First pregnancies are not only exciting for the new parents, but also for the grandma-to-be! Choosing your grandma name is a big deal, and if you’re searching for cool grandma names you’ve come to the right place.
Rather than giving you a long and lengthy list, we’ve divided it into some categories for you. Are you looking for more unique? Traditional? Check out our ideas below.
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In This Guide:
Unique/Hipster Grandma Names
In the same way modern parents are trending towards the unique spectrum for baby names, many grandparents are looking for more hip nicknames. Check out these cool grandma names:
Abba
Bella
Birdie
Bunny
Cookie
Coco
Darling
Glamma
G-ma
Granzilla
Honey
Kitty
Lolly (extra cute with Pop for grandpa)
Lovey
Sugar
Tootsie
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Grandma in Other Languages
A really good idea for finding unique grandparent names is to dig into and explore your ancestry. Try out some of these names for grandparents in different languages around the world.
Abuela & Abuelo (Spanish)
Amma & Afi (Icelandic)
Avó & Avô (Portuguese)
Bubbe & Zeyde (Yiddish)
Babushka & Dedushka (Russian)
Grandmère & Grandpère (French)
Lola & Lolo (Filipino)
Nonna & Nonno (Italian)
Oma & Opa (German, informal)
Tutu (Hawaiian, informal)
Yia yia & pappous (Greek)
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Traditional Grandmother Names
Sometimes a classic name can be the perfect, timeless option. Many families opt for the standard Grandma and Grandpa, possibly followed by their names.
This can get a bit confusing especially with blended families or multiple generations of grandparents, but luckily there are lots of common nicknames for grandma as well.
Here are some of the more traditional grandmother names:
Granny
Gran
Grammy
Gram
Ma
Mawmaw
MeeMaw
Mimi
Mimsy
Minny
Momsy
Mumsy
Nana
Nanny
Ninny
Nonny
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Baby Inspiration for Cool Grandma Names
Sometimes the new baby themselves can be a great source of inspiration for cool grandma names! Whether they invent it them self or mispronounce your chosen nickname, often whichever grandma name the first grandchild picks can stick.
For instance, Jo originally wanted her children to call her grandma “Gigi” – pronounced G-G for great-grandmother. However, it never caught on with Ry and he started calling her “Juju” as a small toddler. Five years and two additional grandchildren later, she’s still Juju. Everyone loves the name!
Listen to the sounds your baby makes for inspiration. Here are a few examples:
Baba
Gaga
Gamgam
Gammy
Gigi
Juju
Kiki
Lala
Lulu
Momo
Yaya
Hopefully you found some inspiration in our lists. Does your family have any other unique, cultural, or traditional nicknames for grandparents? Share your grandparent names in the comments!
My grandkids call me Grancy!
That’s adorable!
Love it!
My grandchildren call me graham-cracker or queen
My grandkids call me gramma, but my great grand
Children call me “visa” for “Visabuela” which is great grandmother in Spanish.
That’s beautiful!
We tried to get my granddaughter to say Gammy but it kept coming out Gummy ! My daughter just had a boy and I am still known as Gummy! And I love it !
I love that story! Somehow the perfect name finds you 🙂
My Grandkids call me Gramcracker and I love it. It started as a joke and now all seven call me that
I love it too!! So cute!
Our son married a lady that had a son who was 4. Our son told him to call us Princess and Hot Pepper! My husband loves hot, spicy food and me, I’m not the princess type but love the name so I’ll take it!
That’s so neat and unique!
My kids call their father grumpy, so needless to say the grandkids picked it up, so I get grumpy. We are Grumpy and Grummy
My dad could definitely use the name “grumpy” – haha! That’s such an adorable one!
My son married a young woman with a son. When asked, what he wanted to call me? He got a crayon out grabbed a sheet of paper. Said I’ll think about it. Minutes latter he came into the room and had decided that I would be called “Lamby”. I have grand children that aren’t really mine. They call me nene and my husband pops. But then we have another set that calls us mawmaw and pawpaw. I have way too many names. Lol
More names means more love! Although I do admit it may be difficult to keep track of all of them 🙂 ha!
My oldest couldn’t say
Grandma, do I am
Gra Gra to all 4! Any
Other Gra Gra’s out
There?
For the longest time our first grandchild called my husband Papa but no name for me. I would refer to myself as Grammy but she wasn’t having it.
One day I stepped away from her and she called out, “Mimi!”
I said, “You talkin to me?” ( in my best Dinero impersonation 😉 and she repeated smiling and nodding, “Mimi!”
Now I am Mimi to all 3 grandchildren and at 5, she is quick to tell people that
“I named her!”. lol.
Laughing so hard at the Robert De Niro impression!
My grandkids call me Bogwah. It started with my first grandchild and the others followed suit.
I started out with step grandchildren and they could not pronounce my name Charlene, so they call me Shashi. That stuck and so now even with my own grandchildren I am Shashi
My daughter when she was 2ish heard me call upstairs a few times for my Mum. After that my daughter called her MumMum. 16 years later and its been that name ever since!
What about those of us who will never be grandmothers? What’s our name? Im serious
I am Babcia and my husband is Dzidzia…..Polish for grandma and grandpa.