What do you call your parents/grandparents, & would you use momma or mama?

Parentberries
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Since I was a kid I’ve had so many names I call my family members. Mom and dad are standard, but my family is very nickname-y and silly, so almost all the time in casual conversation I call them everything else.

Ya’ll I’m in my mid-20s & I don’t think I’ll stop using cutesy nicknames any time soon lol

I would love if my kids called me momma someday, I think it’s so cute. I think äiti or mama would be nice too if I move to Finland like I want to.

Based on my family, I think my kids will probably call my parents something like Gram/gramma for my mom, grandpa or pappa (grandpa in Finnish) for my dad, and nonno (grandpa in Italian) or pop-pop for my step-dad.

What about you guys? I’m curious to hear your family nicknames and learn about the cultural influences!

[name_f]My[/name_f] mom:
momma - my maternal grandpa came from the [name_u]South[/name_u] (Appalachia) and there’s a lot of influence on my family, so that could be why I chose momma over mama. Also I live in the Northeast and mama is more common among the Italian and Hispanic communities. We’re of British-Irish descent so I wonder if ethnicity plays a role.
muer/mujer - mujer is “woman” in Spanish because we both learned it as a foreign lang, and I drop the -j/h- sound often. I use this one A LOT. I’ve been calling her muer for years.
Silly - self-explanatory lol she’s very silly. I ended up naming my parrot this after her!
momlet - stems from my parents’ nickname for me, which has -let at the end.

[name_f]My[/name_f] dad:
isä - my dad is Finnish, so I call him isä A LOT. In Finland, your parents are usually isä and äiti. That’s what his parents were to him and what he is to me.
pa - probably some [name_u]Southern[/name_u] influence coming out. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom’s family also uses a lot of old-fashioned vocab, so that could be it too. It feels wholesome like momma does! :blush:
fuer - comical take on “muer” but for my dad
dadlet - this also stems from my parents’ nickname for me.

[name_f]My[/name_f] grandma:
[name_m]Gram[/name_m] - this is what all of us grandkids call her. I love it, it’s very casual.
grandmuer/grammuer - lmao see above nicknames

[name_f]My[/name_f] step-dad:
[name_m]Sir[/name_m] [name_m]Richard[/name_m] - like I said, we’re a very ridiculous and silly family and we love nicknames :laughing: his name is [name_m]Richard[/name_m] and it sounds very dignified to me, so I always call him [name_m]Sir[/name_m] Richard, but he’s very a down-to-earth OG Italian guy called [name_m]Rich[/name_m] :heart:
step-fuer - this trend caught on to the rest of my family as you can see lol

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I only called my parents Mom and Dad as an adult. [name_f]My[/name_f] kids called my mom Grandma, since her parents were already called [name_u]Nana[/name_u] and Papa. [name_f]My[/name_f] kids call my dad Grandpa. We live in [name_u]New[/name_u] England.

[name_f]My[/name_f] husband is from Mexico. When talking to his parents on the phone, he always calls them Jefa and [name_m]Jefe[/name_m] (literal word for boss in Spanish). When talking about them, he would say Mamá and Papá. He calls his maternal grandmother Abuelita, but some of our nieces and nephews in Mexico call her Mama Yeya (Yeya is a nickname for her name Andrea).

Our kids call us Mommy and Papí.

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We just have the normal Mom Mom (although we usually say it like mum-um), Pappy, Pop-Pop (again, usually sounds like pup-up lol), Nana. [name_f]My[/name_f] parents are mom and dad, although sometimes to be funny j call my mom Ma. But my dad is huge on nicknames and is constantly calling my grandparents funny things that are plays on their grandparent names. I love silly nicknames as well and have crazy ones for my sister and my boyfriend.

I’m kind of a first generation name nerd though and when I have kids I don’t think I would want to be called mom, unless my kids really wanted to as they got older. I would prefer Mama and Ma because it seems sweeter and more interesting to me. I would love for their dad to be Papa/Pa, but my boyfriend has shot down those ideas. He does say he wouldn’t mind Pop, but I think my dad wants to be Pop or Pops as a grandfather lol. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom wants to be Mimi.

[name_f]My[/name_f] sister has said she thinks [name_f]Saskia[/name_f] would be a cool grandmother name! I don’t think she’ll go for it but I just think it’s funny because it’s an actual first name

I have friends who call their grandmother [name_f]Rosie[/name_f], just because the oldest sibling decided to when he was a kid! Her real name isn’t anything close to Rosie. I’ve thought about adopting that for myself in the future as a grandparent just to be funny cuz it’s close to my actual name, but I probably won’t lol

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I call my parents mom and dad. Both of them are Jewish but only my dads entire family is Jewish so his parents are called Bubbe and Zayde both of which are Yiddish. [name_f]My[/name_f] moms parents are just grandma and grandpa.

This kinda poses a problem for me bc my mom did not grow up Jewish and I don’t think she sees herself being called “bubbe” which is sad for me bc I always imagined my children having a bubbe. 🥲 I talked to her about using Savta which is Hebrew but less used in the US. Not sure if she’ll go for that. Unless he says otherwise my dad will probably be Zayde :woman_shrugging:t2: Although it doesn’t really fit him. I’ll probably be living in [name_u]Israel[/name_u] when I have kids but I hope they’ll call me Mommy/Mom and possibly [name_f]Ima[/name_f] (Hebrew for mom).

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[name_f]My[/name_f] mom and dad have always just been mom and dad, and then I called my grandparents “Grandpa Last Name” or “Grandma Last Name.” [name_f]My[/name_f] great-grandma and great-grandpa were [name_f]Nanny[/name_f] and Bompa, which was a pronunciation error from my dad when he was little and stuck. [name_f]My[/name_f] kids call my parents [name_u]Nana[/name_u] and Papa – how my daughter pronounced grandma and grandpa when she was little. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband’s dad is Opa, which is [name_m]Dutch[/name_m] for grandfather.

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[name_f]My[/name_f] parents were Mummy/Daddy as a young child, Here in Australia these names are usually dropped in early teen years to Mum/Dad. Although my sons call me Mother sometimes (their own choice)
[name_f]My[/name_f] grandmothers had two names each. In the family (and definitely NOT to their faces) They were called fat [name_f]Nanny[/name_f] and skinny [name_f]Nanny[/name_f] - because they were)
To their faces skinny [name_f]Nanny[/name_f] was called [name_u]Nana[/name_u] and the other Nanny.
One grandfather was Poppa. [name_f]My[/name_f] other grandfather and stepgrandfather were both Poppy.
[name_f]My[/name_f] children called their grandparents Grandma and Grandad and that followed into the next generation.

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[name_f]My[/name_f] Mum
Ma, Mum, or Mumma [name_m]Bear[/name_m]
I mostly use Ma. She’s usually only Mum when I am talking about her (to hubby, my sister, etc) or when she’s not listening and I say “Mum, Mum, Muuuuum” progressively louder until she notices. :laughing: I often start text or messages with Mumma [name_m]Bear[/name_m], but don’t usually say it to her face.
She is [name_m]Dutch[/name_m] genetically / ethnically, but was born in Australia. [name_f]My[/name_f] grandparents immigrated as young adults and had so much trauma from the war that they practically abandoned all of their Dutchness. I can say a couple of phrases and names of dishes, but that’s it. Sadly, the Dutchness didn’t make it into titles or endearments.

[name_f]My[/name_f] Dad
Dad, Atar, or Papa [name_m]Bear[/name_m]
I mostly just use Dad.
Atar is because we are a Tolkien nerd family.
Papa [name_m]Bear[/name_m] was acting a joke started by my old boss - a little Greek lady, who decided it was easier yo call him that than remember his name. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
[name_f]My[/name_f] Dad has [name_f]English[/name_f] / Scottish heritage, so nothing interesting there on the names front.

[name_f]My[/name_f] [name_f]Sister[/name_f]
[name_f]Bella[/name_f], [name_f]Belle[/name_f], Bells, [name_m]Geoffrey[/name_m], [name_f]Chickadee[/name_f], Chickie-pea
Her actual name has nothing remotely to do with anything related to Belle. The nickname stuck after my Aunt gave it to her as a baby.
[name_m]Geoffrey[/name_m] is because we both have random masculine nicknames - mine was [name_m]Ralph[/name_m] (chosen by Mum), and for some reason I chose [name_m]Geoffrey[/name_m] for her.
[name_f]Chickadee[/name_f] is a generic nickname I use for a lot of people. It somehow morphed into Chickie-pea for my sister (like Sweetpea and Chickpea had a love child lol :laughing:)

Maternal Grandparents
[name_u]Nana[/name_u] & Pop (py)
They refused to be [name_f]Oma[/name_f] & Opa, which is sad to me now that I am old enough to appreciate the importance of heritage within identity, but that was their choice (as per reason stated above). I actually called him [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] mostly as a child, perhaps it was easier to say, but as the oldest grandchild I set the trend so he’s [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] to a lot of us. I’m not sure what their great-grandchildren call them, as I’ve never seen them interact (they live in a different state).

Paternal Grandparents
[name_u]Nana[/name_u] & Pa
The average Australian title for Grandparents. We don’t use any other names or nicknames really. They are [name_u]Nana[/name_u] & Pa to their great-grandchildren as well.

I want to be Mumma for as long as my littles will use it. Then graduate to Ma when it’s “uncool” to be Mumma any more.

[name_f]My[/name_f] husband doesn’t like Papa or Pa, so I assume he’ll just be Daddy / Dad.

[name_f]My[/name_f] Dad stated the other day that he’d happily stay Atar for any grandchildren, so my Mum might be Amme which is the female equivalent. She proclaimed a while back that she doesn’t want to be Gran or [name_u]Nana[/name_u] “because it sounds too old”. We’ve also talked about her using something like [name_f]Anya[/name_f], which she also likes.

Hubby’s parents already have grandchildren and they are Grandmother & Grandfather to them, so I assume our littles will use the same. I don’t love the formality of it, but that’s their choice.

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I just call my parents Mom and Dad now. When I was little I used Mommy and Daddy, I will still use Daddy on occasion but I think I dropped Mommy completely somewhere around upper elementary/middle school.

For grandparents it was just Grandma [first name] for both (one was widowed and the other divorced). [name_f]My[/name_f] older cousin who lived with her used Granny a lot though.

[name_f]My[/name_f] mom wants to be [name_u]Nana[/name_u] and my dad wants to be Grandpa for my kids.

[name_f]My[/name_f] husband’s mom is known by her kids as Muffler (not sure on the full backstory but I think it involves a mis-pronunciation of Mother) and sometimes Parental Unit (this came from forms that needed filled out for sports/school activities).

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We are pretty standard except my Dad is “Popsman” lol!

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[name_f]My[/name_f] mom and dad were Momma and Daddy when I was little and just Mom and Dad as an adult. All my grandparents were Grandma or Grandpa (Last Name). With our daughter, though, there’s a lot of variety because my husband comes from a divorced family. His step-grandparents (from Appalachia originally) were Pap and Granny and the rest of his grandparents were Grandma/Grandpa Last Name. When his mom became a grandparent, she became Granny and Granny became Big Granny. Pap and Big Granny have both since passed away.

So his mom and Step-dad are Granny and Papaw [name_u]Charlie[/name_u], his dad and step-mom are Pappy and Grammy, his remaining grandparents (my daughter’s great-grandparents) are just Grandma/Grandpa Last Name and my mom is Gramma/Grandma.

We mostly have Western European and British heritage on both sides, but nothing really carried over from any of it, so the naming conventions are less culturally motivated, I think, and influenced more by the fact no one wanted to step or anyone else’s toes with the divorce situation, s ok everyone got their own unique names. Lol

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I call my parents Mommy and Daddy. Most people would eventually switch to Mom and Dad but I hate change, so I stuck with Mommy and Daddy. One set of grandparents are Grandma and Grandpa, and on was Nonni and [name_f]Poppi[/name_f]. Nonni had Italian heritage, so I think the names came from that. I’d like to be Mama when I have kids.

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[name_f]My[/name_f] mom and dad were always mom or mama and dad. Both of my step-fathers were called by their first names. Some may consider that disrespectful but both men made it very clear that their relationship was to my mom, not us kids. It fit. [name_f]My[/name_f] younger sister was a lot more humorous with it. She called my mom (jokingly) mother, woman or madre and our dad was faja or however you’d figure out how to spell it. I’m not entirely sure why but it was sort of their thing. Lol.

[name_f]My[/name_f] grandparents were always Grandpa/Grandma LastName. I never met most of my great-grandparents. One was Nuni (Polish side of the family but I don’t know if that is Polish) and another was Grandmama. [name_f]My[/name_f] grandparents and great-grandparents were nearly all immigrants or children of immigrants (mainly Italian, Polish and Dutch) but we grew up calling them rather typical American names. I’m not sure who decided that.

[name_f]My[/name_f] son is still little but he calls us Mama and Dada. [name_f]My[/name_f] MIL and FIL have requested to be called grandma and grandpa. [name_f]My[/name_f] nieces and nephews already call my mom mamaw. Current stepfather and MIL’s boyfriend will be known by their first names to our son.

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In our home, we (and our son, 4) actually use mama and papa for ourselves and not as names for grandparents. I always found the convention of “mommy and daddy” to be plain and lacking in real sentiment, just kind of a place-holder until people say “mom and dad.” [name_f]My[/name_f] son organically invented his own names for his grandparents, which turned out to be Meemaw and Peepaw. [name_f]My[/name_f] mother-in-law did not like it at first, but warmed to it. [name_f]My[/name_f] father-in-law is not a huge fan of "Pee"paw, but allows it for the boy’s sake.

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This is great! :grin::grin:

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Our daughter calls her grandparents:
Gammy & Gaga (her own inventions)
[name_f]Mimi[/name_f] & Papa (her cousin’s invention that stuck!)

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I called my grandparents growing up:

[name_u]Nana[/name_u] and [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] or Pappy sometimes
Grandma and Grandpa

And we had what we called ‘adoptive grandparents’, that were actually our great aunts and uncles, that would never have grandchildren. We called them:

MawMaw & PawPaw
Lolli & Pops

I used Mama and Momma. And my nieces and nephews call my parents [name_f]Mimi[/name_f] and Papa, and Glamma (I think it’s hilarious) Pop-Pop.

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I seriously LOVE all the nicknames!

[name_f]My[/name_f] family is so basic when it comes to grandparents. [name_f]My[/name_f] grandparents were Grandpa [name_m]Bill[/name_m] and Grandma [name_u]Val[/name_u], and Grandpa [name_m]Ken[/name_m] and Grandma [name_f]Jewel[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] parents are Grandpa [name_m]Don[/name_m] and Grandma [name_f]Laura[/name_f], and my in-laws are just Grandma and Grandpa.

Beyond the grandparent names, though, we have some great off-the-wall nicknames, I think mostly from the Midwest: Buckshot, Lowmax, Bonzo and [name_m]Biff[/name_m]. Good times!

Momma totally works! If someone used it, I wouldn’t bat an eye.