Grandparents Day Trivia

Grandparents’ Day is just around the corner! We think every grandparent is special, so on Grandparents’ Day and every day we find ways to honor the grandparents and important “elders” in our community.

In honor of Grandparents’ Day this year, we found some “grand” facts about grandparents. Read on for interesting facts about grandparents here at home, around the world, and even in the wild!

Grandparents Day Trivia: Did You Know…

• The most popular names for grandmothers in the U.S. are Nana, Grammy, and Grannie. The most popular names for grandfathers are Papa, Pop/Pop-Pop, and Pawpaw.
• “Nana” and “Pop-pop” are the most popular names for grandparents here in New Jersey.
• In English, “grandfather” could mean your mother’s father or your father’s father, but other languages are more specific. Languages like Mandarin Chinese, Hindi-Urdu, and Swedish have different words for maternal and paternal grandparents.
• The “grand” in “grandparents” most likely comes from 12^th century French. It may have been used in the sense of “full-grown” or “important.”
• Grandparents’ Day was signed into U.S. law by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. (Jimmy Carter is a grandfather to 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.)
• There are about 70 million grandparents in the U.S. The average age at which people become grandparents is 50. Most grandparents have four or five grandchildren.
• The world record for the most grandchildren is held by Bai Ulan Kudanding, of The Philippines. At 105 years old in 2013, she had 14 children, 107 grandchildren, 138 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren!
• In an AARP study, more than half of grandparents “consider themselves a source of wisdom and provide a moral compass on issues such as education, morals, and values.”

Grandparents “In the Wild”

It’s not just human grandparents who are special. Animal grandparents have unique roles in their families, too.

• Male bees can only be grandfathers or great-grandfathers. This is due to process known as “haplodiploidy.”
• Elephant grandmothers help their daughters raise young calves. They are often the leaders of the herd and navigate to food and water sources.
• Langur monkey grandmothers are protectors. They fend off attacks from other animals.
• Some whales travel in multigenerational pods. The grandmother whales “babysit” while adult whales hunt for food.

It’s true: at home and afar, by land and by sea, grandparents are special! All of us here at Sunnyside Manor honor the grandparents among us on Grandparents’ Day and always.

All of us at Sunnyside wish you a safe, happy, and healthy September.

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