16 Dreamy Russian Terms of Endearment to Try on Your Significant Other
If you’re learning Russian and can’t resist a good pet name for your partner, Russian has a huge array of wonderfully vivid words.
Many Russian terms of endearment are diminutives, which often denote smallness and/or affection.
Think of it as the English equivalent of saying “lil'” before something. For instance, if you call someone “lil’ cutey,” it can sound much more affectionate.
So brace yourself, sweeties! It’s time to learn 16 dreamy Russian terms of endearment!
Contents
- Пчёлка (little bee)
- Рыбка/Рыбочка (fish/little fish, fishlet)
- Котёнок/Котик/Киса (kitten/kitty/pussycat)
- Птичка (little bird)
- Ласточка (swallow)
- Голубка/Голубушка (little pigeon)
- Зайка/Зайчик/Зайчонок (bunny)
- Сахарок (sugar)
- Солнце/Солнышко (sun/little sun)
- Лучик (little ray, little sunbeam)
- Ангел мой (my angel)
- Жизнь моя (my life)
- Радость (joy)
- Счастье (happiness)
- Лапушка/Лапочка (sweetheart)
- Золотце (honey, darling)
- Fun Ways to Practice Russian Terms of Endearment
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Пчёлка (little bee)
Pronunciation: Pcholka
Meaning: Пчёлка is the diminutive of пчела , which means “bee.” Therefore, пчёлка can be translated as “little bee.” What a great name for your honey!
Gender: Feminine
Example: Ты такая милая, пчёлка! (You’re so cute, little bee!)
Рыбка/Рыбочка (fish/little fish, fishlet)
Pronunciation: Rybka/Rybochka
Meaning: These words are both diminutives of рыба (fish), so they’re the equivalent of “little fish” or “fishlet.”
Gender: Feminine
Example: Ты получила цветы, которые я послал, рыбка? (Did you get the flowers I sent, fishlet?)
Котёнок/Котик/Киса (kitten/kitty/pussycat)
Pronunciation: Kotonok/Kotik/Kisa
Meaning: Many variations of “cat” or “kitten” can be used as terms of endearment in Russian. Котёнок means “kitten,” котик means “kitty” and киса and is like “pussycat.”
Gender:
Котёнок: Masculine
Котик: Masculine
Киса: Feminine
Example: Пожалуйста, не оставляй меня, котёнок! (Please don’t leave me, kitten!)
Птичка (little bird)
Pronunciation: Ptichka
Meaning: Птичка is the diminutive of птица (bird), so its meaning is approximately “little bird.”
Gender: Feminine
Example: Птичка, ты меня любишь? (Little bird, do you love me?)
Ласточка (swallow)
Pronunciation: Lastochka
Meaning: Ласточка is a swallow, so it’s kind of like птичка.
Gender: Feminine
Example: Как дела, ласточка? (How are you, swallow?)
Голубка/Голубушка (little pigeon)
Pronunciation: Golubka/Golubushka
Meaning: Sensing a theme yet? If you didn’t guess it, these words are diminutives. In this case, they’re diminutives of голубь (pigeon), so they mean “little pigeon.”
Gender: Feminine
Example: Что ты хочешь на день рождения, голубка? (What do you want for your birthday, little pigeon?)
Зайка/Зайчик/Зайчонок (bunny)
Pronunciation: Zayka/Zaychik/Zaychonok
Meaning: All of these words mean “bunny.”
Gender:
Зайка: Masculine/Feminine
Зайчик: Masculine
Зайчонок: Masculine
Example: Ты помыл посуду, зайчик? (Did you wash the dishes, bunny?)
Сахарок (sugar)
Pronunciation: Sakharok
Meaning: Сахарок is a piece of sugar.
Gender: Masculine
Example: Хочешь пойти куда-нибудь сегодня вечером, сахарок? (Want to go out tonight, sugar?)
Солнце/Солнышко (sun/little sun)
Pronunciation: Solntse/Solnyshko
Meaning: Солнце means “sun,” while солнышко is the diminutive, so it can translate to “little sun.”
Gender:
Солнце: Neuter
Солнышко: Neuter
Example: С днём рождения, солнышко! (Happy birthday, little sun!)
Лучик (little ray, little sunbeam)
Pronunciation: Luchik
Meaning: Лучик is the diminutive of луч , which can mean “ray” or “sunbeam.”
Gender: Masculine
Example: Ты скрасишь мои дни, лучик! (You will brighten my days, little sunbeam!)
Ангел мой (my angel)
Pronunciation: Angel moy
Meaning: Ангел мой means “my angel.”
Gender: Masculine
Example: Ты небесный, мой ангел! (You are heavenly, my angel!)
Жизнь моя (my life)
Pronunciation: Zhizn’ moya
Meaning: Жизнь моя means “my life.”
Gender: Feminine
Example: Моя жизнь, я так рад, что мы встретились! (My life, I’m so glad we met!)
Радость (joy)
Pronunciation: Radost’
Meaning: Радость means “joy.”
Gender: Feminine
Example: Что нам делать в эти выходные, моя радость? (What should we do this weekend, my joy?)
Счастье (happiness)
Pronunciation: Schast’ye
Meaning: Счастье means “happiness,” so it’s very similar to радость (joy).
Gender: Neuter
Example: Я хочу встретиться с твоими родителями, моё счастье! (I want to meet your parents, my happiness!)
Лапушка/Лапочка (sweetheart)
Pronunciation: Lapushka/Lapochka
Meaning: Лапушка and лапочка both act like “sweetheart.”
Gender: Masculine/Feminine
Example: Что ты хочешь на ужин, лапочка? (What do you want for dinner, sweetheart?)
Золотце (honey, darling)
Pronunciation: Zolottse
Meaning: Золотце is like “honey” or “darling.” Since it comes from the word золото (gold), it’s more literally the equivalent of “golden one.”
Gender: Neuter
Example: Я просто хочу, чтобы ты был счастлив, золотце! (I just want you to be happy, honey!)
Fun Ways to Practice Russian Terms of Endearment
Write a love letter to your sweetheart.
Writing a love letter gives you some valuable writing practice and is a fun way to use your new vocabulary. Plus, writing vocabulary down often helps reinforce it. If your loved one doesn’t speak Russian, though, you might want to give them a translation or at least talk them through it.
Use multiple terms of endearment.
Using one is cool. Using two is fun. But using a wide array of Russian terms of endearment can help reinforce a much larger vocabulary set. And since many of these words are derived from commonly-used vocabulary, they’re worth remembering! You might even challenge yourself to see how many different terms of endearment you can use in one day.
Make flashcards.
Flashcards are a convenient way to learn vocabulary words efficiently, and the same is true when you’re learning terms of endearment. Tools like Anki, Cram and Brainscape are super convenient. FluentU also lets you look up Russian words, then automatically generates multimedia flashcards that have video clips, example sentences and grammar notes.
Try out some of these Russian terms of endearment the next time you’re looking to show affection. If you’re speaking to someone who doesn’t know Russian, you might need to do a little explaining, but isn’t that half the fun?
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
