The Best Inspiration for Cool Grandma Names

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. 

The BEST List of Cool Grandma NamesRather 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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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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The Best Inspiration for Cool Grandma Names

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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The Best Inspiration for Cool Grandma Names

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!

The BEST List of Cool Grandma Names

About Author

Jo & Rachel

Jo and Rachel first had the idea for 'The Moms At Odds' in 2016 when our babies were turning 2 and we realized that we were very different parents.

As a mom, Rachel immediately felt this strong connection to her son and instantly decided she wanted to become a stay-at-home mom. Though Jo obviously loved her son as well, she counted the days until she could go back to work and interact with other adults.

They both struggled over getting their babies to sleep and while Jo believed in sleep training, Rachel looked for alternatives like dream feeding and no cry methods. As time passed and their children grew older the differences started to really add up – pacifier use, drinking during breastfeeding, organic foods, screen time, diaper brands, and on and on.

During this day and age, it’s so easy to look at our parenting differences as a bad thing. After all, we’ve all seen jokes and articles about “Mommy Wars” over one subject or another. Instead, we choose to embrace our differences and show you that in many areas there is no wrong answer. What works for one family may not work for another, and that’s perfectly fine. We can still all get along and raise perfectly healthy, beautiful children.

Comments

  1. Nancy says:

    My grandkids call me Grancy!

    1. Jo says:

      That’s adorable!

      1. Kathy says:

        My 4 year old twin Grandbabies have called me MAM-MAW since they could talk. Recently , ( on their own ) have started calling me… Grandma! ❤️

    2. Nancy says:

      Love it!

      1. Leslie Michaels says:

        My grandchildren call me graham-cracker or queen

    3. Maureen A Baker says:

      That is sweet Grancy! Mine call me Chacha!

    4. Joy Clark says:

      All of my grand children and all of my great grandchildren call me “Mom-Mom”. They range from twins of 1year old to 32 years old. I love it.

  2. M Torres says:

    My grandkids call me gramma, but my great grand
    Children call me “visa” for “Visabuela” which is great grandmother in Spanish.

    1. Jo says:

      That’s beautiful!

    2. Irene Madrid says:

      I am LITA to all my blood and adopted grandchildren as well as half the town, which is 13! I like Visa but I may use Lala which is what one of my grandsons called me at first. It sounds like a song,lol. I wanted to honor my Abuelita who walked 600 miles across Spain to a better life.

  3. Tammy says:

    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 !

    1. Jo says:

      I love that story! Somehow the perfect name finds you 🙂

    2. Midge says:

      Gan-Gan

  4. Pat McMahon says:

    My Grandkids call me Gramcracker and I love it. It started as a joke and now all seven call me that

    1. Jo says:

      I love it too!! So cute!

  5. Emily says:

    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!

    1. Jo says:

      That’s so neat and unique!

  6. Kath H says:

    My kids call their father grumpy, so needless to say the grandkids picked it up, so I get grumpy. We are Grumpy and Grummy

    1. Jo says:

      My dad could definitely use the name “grumpy” – haha! That’s such an adorable one!

  7. Tammy says:

    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

    1. Jo says:

      More names means more love! Although I do admit it may be difficult to keep track of all of them 🙂 ha!

  8. Patty says:

    My oldest couldn’t say
    Grandma, do I am
    Gra Gra to all 4! Any
    Other Gra Gra’s out
    There?

  9. Dee says:

    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.

    1. Jo says:

      Laughing so hard at the Robert De Niro impression!

  10. Beth Dye says:

    My grandkids call me Bogwah. It started with my first grandchild and the others followed suit.

  11. Charlene Daugherty says:

    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

    1. W. Darlene Skeen says:

      That’s definitely unique! I am called Memom by my older ones and Memommy while they’re young. The greatgrands are calling me Memommy as well

  12. Susan says:

    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!

  13. Michele says:

    What about those of us who will never be grandmothers? What’s our name? Im serious

    1. Sandra says:

      Precious

    2. Wanda says:

      Lovey?

    3. M says:

      Well, then this would not apply.

  14. Dawn says:

    I am Babcia and my husband is Dzidzia…..Polish for grandma and grandpa.

  15. Kelly says:

    Mine call me Emaw. My oldest grandson gave me the name.

    1. Jo says:

      Awww, so sweet! Is it how they were first trying to pronounce “grandma”?

  16. Kim says:

    I’m called mammy!

    1. Linda Churchey says:

      I’m called Mammy, too!

  17. I am Lain to my grands. My husband is Papa. Our youngest granddaughter is 22 months old she calls both of us PapaLain

  18. Denise Kostka says:

    When I was young, my grandparents called me Neecy – so I decided when I had grands I would be Neecy again!

  19. Susan Lesnau says:

    My grandkids call me PeeFee. I love it and I’m pretty sure I’m the only one.

    1. Jo says:

      That’s so cute! How old are they?

      1. Colleen says:

        My grandchildren call me Bummie. I absolutely love it♥️

        1. Jo says:

          That’s a unique one!! I’ve never heard that before.

      2. Josie says:

        Grammy was difficult to pronounce, so my granddaughter called me Hampy Josie or Hippie Josie. There are those who get confused when they hear her call me but its too cute for me to want to change it.

  20. Stella says:

    My children call their Abuelita and Abuelito…..Wita and Wito.

  21. Diane G says:

    My grandson calls me Mommy’s Mom! I absolutely love it. My husband was Papa but now that he’s getting older, 18, he calls him Pops! He’s such a great kid!

  22. Paula says:

    Mine is Cracker. Short for Gramcracker.

  23. Dolores says:

    My youngest grandson calls me” Ra” he’s only 3
    The other 7 call me Gaga they are ages
    13,14,15,19,22,25,and27

  24. Linda Churchey says:

    My brothers grandkids call him “The other Nanny” because his wife is “Nanny”

  25. Vicki says:

    When my stepdaughter had her first baby I decided to shorten my name and went with Vivi but my granddaughter would
    say Bibi and it stuck. Couldn’t have picked a better name ❤️

  26. Dianna Purvis says:

    My grand babies call me Maya

  27. Mary Lou Palumbo says:

    My first set of grandchildren had 2 grandmothers,2 great grandmothers, and 2 great great grandmothers. Every time I would say what is my name they would say ‘don’t know’. Mary Lou is my name. I became Lulu! My second set of grandchildren couldn’t say Lulu so I became Lala!

  28. I am CiCi for Cathy with a C. It is easy to say and now my children, grands and their friends call me CiCi.

  29. Elisa says:

    My gran kids call me Safti it’s Grandma in Hebrew.
    My sisters gran kids call her Wellie for Abuela in Spanish

  30. Kay says:

    My grandkids call me MuMu. Not sure where that came from but the first one called me that and it stuck.

  31. Celeste says:

    My first granddaughter called me grandma Ce Ce. My new baby granddaughter couldn’t say grandma. Somehow it came out as
    Ro Ro.
    I love it. 💕

  32. Nita says:

    My oldest grandkids call me grandma
    The next grandson calls be GMa
    The great grandkids call me GBop, as the oldest one of this crew and I were dancing down the hallway.

  33. Catherine says:

    My-grans-call-me-Gita

  34. Peg Farley says:

    My grandkids called me Bin Bin when they were tiny tots and now they are pre-teens and call me Binnie or Binnie Buns.

  35. Sharon says:

    My Grandchildren called me GeeGa when they were little and I loved it !! Told my Daughter whatever they call me is fine with me. They are 11 & 14 now and I am Gramma 😉

  36. Melissa says:

    Mine is Glamz or Glammy

  37. Jo Tunstall says:

    Our children’s grandparents are Nanine and Grandmum! We are in Australia.

  38. Janet Hunter says:

    I’m Grammy but when it came to Grandpa, our now 21 year old granddaughter named him at 13 months. She was trying to say Grandpa but it came out Googa and it stuck. Now we are Grammy and Googa to eight.

  39. Marilynne says:

    I am Bibi to my grandkids

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