The UK’s cringiest pet-names revealed!

A new poll reveals that we’re a nation of ‘Loves’, ‘Babes’ and ‘Honeys’. The top ten league-table of lovers’ pet names have been compiled by greetings card marketplace, thortful.com which asked 1,500 Brits to reveal the pet names they use for their partner.

From ‘Honey Bun’ to ‘Boo’ and ‘Baby Boy’ the poll reveals that nearly half of Brits (47%) confess to regularly using a soppy pet name for their significant other. With search queries for ‘what pet name to call your boyfriend’ accumulating over 8 million results on Google over the past year. 

According to thortful.com  research,  the top ten pet names used by loved-up Brits are as follows:  

1.    Love – 29%
2.    Babe – 25%
3.    Honey – 17.8%
4.    Sweetie – 15.3%
5.    Handsome – 9.4%
6.    Honey Bun – 7.7%
7.    Sweetpie – 7.6%
8.    Boo – 5.3%
9.    Baby Boy/Baby Girl – 4.8%
10.  Princess – 4.7%

Unsurprisingly, ‘Love’ comes in at the very top of the list with 29% of Brits using this pet name for their lover. Babe was close behind, with 25% of those asked naming it as their favourite. Combined, these two names make up for over half of the UK’s preferred pet names.

Privacy seems to be important in many relationships too, with 76% admitting they use their partner’s real name whenever out among people. Whilst being called a pet name is sweet for many, 32% of respondents said they were embarrassed if their partner used their pet name in public. But it's males who call their partners by their pet name the most (53%) compared to (43%) of females. 

Barbara Santini, Psychologist, Sex and Relationship Adviser at dimepiecela.com, explains: “A pet-name is a kind of internal code understood by the partners as it might relate to the joke, situation, something they have experience together which connected them. Using pet names in a relationship expresses love and a bond in a unique and instant way. It can also be considered as a happiness indicator.” 

Commenting on the study, spokesperson at thortful said: “The UK’s diverse list of pet names we call our partners can be a cringy and embarrassing nickname for one person, but a heart-fluttering really really really really really thortful moment for another. The language of love is a complex thing and it's lovely to see that for much affection comes in the form of loving, cute, and often cringy pet names.”