Names for Grandparents
What Do People Around The World Call Their Grandparents?
Here is a list of grandparent names in other languages. I don't speak all these languages, and I have no idea how to pronounce many of them--I looked them up in various dictionaries and by asking people, and making Matt Smith, the drummer in my band, ask people where he works (Harvard's Near Eastern Languages and Literature Library). Oddly, some dictionaries have words for one grandparent or not the other (hence the blanks). Some languages make the distinction between maternal grandparents (your mom's parents) and paternal grandparents (your dad's parents). Where applicable, I have included these as well.
*starred languages are ones
who don't use the Latin alphabet (you know, ABCDEtc.). The words listed
there are transliterations.
Note: Languages of India are all listed under "India" and then
by their separate language.
| Grandmother | Grandfather | Language |
|---|---|---|
| Jadda | Jadd | Arabic* |
| Teetay, Teeta | Seedo, Jeedo | Arabic, Palestinian dialect* |
| Metzmayr | Metzhayr | Armenian* |
| Amatchi | Aïtatchi | Basque (region in NE Spain/SW France) |
| Henna | Jaddee | Berber* (Morocco & Algeria), Northeast/Northwest dialect |
| Jeeda | Jaddee | Berber*, Northern dialect |
| Mamm-Baour | Tad-Paour | Breton (NW France) |
| Baba | Dyado | Bulgarian* |
| Àvia, Iaia (used by small children) | Avi, Iaio (used by small children) | Catalan (Spain) |
| ? | Neenadaa | Chechen* - maternal |
| Nai-Nai | Yeh-Yeh | Chinese (Mandarin) - paternal |
| Baba, Baka | Djed | Croatian |
| babic'ka | de'd | Czech |
| Mormor | Morfa | Danish - maternal |
| Fafa | Famor | Danish - paternal |
| Oma | Opa | Dutch |
| Avino | Avo | Esperanto |
| Maadar-e Bozorg | Pedar-e Bozorg | Farsi (colloquial)* (Iraq) |
| isoäiti, Mummo, Mummu | isoisä, Vaari | Finnish |
| Bomma | Bompa | Flemish (Belgium) |
| Grand-maman | Grand-papa | French |
| Avoa | Avó | Galician (Spain) |
| Bebia (colloq. = Babo) | Babua (colloq.= Papa) | Georgian* |
| Oma | Opa | German |
| Yia Yia or yaya | Papou | Greek* - maternal |
| Nona | Greek* - paternal | |
| Kupuna wahine, tu-tu-, ku-ku-, ku-ku- wahine | Kupuna ka-ne, tu-tu-, ku-ku-, ku-ku- ka-ne. | Hawaiian |
| Savta | Saba | Hebrew* |
| anyóka, nagyanya | apóka, nagyapa | Hungarian |
| amma | afi | Icelandic |
| Dida | Dadu | India - Bengali* - maternal |
| Thakur-ma | Thakur-da or Thakur-dada | India - Bengali* - paternal |
| Nanni | Naana | India: Gujarati*, Hindi*, Urdu* - maternal |
| Daadi | Daada | India: Gujarati*, Hindi*, Urdu* - paternal |
| Ammamma | ? | India - Telugu* |
| Aanaga ("Aana" commonly) | Ataataga | Inupiaq Eskimo |
| Maimeó (Mammo) | Daideó (daddo) | Irish Gaelic |
| Nonna | Nonno | Italian |
| ? | bapêr, bawegewre | Kurdish* (Iraq, Turkey, Syria) |
| vecma-min,a, te-vama-te, ma-tesma-te | vecte-vs, ma-teste-vs | Latvian |
| (bobute.) senele. | senelis | Lithuanian |
| Jjajja (GAH kyeh) | Jjajja (GAH kyeh) | Luganda (southern Uganda) |
| Nenibe | Raibe, Ababe | Malagasy (Madagascar) |
| nenek | ? | Malay (Malaysia) |
| Busia | Dzia Dzia | Polish |
| vovozinha, avó | avô | Portuguese |
| Meme | Pepe | Quebecois (Canada) |
| bunica(, bunicut,a( | bunic, bunicut, | Romanian |
| Babushka | Dedushka | Russian* |
| Baba, Nana | deda, djed | Serbian* |
| si jE kenek | Singhalese* (Sri Lanka) | |
| Abuela/Abuelo | ? | Spanish |
| Tita | Tito | Spanish - informal (short for Abuelita/Abuelito) |
| Bibi, Nyanya | Babu | Swahili -Eastern Africa (only spoken as a lingua franca) |
| Mormor | Morfar | Swedish - maternal grandparents |
| Farmor | Farfar | Swedish - paternal grandparents |
| Teta (Te tah) | Jidu (Jee dew) | Syrian* |
| Lola | Lolo | Tagalog (Philippines) |
| Anneanne (pronounced anna anna) | (most common) dede, (rare) buyukbaba | Turkish - maternal |
| Babaanne | ? | Turkish - paternal |
| Ene | Baba | Turkmen (Turkmenistan)* |
| ??????, ???? (babusia, baba) | ??? (did) | Ukrainian |
| ???? Daadi | ???? - Daadaa | Urdu (India)* |
| Bibi | Bobo, Buva, Doda | Uzbek (Uzbekistan)* |
| mmakhulu | mmakhulu | Venda (northern South Africa) |
| bà | ông | Vietnamese |
| Nain ("nine") | Taid ("Tyde") | Welsh - northern part |
| Mam-gu (mam-GHEE with a hard 'g') | Tad-cu (tad-KEE) | Welsh - southern part |
| Bubbe | Zeydeh | Yiddish* |
| Ugogo | Ubabamkhulu | Zulu (South Africa) |