Kathie Lee Gifford Doesn't Want To Be Called Grandma

In the South, grandmothers go by many names. You have your Memaws, your Gagas, your Nanas, Yayas, and Cookies as well as your Gigis, Gogos, and Grannies. While choosing a baby name is a fun challenge, figuring out what to call grandma can be difficult, too. Kathie Lee Gifford, though, has it all figured out.

Gifford became a grandmother on Tuesday when her son, Cody, and his wife, Erika, welcomed a baby boy into their family. Like any proud grandmama, Gifford called into share the good news with her Today show friends Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager and, of course, the fans watching at home.

Gifford told Hoda and Jenna that she doesn't want to be called grandma. Gifford explained that she has a friend with an Israeli mother who gave her an idea. "I asked her, I said what's a good word for a Jewish grandmother?" Gifford said when she called into Today with Hoda & Jenna. "And she goes, 'Bubbalah. It's Bubbie.'" Bubbie is the Yiddish word for grandmother.

"And it means 'dearest one,' like 'cherished one,'" she added, according to Today. Plus, the name is easy for even the tiniest of kiddos to pronounce. "A little kid only goes, 'Buh, buh, buh, buh, buh,' anyway. I think it's going to be easy. Bubbie," she said, per Today. Now, thanks to her friend's inspiration, Gifford is borrowing from Yiddish tradition for her new name that she will undoubtedly treasure more than any other.