my maternal grandmother was known to us simply as Dee [her given name was Violet]. it came about because when my mother was little, her grandmother encouraged her to call her mom Dear... but could only pronounce it Dee. my mother and father's names are Loris and Don. my mom would NEVER hear of being called something 'old' like grandma, so she chose GrandLoris and GrandDon for their names. i chose Nana since it was so natural with my name being Nancy. the grandmother on the opposite branch to mine chose YaYa [her name is Kathy].