names of endearment

Angel

Spanish and English

"angel, messenger"

Angel is one of those names that has a very different trajectory for girls and boys. As a female name, it was most popular in the US from the 1970s until the turn of this century, almost breaking…

Honey

Word name

Honey entered the US Top 1000 for the first time ever in 2024, following the lead of parents in England, who've elevated this nickname-name to the Top 300 girls' names in the UK. Honey's popularity…

Lovie

Short form of Love, word name

"love"

Lovie is one of a vast number of ie-ending nickname names popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s, which means they should be back in style now. Which they are, in a quiet way. The name Love was…

Baby

English word name, diminutive of Barbara, Latin

"foreign woman"

Baby is rarely seen as a given name — or even nickname — these days, although it did rank in the Top 1000 from 1989 to 2003. These instances can be accounted for in two ways. Firstly, infants whose…

Precious

Latin word name

"of great worth, expensive"

Though many might find it too syrupy, hundreds of parents each year choose this name for their daughters to make them feel special. Precious Ramotswe is the engaging African sleuth in the popular No.…

Cherish

English word name

So sweet it makes our teeth hurt. It has appeared in the US Top 1000 every year since 2006, though it dropped a significant 136 places from 2014 to 2015, and kept dropping to Number 974 in 2016.

Beloved

English word name

"beloved"

Toni Morrison, the modern master of literary names, made this one famous as the title character of a novel. But things didn't work out so well for that Beloved.

Sugar

Word name

You can call your daughter Sugar, but it's probably best to keep it as a term of endearment. For sweet names, you try Dulcie, Honey, Mitsu, Amai, Sherine, Melita, Eulalia, or Melina, but Sugar does…