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50 free Grandparents Day trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
National Grandparents Day in the United States falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day, and it exists because a West Virginia housewife named Marian McQuade spent years badgering governors and senators until Congress gave in. Poland got there first, with a Grandma's Day invented by a magazine in 1964. This Grandparents Day trivia covers the holiday's history at home and abroad, the science of why humans have grandparents at all, what grandma and grandpa are called from Manila to Stockholm, and the most famous grandparents in fiction, from Heidi's Alm-Uncle to Grampa Simpson. Every answer is sourced and explained.
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Q 01In the United States, National Grandparents Day is observed on which day?
First Sunday after Labor Day
Because it is tied to Labor Day, the date drifts between early and mid-September from year to year.
Q 02Which US president signed the proclamation creating National Grandparents Day?
Jimmy Carter
He signed it on 3 August the following year, after the Senate's February 1977 joint resolution requesting an annual proclamation.
Q 03Marian McQuade, founder of National Grandparents Day, was a housewife from which state?
West Virginia
Her state's governor, Arch Moore, proclaimed a statewide Grandparents Day at her urging before the national holiday existed.
Q 04Which senator introduced a 1973 resolution to make Grandparents Day a national holiday?
Jennings Randolph
That first resolution died in committee; a 1977 joint resolution with broad support finally got through.
Q 05After the 1973 resolution died, McQuade gathered proclamations from how many states?
Forty-three
She mailed copies of every proclamation to Senator Randolph as proof the idea had national support.
Q 06In 1969, nine-year-old Russell Capper suggested a Grandparents Day to which president?
Richard Nixon
The president's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, wrote back explaining that proclamations normally needed a Congressional resolution first.
Q 07What is the official flower of US National Grandparents Day?
Forget-me-not
Because that flower blooms in spring, people usually give seasonal flowers instead on the September holiday. It is also Alaska's state flower.
Q 08The US statute says the day should also make children aware of what?
What older people can offer
McQuade also urged young people to "adopt" a grandparent, not for one day a year but for life.
Q 09Which country celebrated a Grandparents' Day first, back in 1965?
Poland
Grandma's Day there falls on January 21, with Grandpa's Day the very next day.
Q 10France's Grandmothers' Day was launched in 1987 by what kind of company?
A coffee brand
Café Grand'Mère invented the day, which now sits on the first Sunday in March in French calendars.
Q 11Italy's Festa Nazionale dei Nonni on October 2 coincides with which Catholic feast?
Guardian Angels' Day
Italy made the day official in 2005, pairing grandparents with the angels said to watch over children.
Q 12Spain, Portugal and Brazil all mark Grandparents' Day on July 26. Whose feast day is that?
Saints Joachim and Anne
Tradition names them as the parents of Mary, which makes them the grandparents of Jesus.
Q 13When is the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, declared by Pope Francis in 2021?
Fourth Sunday of July
Q 21Which Polish magazine created Dzień Babci (Grandma's Day) in 1964?
Kobieta i Życie
The magazine's name means "Woman and Life"; the day was popularised from 1965 onwards and Grandpa's Day followed on January 22.
Q 22Which organisation introduced the first Grandparents' Day in Hong Kong in 1990?
Junior Chamber International Victoria
Hong Kong marks it on the second Sunday in October, the same Sunday Germany uses for its Grandmothers' Day.
Q 23Which country's Grandparents' Day on October 28 is said to date back to the ancient Slavs?
Russia
The day was meant to strengthen people's connection with their ancestors and bring the generations together.
Catholics can earn a plenary indulgence by attending a Mass for the elderly or by visiting someone who is alone.
Q 14Japan's Respect for the Aged Day became a national holiday in which year?
1966
It was fixed on September 15 until 2003, when the Happy Monday System moved it to the third Monday of September for a long weekend.
Q 15Which country began celebrating Grandparents' Day in 1979, a year after the United States?
Singapore
It lands on the fourth Sunday in November there, and since 2004 working parents can claim a tax relief when grandparents mind the kids.
Q 16In the Philippines, Grandparents' Day has been celebrated since 1987 on which day?
Second Sunday of September
Businesses treat it as a family day, laying on free concerts, meal discounts and medical checkups for seniors.
Q 17Mexico celebrates Día de los Abuelos on which date?
August 28
Unlike the floating US date, Mexico's day is fixed on the calendar in late summer.
Q 18The day came to the United Kingdom in 1990 through which charity?
Age Concern
It never quite caught on with the British public, and has been held on the first Sunday in October since 2008.
Q 19Which Canadian MP moved the 1995 Commons motion proposing a National Grandparents' Day?
Sarkis Assadourian
The motion asked the government to designate the second September Sunday to recognise grandparents' role in raising children.
Q 20The Dutch Opa en Oma Dag, created in 2004, falls on which date?
June 4
Many Dutch people have never heard of it; one idea it promotes is "adopting" a grandma or grandpa for the day or for life.
Q 24A person who is not a genetic chimera has at most how many genetic great-grandparents?
Eight
The count doubles every generation back: 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, and so on.
Q 25Roughly what share of their genes do grandparents share with a grandchild?
25%
That makes grandparents second-degree relatives, the same genetic distance as a half-sibling or an aunt.
Q 26About how long ago did the number of humans living long enough to be grandparents rise?
30,000 years ago
One theory is that three living generations let crucial knowledge survive, such as where to find water in a drought.
Q 27What do you call two people whose grandparents were siblings?
Second cousins
Third cousins share great-great-grandparents, and each extra generation adds one more "great".
Q 28The "grand-" in grandparent, first recorded in the 13th century, came from which language?
Anglo-French
Old English had its own system: a great-grandfather was a "third father" and a great-great-grandfather a "fourth father".
Q 29In the Philippines, what are a grandfather and grandmother called?
Lolo and Lola
The other pairs are Italian, Dutch/German, and the Hindi-Urdu words for paternal grandparents.
Q 30Which language has no single word for "grandmother", using mormor and farmor instead?
Swedish
Mormor is literally "mother's mother" and farmor "father's mother"; Danish and Norwegian use the same words plus a general term.