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I know in every language there are a lot of ways and cute names to address your girlfriend or your boyfriend to show you love her/him. The names can be creative for any couple. As Andy mentions these names are called terms of endearment.

These are some very ordinary I know for examples:

Come here, sweetheart.

Relax baby, we're on holiday!

Look, darling, there's Mary.

What else can be used to address your girlfriend/boyfriend?

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    For the record, these "cute names" are formally called terms of endearment.
    – Andy F
    Feb 25, 2011 at 11:21

6 Answers 6

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Why resort to cliché? If you really want to find a great term of endearment, create your own. Find something that the both of you share and use that. Is there a character from a novel you both love? Something you both shared a joke about? Try that.

Often the best terms of affection are inversions of insults. For example, if your special someone was eating a doughnut once and got powdered sugar on her nose, you might have called her "Sugar Nose" (in an affectionate way, of course) and shared a laugh about it. Henceforth, Sugar Nose might serve as a special bit of sweet talk only the two of you can enjoy.

Edit: You might want to make sure you use these only in private, as they can have adverse effects if spoken within earshot of other people. Sickness, nausea ... you know what I'm talking about.

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    +1 because I think this is a lovely idea. Also because your edit made me laugh.
    – Andy F
    Feb 25, 2011 at 14:46
  • +1 Very nice idea. But I like to know what other people tend to use, and also their creative terms.
    – Manoochehr
    Feb 25, 2011 at 16:59
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If you want are horrifyingly large list of terms of endearment, you could do worse than try here.

Two of my personal favourites are 'ma petit chou' and 'ma petit cochon' (my little cabbage/my little piglet). Partly it amuses me because, to many English, the French language is often considered to sound romantic - yet the literal translations are rather daft (but still innocent).

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    “Petit cochon” is somewhat dirty, but in a nice way, in the original French. Don't ever try to use the feminine form, as “petite cochonne !” means “you slut!”.
    – F'x
    Feb 25, 2011 at 13:00
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    To what FX_ mentionned earlier, make sure that you use : 'mon petit chou' instead of 'ma petit chou' and 'mon petit cochon' instead of 'ma petit cochon' They are both feminine words and the usage of 'mon' in front of them makes no sense at all in French. P.S.: my main language is French :-)
    – Faust
    Feb 25, 2011 at 17:43
  • And, of course, it should be 'Ma petite...'
    – Kate Bunting
    Oct 30, 2016 at 9:17
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As they aren't already reported by others, I can report babycakes, and sweet cheeks.

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The New Oxford American Dictionary has a list of terms that are rather standard: darling, dear, dearest, love, beloved, sweet, angel, honey, hon, sweetie, sugar, baby, babe, pet, treasure.

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My husband and I are fans of Schatz or Schatzi from the German language meaning "treasure"

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  • I've never heard anyone refer to a biped by "Schatzi". German shepherds, poodles, even the occasional cat, but never a person. A real "pet name", as it were.
    – Michael Lorton
    Feb 25, 2011 at 21:36
  • All the better, then!
    – emragins
    Feb 25, 2011 at 22:45
  • As long as you don't use the word for Jewel
    – mplungjan
    Jun 25, 2011 at 15:05
  • @Malvolio It's very normal to call your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife "Schatz" or "Schatzi" here in Germany, and to be honest I have never heard someone call their pet "Schatz." Sounds a bit awkward to me.
    – rena
    Dec 22, 2012 at 14:22
  • (a) it's a fairly common name for German-sourced pets, like German shepherds and poodles, in the US, and (b) it's pretty sad when someone responds to a two-year-old comment of mine and I'm right here to answer.
    – Michael Lorton
    Dec 22, 2012 at 14:26
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You could try pigsney, if you were feeling especially courageous. See here... http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Pigsney

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    Courageous? If you use a word that starts with pig with your missus, you are in serious trouble. Explaining the etymology to her whilst ducking crockery will not work too well either.
    – Orbling
    Feb 26, 2011 at 0:25
  • @Orbling, quite so. That's probably the reason it's marked obsolete.
    – Brian Hooper
    Feb 26, 2011 at 7:29

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