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July Question: Inspired by Ali de Groot’s blog post about her “Big Mama,” what are some special names for grandparents or other elders in your family?

Staff responses



Megan St. Marie: My children call my mother “Linney” (short for Linda) because she felt too young for anything like “Grandma” when she first became a grandmother in her early 40s.

Sean St. Marie: Once she became a grandmother, my Irish-American mom was “Nana” to everyone in the family.

Ali de Groot: “Gunga” was my toddlers’ attempt at saying “Virginia” in Spanish, for their beloved aunt. We still call her Gunga.

Liz Sonnenberg: My maternal grandmother’s full name was Florence Estelle (Patch) Ahlers, but she went by her middle name, which means “star.” Her children and grandchildren called her “Mom” and “Grandma,” but other people called her “Stell,” and she really was a light in our lives.

Nicole Miller: When my daughter began to speak, she pronounced my sister Steph’s name as “Stuff.” She will forever be “Auntie Stuff” to us.

Emma Solis: We call one set of grandparents “Grandpa and Grandma” and the other “Abuelo and Abuela,” or “the Abuelos.” If we called both sets “abuelos” like my mom did for her grandparents, we’d follow the convention of adding on the first name or nickname; for instance, my great-grandparents are “Abuelo Pepe” and “Abuela Calela.”