Grandma and Grandpa changed thier name to Mimi and Papa

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mimi and Papa are not a Southern thing.

Agree. Not southern at all. MaMaw and PaPaw are southern. Although we are from Mississippi and our grandbaby calls us Grammy and Granddaddy.

I always thought it was a Jewish or maybe Yiddish thing. The branch of my family that is Jewish uses these names for the wife's parents.

I'm Jewish, never heard these names before. Grandpa and grandma in Hebrew is saba and savta, Yiddish is bubbie and zeide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mimi and Papa are not a Southern thing.

Agree. Not southern at all. MaMaw and PaPaw are southern. Although we are from Mississippi and our grandbaby calls us Grammy and Granddaddy.

I always thought it was a Jewish or maybe Yiddish thing. The branch of my family that is Jewish uses these names for the wife's parents.

I'm Jewish, never heard these names before. Grandpa and grandma in Hebrew is saba and savta, Yiddish is bubbie and zeide.

Oops - other way around for Yiddish (zeide and bubbie).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope your kids just keep calling them Grandma and Grandpa.

ILs will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary later this month. It will be interesting to hear what the other "older" grandkids call them.

It's totally any adult's prerogative to decide that a nickname, even a longtime "title" like grandma or grandpa, is something they want to change. Maybe they never actually liked being called grandma and grandpa all these years but ended up with those nicknames by default when the grandkids came along and that's what their adult kids told the children to call them. If you get along well with them, why not ask: Hey, we're fine with a change, just wondered -- did you always not like being called grandma? ....Maybe it made them feel older than they really are, or maybe they see that all their friends get called this by grandkids so it's boring. But it's their choice what they prefer.

Maybe the impending 50th anniversary is somewhat behind the desire for a change--? Perhaps they feel they want to start the next half-century with fresh names they actually prefer.

If they tell your kids directly, "Please call us Mimi and Papa," I hope you'd tell your kids to do so. And at the same time, tell the kids that if they slip up and automatically say "grandma and grandpa," that's no big deal, and the elders will understand. But the kids should make an effort to call people what those people want to be called, even if it's a change.

+1
They have every right to determine how they wish to be addressed. Yes, even if they started as something else.

Sure, but wouldn't it be normal for them to explain it or at the least, mention it?

Exactly, it was like all of a sudden their names changed without any explanation. We don't talk much but even so, it was a bit strange. My 11 year old was like, "who is Papa?" when my MIL referred to him as that. The kids played it off but it was confusing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mimi and Papa are not a Southern thing.

Agree. Not southern at all. MaMaw and PaPaw are southern. Although we are from Mississippi and our grandbaby calls us Grammy and Granddaddy.

I always thought it was a Jewish or maybe Yiddish thing. The branch of my family that is Jewish uses these names for the wife's parents.

I'm Jewish, never heard these names before. Grandpa and grandma in Hebrew is saba and savta, Yiddish is bubbie and zeide.

Oops - other way around for Yiddish (zeide and bubbie).

The family I'm thinking of is in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area. The family is Jewish, but it could just as easily be a regional thing, or just names they happen to like. They've used them for a long time- 20+ years, so they're not following a new trend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is this only a thing for grandparents to have a "name"?? Parents don't seem to have special names like this. IMO grandma and grandpa have a definition.

My MIL is trying for "Gigi" but that's a dog name in my opinion.

We used GG (Gigi) to mean great-grandma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mimi and Papa are not a Southern thing.

Agree. Not southern at all. MaMaw and PaPaw are southern. Although we are from Mississippi and our grandbaby calls us Grammy and Granddaddy.

I always thought it was a Jewish or maybe Yiddish thing. The branch of my family that is Jewish uses these names for the wife's parents.

I'm Jewish, never heard these names before. Grandpa and grandma in Hebrew is saba and savta, Yiddish is bubbie and zeide.

Yeah, all the Jewish grandparents I know are called one of those names, not Mimi and Papa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is this only a thing for grandparents to have a "name"?? Parents don't seem to have special names like this. IMO grandma and grandpa have a definition.

My MIL is trying for "Gigi" but that's a dog name in my opinion.

This seems like a relatively new thing. I know that not everyone calls their grandparents Grandma and Grandpa, but usually the grandparent names are traditional-my husband called his grandmother Nana, which is what his mom called her grandmother, etc. Jewish kids use Hebrew or Yiddish names for grandparents. Families with origins in other countries use their traditional names for grandparents (abuela/bibi/yaya/sobo/etc.) Some names are family-specific, often where one of the oldest grandchildren created some name for the grandparent that is then used by subsequent grandkids (I grew up near one family who called their grandmother "Rankin" for that reason.) But just inventing a grandparental name seems so odd to me. My mom talked a little bit about using a different name, probably because she knew other women who were doing that, but Grandma and Grandpa just came more naturally. I mean, call them what they want to be called, but it seems silly and artificial to change it decades later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this only a thing for grandparents to have a "name"?? Parents don't seem to have special names like this. IMO grandma and grandpa have a definition.

My MIL is trying for "Gigi" but that's a dog name in my opinion.

This seems like a relatively new thing. I know that not everyone calls their grandparents Grandma and Grandpa, but usually the grandparent names are traditional-my husband called his grandmother Nana, which is what his mom called her grandmother, etc. Jewish kids use Hebrew or Yiddish names for grandparents. Families with origins in other countries use their traditional names for grandparents (abuela/bibi/yaya/sobo/etc.) Some names are family-specific, often where one of the oldest grandchildren created some name for the grandparent that is then used by subsequent grandkids (I grew up near one family who called their grandmother "Rankin" for that reason.) But just inventing a grandparental name seems so odd to me. My mom talked a little bit about using a different name, probably because she knew other women who were doing that, but Grandma and Grandpa just came more naturally. I mean, call them what they want to be called, but it seems silly and artificial to change it decades later.

It's definitely odd. Grandparents should be free to choose their names when the first grandchild is born, but once the kid learns those names, you're kinda locked in.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of someone changing it after so many years, but my dad's parents were Momo and PaPa and my mom's parents were grandma and grandpa. My dad's parents were first generation Americans and I was always told the MoMo PaPa moniker for grandparents came from their home countries in Europe. No idea if this is true, but that's what I was told.

[Anonymous]

too cool for school those Mimi's and Papa's and Grammy's and Nan's and Dede's.

it all gets handed down...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this only a thing for grandparents to have a "name"?? Parents don't seem to have special names like this. IMO grandma and grandpa have a definition.

My MIL is trying for "Gigi" but that's a dog name in my opinion.

This seems like a relatively new thing. I know that not everyone calls their grandparents Grandma and Grandpa, but usually the grandparent names are traditional-my husband called his grandmother Nana, which is what his mom called her grandmother, etc. Jewish kids use Hebrew or Yiddish names for grandparents. Families with origins in other countries use their traditional names for grandparents (abuela/bibi/yaya/sobo/etc.) Some names are family-specific, often where one of the oldest grandchildren created some name for the grandparent that is then used by subsequent grandkids (I grew up near one family who called their grandmother "Rankin" for that reason.) But just inventing a grandparental name seems so odd to me. My mom talked a little bit about using a different name, probably because she knew other women who were doing that, but Grandma and Grandpa just came more naturally. I mean, call them what they want to be called, but it seems silly and artificial to change it decades later.

It's definitely odd. Grandparents should be free to choose their names when the first grandchild is born, but once the kid learns those names, you're kinda locked in.

I don't even get why you get to choose a name?? Grandma and grandpa has a definition. Mimi is a made up name. It's like me telling my kid that instead of "mommy" I'm going to be called "yaya".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is this only a thing for grandparents to have a "name"?? Parents don't seem to have special names like this. IMO grandma and grandpa have a definition.

My MIL is trying for "Gigi" but that's a dog name in my opinion.

This seems like a relatively new thing. I know that not everyone calls their grandparents Grandma and Grandpa, but usually the grandparent names are traditional-my husband called his grandmother Nana, which is what his mom called her grandmother, etc. Jewish kids use Hebrew or Yiddish names for grandparents. Families with origins in other countries use their traditional names for grandparents (abuela/bibi/yaya/sobo/etc.) Some names are family-specific, often where one of the oldest grandchildren created some name for the grandparent that is then used by subsequent grandkids (I grew up near one family who called their grandmother "Rankin" for that reason.) But just inventing a grandparental name seems so odd to me. My mom talked a little bit about using a different name, probably because she knew other women who were doing that, but Grandma and Grandpa just came more naturally. I mean, call them what they want to be called, but it seems silly and artificial to change it decades later.

It's definitely odd. Grandparents should be free to choose their names when the first grandchild is born, but once the kid learns those names, you're kinda locked in.

I don't even get why you get to choose a name?? Grandma and grandpa has a definition. Mimi is a made up name. It's like me telling my kid that instead of "mommy" I'm going to be called "yaya".

I've heard of Mimi as a grandmother nickname before (also--not a made-up name. People have been named or nicknamed Mimi for a long time). If that's what Grandma is called in your family, then that's what she's called. In some families, the grandmother is always called Nana or Mamaw or Granny or Baba or Oma or Lola or Savta or whatever name comes out of your culture or family history. It's just odd to me that a grandparent would choose a name that didn't come out of a cultural or family tradition (or a little kid's mispronounciation).

Also, grandparents can ask to be called whatever they want, because it's polite to call people what they want to be called. And if you wanted your kid to call you Yaya, that's fine--unusual, but fine. It would just be weird if your kid called you Mom for twelve years and then you said you wanted to be called Yaya.

And "Yaya" is a nickname for a grandmother in Greek.

[Anonymous]

This is an ethnic thing, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it's the Williamsburg VA area, very trendy in the general area. Grandparents don't want to be seen as "old" and all four (or more) grandparents must have their own unique nickname.

Yeah, all the grandparents in my family, who also live in this general area, changed their names to MiMi, Papa, GiGi, Nana, etc... I chalk it up to more and more Yankees moving here for retirement.
As southerners, we used to call them grandmama, grandmaw, grandpa, and grandaddy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope your kids just keep calling them Grandma and Grandpa.

ILs will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary later this month. It will be interesting to hear what the other "older" grandkids call them.

It's totally any adult's prerogative to decide that a nickname, even a longtime "title" like grandma or grandpa, is something they want to change. Maybe they never actually liked being called grandma and grandpa all these years but ended up with those nicknames by default when the grandkids came along and that's what their adult kids told the children to call them. If you get along well with them, why not ask: Hey, we're fine with a change, just wondered -- did you always not like being called grandma? ....Maybe it made them feel older than they really are, or maybe they see that all their friends get called this by grandkids so it's boring. But it's their choice what they prefer.

Maybe the impending 50th anniversary is somewhat behind the desire for a change--? Perhaps they feel they want to start the next half-century with fresh names they actually prefer.

If they tell your kids directly, "Please call us Mimi and Papa," I hope you'd tell your kids to do so. And at the same time, tell the kids that if they slip up and automatically say "grandma and grandpa," that's no big deal, and the elders will understand. But the kids should make an effort to call people what those people want to be called, even if it's a change.

Great post here. I know a number of g'parents who chose names other than g'pa and g'ma - many opt for mimi.