Grandparents names.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-01-2005
Grandparents names.
12
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 1:48am

What do your kids call your parents? I really want my FDC to call my mom Gigi. No reason it has nothing to do with her name or anything. I just think its cute and unique. Recently though my mothers best friend, Sharon. Told us that her sons girlfriend is pregnant and they want the baby to call her Gigi. Do you think its strange for my kids to call my mom Gigi when my moms friends kids are calling her that too?

Dawn

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-08-2004
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 9:19am
I think it's only strange that it has nothing to do with your mom's name. I have friends whose children call their grandmother Bebe, because her name is Phoebe. And my mom has expressed an interest in her grandchildren calling her Kiki because her name is Vicki. And I've known a Theresa who was Tessie or Tess to her grandchildren. But yes, Gigi for no obvious reason would strike me as a bit odd, and if someone so close to your mom is already going to be Gigi, then it would seem strange. But then again, I've known children who called their grandmothers Darlin' and Honey (I really love Honey).
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2003
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 12:39pm

Grandma and Grandpa (first name).

I have never heard Gigi for a grandparent.

I would ask the grandparent if she likes it first, though, before you start having your kids call her that. There is nothing more annoying than being called a nickname you don't like.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2006
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 12:53pm

No I don't think that is strange. My son (and the other children on that side of the family) call my DH's grandmother Gigi. Its cute.

Weston calls my parents: Gram and Papa; my grandparents: Nana and Pa (which is also what I call them).

Weston calls DH's parents: Grandma and Grandpa; and his grandmother: Gigi (both of DH's grandfathers passed away).

I am editing because I see some people were wondering where Gigi would come from, in our case it stands for Great Grandma (GG) KWIM??

Michelle
#2 EDD: June 5th




Edited 10/9/2006 12:54 pm ET by mich_atl

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-06-2006
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 1:34pm

Same here, Michelle.

My Grandmother requested that my children call her Gigi (for "G"reat "G"randma). It's a lot easier to say, and it's really sweet. And her name is Alice.

Just my two cents.
Janel

Janel


Evelyn Rae


~Beatrice Dianne~


Charlotte Zorah


Expecting a BOY Fall 2010



Avatar for haarlasr
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 2:23pm

DH and I had our parents decide what they wanted to be called since our older daughter was the first grandchild on either side. My parents are Nana and Grandpa, and his parents are Grandma and Grandpa. Yes, the Grandpas have been called Papa and Bapa, and Grandma has been called Da and Dama, but we always refer to them by their chosen names.

If your mom wants to be called Gigi, then I think it's fine, but IMO, the decision should be left to her. After all, she's the one who has to live with it.

FWIW, my grandparents were Nana, Pops, Grandpa, and Audrey on my dad's side (step-grandparents, too) and Grammy and Grandpa on my mom's side.

Stephanie

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-2006
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 6:15pm
i call my grandma mimi cuz her name ismary
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 8:25pm

As others have mentioned, Gigi is a pretty common nn for a Great-Grandmother (thus GG), but has nothing to do with the grandmother's name. Also, I don't think you can "steal" a grandparent name like you can a baby name, so I wouldn't worry about that. But really, the question is what does you mom WANT to be called?

My parents and in-laws decided what "grandparent" names they wanted to be called before our oldest dd was born. They were Nana and Poppy (my parents) and Gramma Joy and Grampa Keith. Of course, you have to bear in mind that none of this might end up mattering in the long run, because a toddler will call a grandparent whatever they want, so your chosen name may not stick.

We ended up with Nana and Papa (rather than Poppy) and simply Gramma and Grampa (much to their annoyance, because our oldest couldn't manage the double name when she was learning to talk ... I fully supported her LOL). The great-grandparents are called by the same names my husband and I (and all the other grandchildren) call them ...

Nanny and Pop Pop
Nanny Coyle (often just Nanny)
Grammy Amendt (just Grammy in person, before she passed)
Gramma Nelson (my oldest often calls her by her fn, Pat LOL)
Gramma Lewis (Gramma Nelson's mom, so my girls' great-great-grandmother ... she could be GiGiGi LOL)

FWIW, I've never known anyone who called their grandparents a variation of their given name (other than Kaitlyn and "Pat," but that came from not being able to say Nelson ... long story LOL). I'm thinking that might be a regional thing.

~Kelli


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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-08-2004
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 8:42pm
You may be right about it being a regional think, Kelli. I actually know kids whose grandmother's name is Joan, and all her grandchildren (all eight of them) call her Joan. Exclusively. It started with the oldest one, who heard someone else call her that, and it stuck. It's really sort of sweet, because their tone of voice when they say it is nothing like anyone else's when they call her name.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-23-2004
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 8:48pm

My kids call both sets of parents Grandma and Grandpa. When we are referring to a certain set of grandparents we say Grandma and Grandpa (last name). My in-law's are Dutch and they did want our kids to call them Oma and Opa but I wouldn't have any of that, lol.

Terra.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Mon, 10-09-2006 - 8:53pm

I know exactly what you mean. When Kaitlyn was small and couldn't say Nelson, she told her she could call her Gramma Pat. Kaitlyn just thought Pat was a great name, so she dropped the Gramma. LOL

I forgot about this when I originally posted, but my dh's grandmother was named Wanda, and the few times Kaitlyn got to see her before she died she heard others calling her by her fn and got really excited -- Wanda was one of her imaginary friends (whom she'd named out of nowhere without knowing it was her great-gramma's name). So from then on, she was simply Wanda to her. ;)

Despite those isolated incidents, I still maintain that "grandparent" names like CiCi, GiGi, etc. stemming from given names aren't very common around here, but dh's family (including those grandmothers) lives in Illinois, so maybe it's more acceptable there?

~Kelli


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