Nanna or Grandma?

[Gemballa]

Where did the term Nanna/Nan come from, when used as a term of endearment for a grandmother? Surely a Nanny is a paid professional, as opposed to a Granny who is a loving relative?

[FP]

I called both my grandmothers Nan, or Nanny.  Everyone in our family  uses this term.  I don't know where it came from.  I always think it sounds a lot younger than Granny.  My grandmothers were certainly loving. 

[IndieSinger]

I always called my nan... er... nan... and I'd guess that it was because of the fact that it originally meant the maid who looked after the children. There are lots of similarities (usually kind, elderly, females who look after young kids) and so I imagine nan (nanny and nana) probably formed by assimilation of gran and granny.

[FTVS]

Always called mine "Granny". Is it a regional thing? My Granny (my Dad's mum) is from the Midlands. I was brought up in Portsmouth and most "Grans" there were "Nans".

[smudge]

I don't remember my Dad's Mum, but she was always referred to as 'Granny J'. We always called my Mum's Mum ''Granny B'. Our children never met my husband's Mum, but always refers to her as Nanny B & they always called my Mum Nanny J. They were all very loving & kind Grannies & Nannies.

[Pippa24]

Grandmother in Italian is nonna so I would have thought that that is where the term nanna comes from.  Nan and nanny would be a corruption of the term.  Incidentally grandma or grandmother in Maltese is nanna.

[lodekka]

I grew up in Norwich and Nana was prevalent there.

My partner's in her early forties and has a two-year-old grandson. She absolutely insists on being referred to as Grandma rather than Nana, so I naturally try to redress the balance wherever possible.

[smudge]

All our four Grandchildren aged 15, 13, 5 & 2 call me Nanny & I love it.

[ursula62]

My grandmother used to say that Nanny was the name for a lady goat.... She hated being called Nanny and preferred Grandma.

Pippa24 is right about nonna being the Italian word for grandmother, but zia is Italian for aunt and we don't use that word, so why would we have chosen to use one and not the other?

Perhaps it's because babies learn to make the sounds of certain consonants first, e.g. Mmmm, Nnnn. Maybe grandmothers like the idea that the baby is trying to talk to them?

[smudge]

ursula - I woke up this morning with udders - I can't think why, he he!

[Carlos26]

pull the udder one, smudge. haha. sorry.

[smudge]

LOL Carlos - I did!