In Ghana, among the
India. “In our Indian culture, 'nani' is maternal grandmother, and 'dadi' is paternal. 'Nana' is maternal grandfather, and 'dada' is paternal,” shares Lisa Batra is a first-generation Indian, with immigrant parents, and two kids of her own.
What is the origin of the name Nana? Nana is the name of a nymph the Greek mythology and is a short form of Ioanna. In Japan and Georgia it is a girl's name. In France, Nana is considered a diminutive of the name Anna.
Nana is the most common nickname for a Grandma in thirty-two states. But if someone doesn't call their grandmother Nana, odds are they do call her Grammy or Gram, as these are relatively popular alternatives to Grandma, as well.
For most British people, the word nana is used to describe a grandmother, but in French it has a very different meaning - as a slang term for girlfriend or just a girl. Very definitely an informal term, but one you will hear frequently from young people chatting, or from watching French TV.
When you are addressing your grandmother, in Italian the word is not abbreviated or made into a nickname as it often is in English—grandma or granny or nana. In Italian nonna is nonna, and that suffices.
Chiefly Northeastern U.S. grandmother; grandma.
In other words, it is your grandmother. In Australia, the Macquarie dictionary also uses the spelling nana. However, in British English, the spelling nanna is often used. Why is Grandma called Nana? The word nana originates from the Italian word for grandmother, Nonma.
Aussie Word of the Week
If you cast your minds back, you may remember calling the humble banana a nana as a child. Originally an Australian toddler's word, dating back to the 1890s, this is now a very common term. So common in fact, that Australian Bananas uses it as well.
Italy: Nonna is a popular grandmother's name, possibly because it is close to Nana and other familiar grandmother nicknames.
The name Nana is popular in lots of cultures and has many different meanings. It can be used as both a girls and a boys name and means 'grace' in Hebrew, 'spring' or 'spring greens' in Japanese and 'Lady' in Swahili. It is also a variant of the name Anna a feminine from of John meaning 'God was gracious'.
The name Nana is primarily a male name of Indian origin that means Different.
Nanna Origin and Meaning
Nanna is a name from Norse mythology that is among the Top 30 names in contemporary Denmark. Popular in Norway in the 19th century, Nanna may also be considered a short form of a range of names, from Anna to Johanna to Marianne.
Possibly derived from Proto-Celtic *nana (“grandmother”); probably from a Proto-Indo-European root imitative of a child speaking, similar to Ancient Greek νάννα (nánna).
Ireland (Gaelic)
While maimeó anddaideó are the words used to address a grandmother or grandfather, there are a few different words for grandparents in Irish. For example, there are máthair chríona, which translates to “wise mother,” and athair críonna which translates to “wise father.”
In Britain, Ireland, United States, Australia, New Zealand and, particularly prevalent in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Nan, Nana, Nanna, Nanny, Gran and Granny and other variations are often used for grandmother in both writing and speech.
-Scottish: In Scottish Gaelic, the word for grandma is “Seanmhair,” which means good mother. But other commonly used Scottish grandmother names include “Nana,” “Nanna,” “Mhamó” and “Mamó.”
Etymology. The word nan for grandma is a shortening of the word nana. Both of these words probably are child pronunciations of the word nanny. Etymonline describes this word as originating as a child's word for "female adult other than mother".
In India, nana means father in Telugu language and grandpa in Hindi and Urdu language from mother side.
1. (= abuela) grandma (informal) ⧫ granny (informal) see also año.
Notice how nana refers to maternal grandfather in Hindi, and how that differs from its Telugu meaning. "Nayana" is also used for father in informal Telugu in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana of India.
According to Dictionary.com (American Dictionary), Nana is one's grandmother, and Nanna is "The wife of Balder" (Scandinavian Mythology) or "The Sumerian god of the moon: the counterpart of the Akkadian god Sin".
grandmother. mormor. Nan and granddad are coming over to visit.