Names, Names, Names

Almost the first question people ask when they find out Brittany and Dan are expecting (besides “when are they due?”) is, “Have they picked out names yet?”

And they’ve worked hard at it! Nearly everyday Brittany would call me to see what I thought about a name. It was surprisingly hard to find a middle name that sounded good with the first names she was coming up with. It was also hard because they had to come up with names for both sexes even though they’d only be using one.

Then invariably Dan wouldn’t like the name or one of her friends wouldn’t so eventually she decided she and Dan would decide alone and “announce” the name as a “done deal”.

Good idea!

They chose the boy name first and when she called to tell me I held my breath hoping I would like it. I did!

Later when she called me with the decision on the girl’s name she said, “And the monogram for that one is really nice!”

She IS a southern girl after all!

So with that taken care of I could get down to the business of picking my Grandma name!

(There are so many things our parents didn’t have to worry about that we do!)

I asked every woman I knew who had grandchildren what their Grandma name was. Who knew there was such a variety? Lady Bug, Bitsy, Miss Betty, along with the more common ones: Gigi, Cici, Nana. Nana of course makes the most sense given that my name is Nancy, but a LOT of grandmas are called Nana. I thought the whole reason you pick Grandma names was to show your relationship was special! Different!

I even Googled “modern grandma names” “foreign grandma names”  “trendy grandma names”. Nothing hit me!

Someone suggested to wait and see what the baby calls me, but does that mean its parents won’t refer to me for the first year of its life? Or say, “Baby, look at that lady over there!”

Another friend who will soon be a grandma says she wants to be called “Favorite” which would leave “Other” for the …other…grandma. While I thought that was a fun idea I’m not sure I could do that!

For now I’m trying out Nana.

But we have a few months left before KENNEDY RAE arrives so if you have a great idea for a name for me let me know!