Grandparently Grandparents and Grandchildren 
Congrats, Grandpa!
Soon your wife will hold your brand-new family member and forget to share. The little child of your not-so-little-anymore-child. What a blessed headache. But, before we get too excited about the little fireball of energy and smelly diapers, let’s spend a segment of our thoughts on you. This precious creature is your grandbaby. Now is the time to seize the opportunity to pick what you want it to call you. Goodness knows it’s going to call you something, might as well have it be something good. Grandpa works really well for a great many grandfathers, and may work well for you. However, those of the Baby Boomer generation coming into grandparenthood often prefer to pick a unique, individualized nickname. Grandma and Grandpa, although still the reigning champs in terms of popularity according to a survey done by babycenter.com, feel too old for a lot of the new grandparents. They want something that better reflects them. According to an article in USA Today, 28% of grandfathers choose an individualized nickname. Choosing an individualized nickname is the perfect way to balance the elderly feeling of being a grandparent with the feeling of youth, buoyed by the excitement of a new baby.
Sometimes this new baby will help in the search for a unique name. Often, it may take charge and completely disregard whatever you’ve come with to re-name you. Some grandparents want the baby to choose their name. This poses the slight problem of what you are supposed to be called before the tiny human mispronounces something suitable. One mother from a babycenter.com survey suggested choosing a base name and waiting to see what the baby does with it. Often, the self-appointed grandparent namer comes up with something somewhat unexpected but entirely adorable. One mother from the survey said that her father’s nickname turned into Pom Pom because her daughter couldn’t pronounce the decided upon Boompa. If you don’t want the baby’s new version of your name, you can always try to bring them around to the proper pronunciation. However, the name that the baby chooses often sticks.
Top Ten Grandpa Names
If you want something a little less uniquely individual, the top ten grandfather names according to the babycenter.com survey in order of popularity are:
- Grandpa
- Papa
- Granddad
- Gramps
- Pop-Pop
- Poppy
- Papaw
- Pop
- Opa
- Pappy
Creative and Unique Grandpa Names
Some of the more creative names from the pool of over 1,400 unique names are:
- Ampa
- Baba
- Bebop
- Big Papi
- Bumpy
- Chief
- Doc
- Fafa
- Gampy
- Heart
- Jaja
- Jimbo
- Koko
- Nanu
- Opapa
- Popper
- Stud Pa
- Uberdaddy
- Yubba
- Zayde
It is pretty evident that there is no shortage of fun names to choose from, if you so desire. The overlap of grandfatherly names shouldn’t be too much of a problem. For those who refuse to share, there are plenty of other names to choose. As to who gets the name that must not be shared, perhaps let tradition take precedence. Those who have a history of previous grandfathers being called that certain name should get dibs. Other than that, name picking is first-come, first-serve and sharing with qualifiers. If there are two grandfathers who are fine with sharing Grandpa, you may want to consider at least one adding a first name, last name, or nickname with it so as to keep everyone’s head straight.
Whatever name you decide, or get decided for you, whether it be ye olde Grandsire or G-diddy, the most important thing to remember is that your name is only second to the relationship you will have with your grandchild. Don’t let the headache of finding and choosing the perfect name take you away from the beautiful headache that is your new grandchild.
