Mom tells daughter she wants her future grandchildren to call her "Honey" instead of "Grandma," daughter pushes back because of its romantic implications: 'She and her husband call each other Honey'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Feb 2, 2025 12:00 PM EST

There are so many ways to come to a grandparent nickname. Nowadays, most grandparents will not settle to merely be "grandma" or "grandpa," either because they want to be more unique than that or because being a grandma or a grandpa means that you're officially old. I know so many people who call their grandmother "Gigi," which just reeks of a cool young grandma who drinks pina coladas and lives in Florida. 

Oftentimes, grandparents don't really get to choose the names that they get. My mom's plan was for me to call my maternal grandmother "Grammy," but of course, I was a little kid who couldn't roll my R's, so we went with Gammy instead! Me and my sister were the youngest grandkids on my dad's side, so Nonie and Gran Gran's nicknames were already picked out for them far before we were born, and there was no changing them. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10461581312
    via Juan Encalada

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  • Some grandparents have a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that their grandparental nickname isn't entirely within their control. The woman in this story has a very strong opinion on what her future grandchildren will call her, much to the chagrin of her recently married daughter. 

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    AITA for not allowing my children to call my mother "Honey"?

    I (29F) have been thinking about starting a family recently. My mother (50f) recently stated she does not want her grandchildren to call her grandma but wants them to call her "honey". She says she wants something uniquely different, she thinks it's endearing and says she will be sweet as honey to her grandkids.
    via u/Dazzling-Nose-2781
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    Cheezburger Image 10461586176
    via Arwin Neil Baichoo

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    She and her husband call each other honey and I consider it a romantic pet name and think it is odd as a grandparent name. My siblings agree with me. My husband thinks we should just let her choose whatever name she
    via u/Dazzling-Nose-2781
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    wants but I cringe every time | think about it and want us to come up with something else we all like. She thinks I'm being the ahle and it will be her grandchildren so she gets to decide. AITA?
    via u/Dazzling-Nose-2781
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    TLDR: my mom wants her grandchildren to call her honey and I want us to pick a different name as I think honey is weird.
    via u/Dazzling-Nose-2781
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    SEN
    via OSPAN ALI

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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    judgeeveryonesbiznes • 5h ago Part ipant [1] info can you mix the two and let the kids call her Gunney?
    via u/judgeeveryonesbiznes
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    Dazzling-Nose-2781 OP ⚫ 5h ago Part ipant [1] I asked if we could compromise and use NeyNey and she said nope she just wants honey
    via u/Dazzling-Nose-2781
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    smol9749been ⚫ 5h ago What about just grandma honey? I used to call on of my grandma's grandma Sasha bc that was the name of her cat
    via u/smol9749been
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    SnooRobots5258 • 5h ago Grandma Honey was in fact what we called my great grandma.
    via u/SnooRobots5258
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    derek0rick 5h ago While grandparents can suggest names they'd like to be called, it's ultimately up to the parents to decide. Honey is unusual and could cause confusion, especially if her mom and her husband already use it as a term of endearment for each other.
    via u/derek0rick
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    MKatieUltra • 4h ago I see it as up to the child, because kids will call you whatever they want/can pronounce. Ask my mom aka grandma aka framma aka Ema aka ooma aka 'girl grandpa'
    via u/MKatieUltra
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    Deia Matias 5h ago Your kids pick the grandma name anyway, and they wont be able to pronounce "Honey." Just say, "okay" to honey, and then when your kids can't say it and call her "O-nee," roll with it. "Omg! That's so cute! Is O-nee coming over tonight?" This was how someone in my family ended up with the grandma name of "NeeNee."
    via u/DeiaMatias
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    Sufficient_Drama_145 5h ago This is really it. My mom said she wanted to be "Grandmamma" and I told her if she could get a toddler to say it, go for it. Unfortunately, she di d before we could test it out. My MIL decided to stick with Nana. lol My aunt & uncle wanted to be Nonna & Nonno, but ended up as Nonni & Poppi because that's what my cousin's kids said. Sorry, guys.
    via u/Sufficient_Drama_145
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    HogwartsTraveler • 5h ago My grandmother tried to get her twins (my aunts) to call her sister LouLou. Her name was Louise. In their baby talk it became WouWou. My uncle came along and then my mom and everyone kept calling her WouWou. It eventually shortened to Wou and my cousin and I came along. My great aunt was always Wou to all of us. Just because you pick a name doesn't mean that's what will stick.
    via u/HogwartsTraveler
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    juleznailedit ⚫ 5h ago My step-mom wanted her grandkids to call her MoMo, but my first nephew would say "Elmo" instead of "MoMo", and now she's Elmo to all 10 of her grandkids!
    via u/juleznailedit
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    mauibetty ⚫ 5h ago Im really surprised at NT A. Takes. Honey is absolutely not only romantic. Very common for a parent or grandparent to call a child honey. So it would not be creepy at all for a child to call a grandparent honey in return.
    via u/mauibetty
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    I say NAH. If you really hate it then ultimately it's not a good choice. You need to sit down and come up with another option. Do you have a heritage that has a non English name for grandparent that could be a good fit?
    via u/mauibetty
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    kureggu⚫ 5h ago This was my first thought, but then I realized that they pretty much have to call her the same thing their kids call her around them, otherwise it's confusing and awkward. I totally understand OP not wanting to constantly have her and her partner refer to her own mom as "Honey" especially when she has heard it so often in a romantic context.
    via u/kureggu
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    bluecrowned • 5h ago If grandma weren't already calling her husband Honey and vice versa I'd see where you're coming from, but they are and therefore in this family it's already establishes as a romantic thing. It's definitely weird to have your grandkids call you the same pet name as your husband.
    via u/bluecrowned
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    • Dazzling-Nose-2781 OP ⚫ 5h ago Part ipant [1] No we do not. I have pulled up lists and gone over over 50 different names with her. She is absolutely set on honey and does not want any other name
    via u/Dazzling-Nose-2781
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    • AlanaK168 ⚫ 5h ago You're not even pregnant yet so maybe take a step back. My mum wanted to be called Oma because of her Dutch heritage, but my dad doesn't have Dutch heritage so he didn't want to be called Opa. My nephew just started calling him papa one day so it worked itself out.
    via u/AlanaK168
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    PedslLdoc 5h ago My MIL wanted to be called Fancy. The first grandchild started calling her Hennie, which was a nickname for a sister of MIL, who passed away years before my nephew was even conceived. He had never heard of this person's nickname, and just announced that was what he was going to call her. She couldn't argue with that. I called my maternal GF Popo for some reason. He di d when I was in college, and that was still what I called him. No idea where I got it... Grandparents don't real
    via u/PedslLdoc
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    Street One5954 • 5h ago My grandmother name was picked by my grandkids. My husband always calls me "Tootsie". My grandkids call me that now. They named me. I didn't. Her name will come. My mother in law DEMANDED my kids call her by her first name, "Millie". They ended up with Moo. Yes, THEY chose Moo. Be careful what you wish for.
    via u/Street_One5954

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grandkids kids mother nana grandma honey grandchildren grandmas names pet names daughter nicknames grandmother mom children nickname
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