23 Russian Pet Names to Sweep Your Partner of Their Feet (2024)

Want to surprise your Russian partner? If you have a Russian girlfriend or boyfriend, and you’re not a native yourself – then you’re probably curious about Russian pet names.

It’s a good way to surprise your partner or loved one and he or she will surely appreciate the effort that you make:

Even if you’re already learning Russian, chances are that the course you’re following does not include too much sweet Russian terms of endearment for your girlfriend or boyfriend…

Luckily you can find all the sweet names to call your partner here on this page.

So let’s find out what some commonly used Russian pet names are.

Russian pet names for your girlfriend

I’ve added the English pronunciation after the Russian words, so you know how to pronounce it correctly.

By the way, if you want to learn Russian to better connect with your partner, check out my course Russian Conversations Unlocked, which will help quickly have conversations in Russian.

Fun Russian terms of endearment for your girlfriend

Малышка – Malishka – Baby girl

The English meaning of малышка is baby girl and is a commonly used nickname that Russian guys call their girlfriends or wives. You can use this for basically any type of girl, cause it cannot be interpretated as offensive.

Солнышко – Solnishko – Little sun

The meaning of солнышко is sun in English. It’s also a very popular phrase and it’s difficult to go wrong with this one.

Киса – Kisa (кошечка – koshechka) – Cat (kitty)

And киса in English means cat. And the diminutive one means kitty. Just like in English, it’s also very popular in Russia.

Пусик – Pusik – Cat

The meaning of пусик in English is another way of saying kitty. As you might’ve guessed already!

Красотка – Krasotka – Gorgeous

The meaning of the word красотка in English is gorgeous. But it’s sometimes a bit overused, so bear in mind that some girls might be a bit offended if you say it.

Ангел – Angel – Angel

You’ve probably guessed it already, but the meaning of the word ангел means angel in English.

Пчелка – Pchelka Little bee

The meaning of the word пчелка is bee in Russian. It’s a fun term of endearment to call your girlfriend.

Золотце – Zolotse – Darling

The Russian equivalent meaning of the English darling or dear. It means that she’s precious and/or valuable.

Лисичка – Lisichka – Little fox

The meaning of лисичка in English is “little fox”. If your girlfriend has red hair, then calling her a little fox is sure a good way to make her feel happy.

Куколка – Kukolka – Little doll

Watch out with this one, the meaning of куколка in English is little baby doll. So if you wouldn’t feel comfortable calling your girlfriend that in English, then don’t try it in Russian. And don’t make the mistake of saying кукол, as that means doll and can be offensive.

Принцесса – Printsessa – Princess

You might not have expected this, but принцесса of course means princess.

Жизнь моя – Zhizn moya – My life

This is more of a phrase – and it means ‘my life’. Your girlfriend will appreciate it a lot if you say this to her.

Russian sweet adjectives to call your girlfriend

Next to all these nouns that you can call your girlfriend in Russian, it’s also very easy to call your girlfriend a sweet nickname by using an adjective. In Russian, you only need to use the adjective and you don’t need to add something to it. And you’ll get bonus points if you add the Russian word for mine (which is моя for girls) before the adjective.

Here’s a list of extra Russian pet names for your girlfriend that she’ll appreciate:

• Родна́я – rodnaya – dear
• Хоро́шая – khoroshaya – good
• Хоро́шенькая – khoroshenkaya – diminutive form of good “cute good”
• Дорога́я – dorogaya – another word for dear, but Родна́я is more strong.
• Ма́ленькая – malenkaya – little
• Сла́дкая – sladkaya – sweet

Russian pet names for your boyfriend

For guys, you can of course also use all the adjectives described in the previous paragraph (Though it’s probably better not to use “small” Ма́ленький to a guy). You only need to change the ending of the adjectives from ая to ий, ой or ый. Don’t worry about which one of the 3, just read below the correct one. (your partner won’t be able to notice the difference and if he does – he won’t care). So the word Сла́дкая becomes Сла́дкий. And is pronounced as sladkiy.

• Родно́й – rodnaya – dear
• Хоро́ший – khoroshaya – good
• Хоро́шенький – khoroshenkaya – diminutive form of good “cute good”
• Дорого́й – dorogaya – another word for dear, but Родна́я is more strong.
• Ма́ленький – malenkaya – little
• Сла́дкий – sladkaya – sweet

Here’s the list of Russian pet names for your boyfriend.

Котенок – kotyonek – Cat (kitten)

Just like for girls, you can call your guy a kitten. If he won’t appreciate that, then you can also call him a котик – kotik. Which means cat.

Зайчонок – zaichonok – Bunny

This word means bunny, but not in a little feminine way – but for the second thing bunnies are known for. So your guy probably won’t mind being called that?

Лучик – luchik – Sunray

The meaning of лучик in English is sunbeam, so if your man is your ray of light in your life, then feel free to call him like that.

Сахарок – sakharok – Sugar piece

This means that your guy is your little piece of sugar. Bonus points if you call him сладкий сахарок!

Лев – Lev – Lion

If your guy is your lion, then you can always call him your Lev. (It also was a common name in previous times – Lev Tolstoy for example – but nowadays not many guys are called this way). It’s also the Russian equivalent name of Leo or Leon.

Do you know some Russian pet names not on the list?

So, there you have it – a good list of Russian terms of endearment that you can call your Russian partner. If you have any good names to add to the list, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll add your suggestion to the list!