When it comes to grandparents are you partial to grandma, granddaddy, papa, gran, nanna or something else? Most of us, I think, are familiar with all of those But an Internet search has turned up some rather unusual ones. <br />
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It should come as no surprise that there are Websites devoted to nicknames for grandparents. After all, there are sites devoted to just about any subject you can think of. The site I am using as a reference is called sheknows.com.<br />
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Sheknows.com has a 2011 listing of 120 top nicknames for grandparents, separated into such categories as "Traditional, "Fun," and "International."<br />
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The lists include such traditional names as "Grandma," "Gram," "Grandmother," and "Nana" - and "Granddad," "Granddaddy," and "Papa." "Fun" names include "Bunny," "Cookie," and "Gabby" for grandmothers and "Big Daddy, "Bubba," and "Popsie" for grandfathers. <br />
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At our house its "Gan" and "Papa." Our one and only grandchild, a boy, who is now six, couldn't pronounce the "r" when he was learning to talk and trying to say "Gran" and so Sandra is still known as "Gan." <br />
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Some grandchildren attach a name to the name for their grandparents. That was the case at our house as we were growing up. Our maternal grandmother, whose name was Ruby, was "Mama Ruby." Our paternal grandmother, whose name was Mary, was "Miss Mary" to us grandkids.<br />
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But the most unusual nickname for a grandparent that I have ever come across is "Bandaddy." That is the way the grandchildren of the late John W. Jacobs, Jr., refer to him. Jacobs, of course, was one of the founders of Jacobs Media Corp., parent company of AccessNorthGa.com, and who remained active in the company until his death in November 2011 at the age of 88.<br />
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The family says the name originated with the first grandchild, Rand Carswell, and was adopted by subsequent grandchildren. Seems Rand had trouble pronouncing the "Gr" in "Granddaddy" and so it came out "Bandaddy."<br />
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But whether its one of the more traditional nicknames or something offbeat, when you get right down to it, the deep-down meaning and affection that comes with it usually conveys the same message - one of love, respect and admiration... and least that's what this "Papa" hopes.<br />
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: As you might guess from its title, the idea for this column came from a reader.)<br />
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(Ken Stanford is the retired longtime News Director for WDUN-AM, WDUN-FM, 1240 ESPN Radio and AccessNorthGa.com.)
