When you discover you are about to be a grandparent, many things go through your head. One of them is, what will be your grandparent name? No small question. You have a good chance of living 20-30 more years which means you will be sporting that name for a very long time.
In the current Yahoo Parent, Suzy Byrne reported on celebrity grandparent names. As she said, GoGo, Honey, and Lovey don’t do “Grandma.”
When you’re as beautiful, rich, and fabulous as stars like Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, and Kris Jenner are, “Grandma” — or, gasp, “Granny” — just doesn’t cut it.
These glam grams — as well as others including Blythe Danner, Martha Stewart, and Ivana Trump — have adopted hipper monikers, which don’t conjure images of rocking chairs, knitting needles, or housecoats. They’re fun and vibrant, just like the women themselves.
“There’s often a family story behind a special grandparent name,” name expert Laura Wattenberg, author of The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby, tells Yahoo Celebrity. “An affectionate title might be passed down through the generations, or pop up from a toddler’s babbling attempt to say ‘Grandma.’ For many families, the special name comes to represent the special bond between a grandma and grandkids. It’s like a secret code name, unique to their relationship.”
Let’s look at a few …
Goldie Hawn: GoGo
Kate Hudson’s mama goes by a nickname she has had all her life, which was given to her by an aunt, the 70-year-old actress — who has five grandkiddies between Kate and her son, Oliver — said on the Today show in 2014. And it isn’t lost on Goldie that she was a go-go dancer early in her career. “I was a go-go girl, so it all works. And I walk fast too,” she laughed.
Susan Sarandon: Honey
The 69-year-old actress is waiting for her second grandchild to arrive later this year (daughter Eva Amurri is expecting again), but her name is already well established. “I borrowed this name from a very dear friend of mine who’s from the South, and his grandma was ‘Honey,‘” she told People magazine in 2014. Soon after, she elaborated to the New York Times, saying, “My hairstylist said it’s a Southern thing, and I thought, That’s kind of fabulous … ‘Honey, come over here.’ ‘Where’s Honey?’” Sarandon even wears a necklace with the name on it. Pretty sweet.