it made me feel too old, both my grandmas were older in age and ways.

Ann
Glos

Thanks all,
I was lucky enough to know my two Nanas and one Great Grandma.
My husband finds the term Nana unusual, ( his upbringing was posh and he had a nanny ) and we were curious to its origins?
Saying that; he calls his Grandmother "Gummy".....don't ask!!
OC

My paternal grandmother was "Gran" - always Gran, never Granny or Nanna or Grandma, just Gran. Any other name but Gran made her feel old and - even if you were only tiny - she would ignore you if you called her something other than Gran.

Interestingly, my aunty tells me that my great-grandma ("Gran's" mother in law) would only answer to Grandma. Sounds like she was very strict and had to be called "Grandma".

My maternal grandmother was "Grandma" to me - two of her nieces are still living (in their eighties and nineties now) and when I asked them about my great-grandma they referred to her as "Grandma Rowland".

I have a Gran(ny) and a Grandad.

Used to call my dads mum Next Granny.

My grt grandparents where Nana and Pawpa.

My cousins kids call there grandad, Papa.

My mum had two Granny Robertsons, so one was Lochend Granny and the other Restilrig Granny.

I suppose it depends what you feel confortable with and what you grew up with eg where you encouraged to call them granny or granma?