Terms of Endearment in Chinese: 30 Sweet Names for Lovers, Partners, and Family

沉浸 TeamSeptember 16, 20266 min read

The most common terms of endearment in Chinese are 亲爱的 (qīn'ài de, "dear" or "darling"), 宝贝 (bǎobèi, "baby", "treasure"), and the married-couple pair 老公 (lǎogōng, "hubby") and 老婆 (lǎopo, "wifey"). If you want one to start with, 亲爱的 works for a partner and, a little jokingly, for close friends too.

Below are 30 sweet names sorted by who you'd use them for, the words for lover, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband and wife, and how to say "I like you" (which is what Chinese speakers say long before "I love you"). This is the companion to our guide to I love you in Chinese, and part of the essential Chinese phrases series.

Sweet names for a partner

亲爱的 (qīn'ài de): dear, darling, honey. The most common one. Also the standard opener in letters, so it's affectionate without being intense.
宝贝 (bǎobèi): baby, treasure. Couples use it constantly; parents use it for kids.
宝宝 (bǎobao): literally "baby" (as in infant), used between couples in a cutesy way. Very common in texting.
亲 (qīn): a one-syllable "dear". Started as online-shop customer service talk and became a playful endearment.
心肝 (xīngān): "heart and liver", meaning "my precious". Old-fashioned and dramatic, often 心肝宝贝.
甜心 (tiánxīn): sweetheart, "sweet heart", a direct borrowing that younger couples use.
达令 (dálìng): "darling", a sound-borrowing from English, mostly heard in Hong Kong and Taiwan and a bit tongue-in-cheek.
小傻瓜 (xiǎo shǎguā): "little silly melon", the affectionate "you silly thing".

Husband and wife words

老公 (lǎogōng): hubby, husband. The everyday spoken word for a husband, even though 老 means "old".
老婆 (lǎopo): wifey, wife. Same deal. Couples often use these before marriage, too.
丈夫 (zhàngfu) / 妻子 (qīzi): husband / wife, the formal words for forms and introductions.
先生 (xiānsheng) / 太太 (tàitai): "my husband" / "my wife" in polite conversation (我先生, 我太太). These also mean "Mr." and "Mrs."
爱人 (àiren): spouse, literally "loved person". Used for husband or wife, especially by older mainland speakers. It looks like "lover" but doesn't mean that (see below).
孩子他爸 / 孩子他妈 (háizi tā bà / tā mā): "the kid's dad" / "the kid's mom", how long-married couples refer to each other. Not romantic, very real.

Boyfriend, girlfriend, and "lover" in Chinese

"Lover in Chinese" is one of the most-searched phrases in this cluster, and the answer needs care, because the obvious word is a false friend.

男朋友 (nán péngyou): boyfriend. 女朋友 (nǚ péngyou): girlfriend. Both are romantic, never "male friend / female friend" (our guide to friend in Chinese explains the trap).
男友 / 女友 (nányǒu / nǚyǒu): the two-syllable short forms, common in writing and headlines.
恋人 (liànrén): sweetheart, romantic partner. The neutral, slightly literary "lover" (as in "lovers walking in the park").
情人 (qíngrén): lover, in the passionate or secret sense. It's the 情人 in 情人节 (Valentine's Day), but calling someone your 情人 can imply an affair. Be careful.
爱人 (àiren): looks like "lover", means spouse. Don't use it for a boyfriend or girlfriend.
对象 (duìxiàng): "partner", the person you're seeing, often used by parents asking 你有对象了吗? ("Are you seeing anyone?").
另一半 (lìng yí bàn): "my other half". Warm and gender-neutral.

How to say "I like you" in Chinese

Chinese speakers say 爱 (love) far less than English speakers, so "I like you" does a lot of the early relationship work:

我喜欢你 (wǒ xǐhuan nǐ): I like you. This is the standard confession, and it carries real weight. Between adults it means "I have feelings for you", not "you're okay".
我对你有感觉 (wǒ duì nǐ yǒu gǎnjué): "I have feelings for you."
我很想你 (wǒ hěn xiǎng nǐ): I miss you. Said often, and earlier, than in English.
你愿意做我的女朋友吗? (nǐ yuànyì zuò wǒ de nǚ péngyou ma): "Will you be my girlfriend?" Swap in 男朋友 as needed. Yes, people ask this directly.

The jump from 喜欢 to 爱 is the subject of our I love you in Chinese guide.

Sweet names for children and family

宝贝 / 宝宝: baby, treasure. The default for small children.
乖 (guāi): "good, well-behaved", used as a name: 乖乖 (guāiguai, "good little one").
小 + a syllable of the name: 小明, 小丽. "Little Ming", the most common family nickname pattern (see our guide to Chinese nicknames).
小公主 / 小王子 (xiǎo gōngzhǔ / xiǎo wángzǐ): little princess / little prince.
心肝宝贝: "my heart-and-liver treasure", what a grandmother calls a grandchild.

Cute couple names from food and animals

Chinese couples give each other a lot of edible and animal names, usually 小 ("little") plus something:

小猪 (xiǎo zhū): little pig. Affectionate, not an insult, for someone who loves to eat or sleep.
小笨蛋 (xiǎo bèndàn): little dummy.
傻瓜 (shǎguā): silly melon, said with a smile.
小仙女 (xiǎo xiānnǚ): little fairy, for a girlfriend.
男神 / 女神 (nánshén / nǚshén): "god / goddess", for a crush you admire from afar (or a partner, jokingly).

How to use these without sounding odd

Match the stage. 亲爱的 and 宝贝 are for couples. 老公 and 老婆 are for serious couples and spouses. Using 老婆 on a second date is a joke at best.
Watch 情人 and 爱人. One implies an affair, the other means spouse. Neither is a casual "lover".
Text more than you say. Many of these are far more common in WeChat messages than out loud, where Chinese couples are often reserved in public.
Listen for what they call you. Mirroring is the safest way in. If your partner starts with 宝, say 宝 back.

Hearing these is half the point: 宝贝 and 老婆 both have neutral-tone second syllables that textbooks rarely mark. Every linked word above has a dictionary page with native audio. Create a free Chenjin account to save your favorites as flashcards and hear them in the romance stories in the library.

FAQ

What do Chinese couples call each other?

Most often 亲爱的 (qīn'ài de, "dear"), 宝贝 (bǎobèi, "baby"), and, once serious, 老公 (lǎogōng, "hubby") and 老婆 (lǎopo, "wifey"). Playful food and animal names like 小猪 ("little pig") are common too.

How do you say lover in Chinese?

恋人 (liànrén) is the neutral "sweetheart, romantic partner". 情人 (qíngrén) is a passionate or secret lover and can imply an affair. 爱人 (àiren) looks like "lover" but means spouse.

How do you say I like you in Chinese?

我喜欢你 (wǒ xǐhuan nǐ). In Chinese this is a real confession of feelings, and it comes well before 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ, "I love you").

What does bao bei mean?

宝贝 (bǎobèi) means "treasure" and is used as "baby" or "darling" for a partner or a child. 宝宝 (bǎobao), literally "baby", is the cutesier version couples text each other.

How do you say sweetheart or darling in Chinese?

亲爱的 (qīn'ài de) is the everyday "darling". 甜心 (tiánxīn) is a direct "sweetheart", and 达令 (dálìng) is a playful borrowing of "darling" heard in Hong Kong and Taiwan.