My eight-year-old daughter recently told me she’s planning on having five children.
“FIVE?” I asked.
“Yes. Five,” she said in that typical matter-of-fact eight-year-old way. “Which means you’ll be Grandma to five babies, Mum.”
Ugh. No. No. I won’t.
“I will be Grandma to no grandbabies, dearest daughter, I reply, “Because I am far too young and cool to ever be Grandma.”
“Instead,” I said, in my matter-of-fact manner, “Your five babies will call me BamBam.”
I’m not a regular Nan, I’m a cool nan
You see, unlike Grandma, BamBam doesn’t wear sweater vests or bake cookies or smell of weird air freshener or sew buttons on skirts.
BamBam wears funky scarves and has a super hip gray fringe and cheers ridiculously loud at dance recitals. She goes to music festivals and pervs on lifeguards at the beach and day drinks out of a special cup with a really cool straw.
BamBam is living her best life, alongside her mates, Glamma, Lolly and Randy Grandy, all perfectly awesome alternatives to the traditional grandparents’ names.
So, if you’re planning for the future (regardless of how distant grandparenting is in your world), have a look at these fresh and funky grandparents’ names.
Alternatives names for grandma
- G-Ma
- Amma
- Ammie
- Lollie
- Bubbles
- BonBon
- Nanster
- Nanzie
- Dooda
- MayMay
- BeBe
- GiGi
- CeeCee
- Birdie
- Fancy Grancy (to go with Randy Grandy below)
- Teenie
- Pippy
- MeeMee
- VeeVoo
- BamBam (clearly my fave)
Alternatives names for grandpa
- G
- Big P
- Adda
- Poppy
- Popster
- G-Pa
- Glampa
- PawPaw
- PePop
- Poppo
- Popzie
- PupPup
- Randy Grandy
- Gang Gang
- Hoppa
- BoomBoom
- Boompa
- Buzzy
- Captain
- Ace
Cultural alternatives to grandma and grandpa
- Mawmaw and Pawpaw (American)
- Teeta and Seedo (Arabic)
- Jadda and Jadd (Arabic)
- Baba and Dyido (Bulgarian)
- Baba and Djed (Croatian)
- Oma and Opa (Dutch and German)
- Bomma and Bonpa (Flemish)
- Lola and Lolo (Filipino)
- Yaya and Papou (Greek)
- Savta and Saba (Hebrew)
- Daddi and Daada (Hindi)
- Tita and Tito (Hispanic)
- Nonna and Nonno (Italy)
- Dida and Dadu (India)
- Amma and Afi (Icelandic)
- Nai Nai and Ye Ye (Mandarin)
- Babushka and Dedushka (Russian)
- Bibi and Babu (Swahili)
So many cool grandparents names. It’s hard to decide, right!? Let us know what your kids call their grandparents below and what name you plan on using when your grandkiddies are born.
