Gransnet forums

Ask a gran

Nanny or Nannie

(123 Posts)
Rosie21 Wed 16-Nov-16 10:00:16

I always said I wouldn't be called Granny or Grandma but I wanted to be 'Nannie'. Now comes the English Teacher in me, spelling. I have chosen to be 'Nannie'. My thinking that it would differentiate me from a Nanny (paid). Any thoughts on being a 'y' or 'ie'?
What other term of endearment do your grandchildren use? brew

radicalnan Thu 17-Nov-16 13:11:04

I am nannie, but my Welsh grand daughters called their other grandparents Nein and Teidy..........which I loved.

Sheilasue Thu 17-Nov-16 13:16:33

I like Nan or Nana was what my gd called me when she was young. I really don't love gran or granny grannie. So old fashioned

HannahLoisLuke Thu 17-Nov-16 13:23:02

I'm Tatty to my now adult grandchildren and I love it.

Juggernaut Thu 17-Nov-16 13:25:50

As he's only 12 weeks old, my DGS is calling me 'lo' at the moment. We think it's because I say 'Hello' very clearly to him a lot.
I want to be called 'Nan' eventually though, because I'm far too cool to be a 'Gran/Grandma/Granny'wink

Lyndie Thu 17-Nov-16 13:27:41

My eldest grandchild couldn't say grandma and said RaRa. Now all 6 GC call me RaRa. I love it!

gulligranny Thu 17-Nov-16 13:49:27

I dislike Nanny - makes me think of goats! My 4 all call me Grandma; they are all "step" and especially precious as I never expected to be in the position of having any grandchildren, so basically they can call me whatever they like and I'll be happy.

BonnieBlooming Thu 17-Nov-16 13:52:07

I am Nannie. Grandmothers in my family have always been Nannie.

Mamar2 Thu 17-Nov-16 13:56:19

I'm Mamar. First GS couldn't say Grandma....... came out as Mamar. It's stuck at this & I'm really happy with it.

Skweek1 Thu 17-Nov-16 14:09:53

Are there any Scots in the family. My parents' relations were ies, but English honorary aunts were Aunty. Same with Granny. But DS calls MIL Grandma and her parents were Grandmama and Grandpumpa

grammargran Thu 17-Nov-16 14:24:02

I'm a Nanima as my grandchildren are half Indian and are the children of my daughter. Their paternal grandmother is Dadima.

nannypink1 Thu 17-Nov-16 14:34:50

I'm nanny pink..obviously...and love it. Don't want to be called anything else.

garnet25 Thu 17-Nov-16 15:25:31

I'm Granny and always wanted to be as my own Granny was so special. Just as well as the other Grandmother was already Nana to DGD's three cousins. The other Grandfather was already Grandpa and as my husband didn't like Grandad he is called Pappi which our French friends suggested. However she hasn't called us anything yet so we will adapt to whatever she does.

EllaKeat Thu 17-Nov-16 15:44:30

I am a gran in my own mind, but grand daughter calls me gan gan..........

Omaoma57 Thu 17-Nov-16 16:13:20

I am called Oma as my daughter became pregnant when we lived in Germany and everyone kept saying congrats Oma and it stuck!

AlieOxon Thu 17-Nov-16 16:23:28

I'm Grandma, because my mother, still alive when 1st grandchild arrived, was Nan!

Theoddbird Thu 17-Nov-16 16:32:02

When my first grandchild was born my mother was still alive and she was Nannie. She became Nat Nan to her great grandson who couldn't say 'Great'. So I had to decide on a name. I had always been a fan of Mork and Mindy so I decided on Nanoo smile There have been five more grandchildren since...I am Nanoo to all of them smile

moira13 Thu 17-Nov-16 16:51:04

Surely your grandchildren may choose a name for you. One set of my grandparents were Mama and Dada as that's what my cousin called them and so we all did. The others were Grannie and Granda. Our grandchildren have a Grandma and Grandad and a Grannie and Dadat.

trendygran Thu 17-Nov-16 16:52:36

Always remember my Mum saying she did not want to be Nanny because she wasn't a goat! I am known as Grandma .Would prefer Granny ,but my SIL' s Mum got there first! No hard feelings really!

Spangles1963 Thu 17-Nov-16 17:03:56

My DGD (now 10) started off calling me 'nanny',but has changed it to 'nanna' over the last couple of years,at the same time she started calling her mummy,'mumma'. No idea why. She still calls her father 'daddy' though,not 'papa'! When my DGD was born,I was adamant that I didn't want to be called 'granny' or 'grandma' as at the age of 43,I thought it made me sound ancient!

Jane10 Thu 17-Nov-16 17:06:44

I don't understand how granny/gran is somehow less youthful than nana/nanny.

nannienet Thu 17-Nov-16 17:35:43

I chose to be called Nannie too and chose that spelling but it's so difficult for my daughters to find Birthday and Christmas cards with this spelling,almost no existent,they have to take the expensive way out and order ones through Moonlight etc. Sometimes l wish l had chosen different for this reason.

mirryben31 Thu 17-Nov-16 18:15:41

I am granny to all of my grandchildren, although when some were tiny they called me nanny as granny was too difficult to say. I used to look after a little girl who called her grandmother "auld mam" (old mam)

nannieJoy Thu 17-Nov-16 18:15:50

My mom is Grandma so that was out even though this gets shortened to G'Ma or even just G'. So I'm Nannie too for the same reasons also the thought of being a Nanny goat didn't appeal. But most of the time I'm Nan. I don't much care what I'm called when I have two little arms hugging me tight smile

Perdita33 Thu 17-Nov-16 18:43:50

I'm Gran - we've never used Nan or Nanny in our family.
I have a Swiss granchild - his Swiss Gran is Grossmumny, which is sweet.

hicaz46 Thu 17-Nov-16 18:48:10

I'm Nanny to my 5 grandchildren and my partner who has known all of them since birth is Nanny Carol. Other grandmothers are Nana and another Nanny. Everybody is happy and no one is confused.