Journal · 5 min read
Irish Grandparent Names, and What Irish Families Actually Say
What do Irish people call their grandparents?
In Irish, a grandmother is mamó in everyday speech and seanmháthair formally; a grandfather is daideo or seanathair. Móraí is a child's word for a grandmother, and a grandparent in general is a seantuismitheoir. In practice most families in Ireland say Granny, Nana, Grandad or Granda, in English.
Irish grandparent names, as the dictionaries have them
Sources: Ó Dónaill's Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla and the New English–Irish Dictionary, both from Foras na Gaeilge. The last column is what they actually print.
| Irish | Roughly | Literally | Dictionary says |
|---|---|---|---|
| seanmháthair | SHAN-a-wah-hir | old mother | Grandmother |
| seanathair | SHAN-a-hir | old father | Grandfather |
| mamó | MAH-mo | Granny | |
| daideo | DAD-yoh | Grand-dad | |
| máthair mhór | MAW-hir WORE | big mother | Grandmother, gran |
| athair mór | AH-hir MORE | big father | Grandfather, grandpa |
| máthair chríonna | MAW-hir KHREE-uh-na | old mother | Grandmother |
| athair críonna | AH-hir KREE-uh-na | old father | Grandfather |
| móraí | MOR-ee | (Child's name for) grandmother | |
| seantuismitheoir | written, not said | old parent | Grandparent |
| sin-seanmháthair | sin- adds a generation | Great-grandmother | |
| sin-seanathair | sin- adds a generation | Great-grandfather |
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- Mamó and daideo are the everyday words. Seanmháthair and seanathair are for forms and formal speech.
- Móraí is filed as a child's word, so it belongs in a family, not a document.
- Seantuismitheoir is the category word. Nobody calls a grandparent that out loud.
What Irish families actually say
Ask people in Ireland what they called their grandparents and the answer is almost always English.
| Name | For | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Granny | Grandmother | The default across the island |
| Nana, Nanny | Grandmother | Just as ordinary |
| Nan, Gran | Grandmother | Shorter, same feel |
| Grandad | Grandfather | The everyday word and spelling |
| Granda | Grandfather | Strongest in the north |
| Mamó, Daideo | Both | Irish-language, used daily in some families |
| Grandma, Grandpa | Both | Often heard as imported |
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In Ireland's 2022 census, 1,873,997 people said they could speak Irish and 71,968 said they spoke it daily. So an Irish name rarely arrives by default. Choose it on purpose, and early.
How to say them
The respellings above are rough. Irish vowels aren't English vowels, and pronunciation shifts between Donegal and Kerry.
Foras na Gaeilge's Pronunciation Database on teanglann.ie has a native speaker saying each single word in Ulster, Connacht and Munster Irish. Pick the version that matches where your family is from.
Five Irish spellings the lists get wrong
01
Seanathair has no fada
The a belongs to athair, and sean- doesn't lengthen it. Seanáthair is a typo that has travelled far.
02
Daideo has no fada either
All three Foras na Gaeilge dictionaries print daideo. Daideó is everywhere online, but it isn't the dictionary form.
03
Máthair chríonna isn't “wise mother”
Críonna can mean wise, but Ó Dónaill files the grandparent sense under its meaning “old”.
04
Maimeó isn't in the dictionaries
It's genuinely used. It just isn't a headword in Ó Dónaill, An Foclóir Beag or the New English–Irish Dictionary. The dictionary form is mamó.
05
Cailleach isn't a compliment
Lists translate it as wise woman. Ó Dónaill gives old woman, hag. Wise woman is cailleach feasa. Keep the short one off the card.
Putting the name to use
A name chosen for a grandmother an ocean away gets said a few times a year. Writing it down helps it stick.
Our builder prints the fada: the card at the top of this page says Mamó, not Mamo. You can send a photo postcard with her name on it from your phone, and we print and mail it.
If you want a child to grow up with Irish rather than one Irish word, a card won't do it. A Gaelscoil or a summer in a Gaeltacht college will, and we sell neither.
Choosing both halves at once? Start with names for grandparents as a pair.
The full English and heritage lists for her side are in grandma names.
His side, with 29 languages and Papaw or Pawpaw, is in names for Grandpa.
And for staying close across time zones, see our long-distance grandparent ideas.
Frequently asked questions
- What's Gaelic for grandma?
- In Irish, mamó is the everyday word for grandma. Seanmháthair, máthair mhór and máthair chríonna are the more formal words for grandmother, and móraí is a child's word. Note that Gaelic alone usually means Scottish Gaelic, a different language.
- What's Gaelic for grandpa?
- In Irish, daideo, with no fada, as all three Foras na Gaeilge dictionaries print it. The formal word is seanathair, also with no fada. Athair mór and athair críonna are listed alongside it.
- Is Mimi Irish for grandma?
- No. Mimi is an English nickname, popular in the US. The Irish words for a grandmother are mamó, seanmháthair, máthair mhór, máthair chríonna and móraí.
- What does Móraí mean?
- Ó Dónaill's dictionary defines móraí as a child's name for a grandmother. It's affectionate, close in feel to Nana or Granny, and it's for a grandmother only.
- How do you pronounce Irish grandparent names?
- Roughly: seanmháthair SHAN-a-wah-hir, seanathair SHAN-a-hir, mamó MAH-mo, daideo DAD-yoh, móraí MOR-ee. For the real thing, the Pronunciation Database on teanglann.ie has each word in Ulster, Connacht and Munster Irish.
- What is Irish for great-grandmother?
- Sin-seanmháthair, and sin-seanathair for great-grandfather. The prefix sin- adds a generation, like great- in English.
