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 – Malyshka – Baby girl
Малы́шка – Malyshka
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 – Solnyshko – Little sun
Солнышко – Solnyshko
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)
Ки́са – 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
Пусик – Pusik
Cat
The meaning of пусик in English is another way of saying kitty. As you might’ve guessed already!
Красотка – Krasotka – Gorgeous
Красо́тка – 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
Ангел – Angel
Angel
You’ve probably guessed it already, but the meaning of the word ангел means angel in English.
Пчелка – Pchelka Little bee
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.
Лисичка – Lisichka – Little fox
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
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
Принцесса – Printsessa
Princess
You might not have expected this, but принцесса of course means princess.
Жизнь моя – Zhizn moya – My life
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)
Котенок – kotyonok
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
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
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
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
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!
What should you do next?
Most learners don't struggle because Russian is "too hard."
They struggle because they don't train speaking directly.
- You can study vocabulary
- you can memorize Grammar
- You can listen for hours
But if you don't practice building sentences in real time, you'll still struggle when someone speaks to you.
One of my students once told me:
“I have been studying Russian for a year. In my head I can prepare basic sentences, yet when it comes to actually speaking I ‘chock’.”That's not a knowledge problem.
That’s a training problem.
Your weakest skill determins your conversational level.
And for most learners, that weakest skill is speaking.
That's why I built Russian Conversations Unlocked - a structured 30-lesson audio course designed to train real-time speaking ability step by step.
If you want to have real conversations in Russian, start here:
My father called me “Kdlubis’ or something that sounded like “clubbis” – he was a Russian grocery store owner. In 1950’s. Any bells ring? I have no one to ask.
That’s a tough one. Maybe he meant голубчик – glubchik, which means “little dove”.
Great ideas
It’s been a while and I still don’t know what “peripisovatsya” means my lover texted this to me and I was highly confused.
Hi Sam, the word переписываться (perepisiviatsya) officially means ‘to correspond’. But in colloquial Russian it means to text eachother. So I recommend you install the Russian keyboard on your phone, learn basic Russian and start texting!
I am being called Ухтышка (Ukhtyshka?) by a Russian speaking girlfriend, but I can’t find a translation and I don’t want to ask her what it means. I think it is a term of affection similar to the English “Babe” or “Baby”. Is this correct?
Hi Stephen, Ухтышка comes from the words Ух ты, which can be translated as ‘wow’. Literally Ух ты, means something like ‘oh you!’. So Ухтышка is the noun made from Ух ты. It doesn’t really have a direct translation – but it’s a good thing if she calls you that ;)