100+ French Pet Names and Terms of Endearment

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While certainly not fluent, Tracy and I have studied enough French language to have an appreciation for the language and especially appreciate its status as the romance language that most seem most infatuated with. This is an exhaustive list of 101 different French terms of endearment that is, in reality, 120+ different terms due to the variances and different ways many of these pet names and terms of endearment can be said. It’s great to know for romantic purposes, or if you’re traveling to France!

There are many reasons why people might find French to be a beautiful language, no matter what is being said. Some people appreciate the way it sounds, with its soft, melodic syllables and its flowing rhythms. Others enjoy the way it looks on the page, with its elegant, curving letters and its consistent spelling and grammar rules. Still others appreciate the rich cultural heritage of the French language and the way it has influenced so many other languages around the world. Ultimately, beauty is a subjective quality, and what one person finds beautiful about a language might be different from what another person finds beautiful.

Every culture and language has terms of endearment, and this is no different than the terms we use in English such as “sweetie” or “honey” – for example.

Common French Terms of Endearment

These are the classics, and the ones you’ll likely be most familiar with if you’re looking for a commonly known French term of endearment. The list from here will get more specific and not nearly as well known, but these are the most commonly held and used endearment terms in the language.

Chèrie (f) or (m) Chèri = A traditional pet name… My sweetheart, only use this with someone you’re in a relationship with.

chère(f), cher (m) = Only slight difference from the one above, but is more like saying “dear” versus “sweetie” or “sweetheart”.

Mon ange = Short form for “angel”. Corny, but effective.

Mon bébé or just bébé = My baby – pretty simple and normal pet name that is universal. 

Mon coeur= My heart – a sweet pet name. 

Mon Chou = Literally, it means “my cabbage”, but it can also refer to a type of French cream-puff treat.

Chou Chou = The French seem to have a thing for calling things they love after vegetables – and small woodland creatures.

Petit loup= Small or little wolf

Ma puce =My flea.

Mon Bébé d’amour = My love baby

Mon colibri = My hummingbird

Mon lapin = My rabbit

Mon Lapinou =My bunny

Mon Minou = My kitty

Mon poussin = My chick, referring to a baby chicken/chick. 

Mon biquet = My lamb

Doudou = My “cuddly”, or something to that extent.

Mon trésor = My treasure. Super corny.

Mon amour =My love – very common in older literature, but lesser said today.

Mamour = Contraction of “mon amour”, which means “my love”

Mon Petitou= My little everything (shortened from “petit tout” for boys)

Mon Titou= My little boy (difficult to explain-derived from petittou above.

Ma Titi = Essentially the same as above, except for a little girl

Mon petit chou= My little cabbage

Mon beau= My handsome

Mon petit loup = My little wolf

Mon nounours = My teddy bear or plushy

Mon Poulet = My chicken – weird for a pet name, I know. 

Mon râleur = My grumpy or complainer

Mon homme = My man

Mon Roudoudou = This used to be the name of a candy eaten out of a shell made of plastic.

Mon petit monstre = My little monster (great for the kids)

Mon vilain = My naughty one (another good one for the kids)

Mon ours = My bear

Mon petit caneton = My little duckling, also used as a nickname sometimes. 

Mon Bonhomme = My good man but also means snowman

Ma crevette= My shrimp

Ma poule = My chicken

Ma truffe= My truffle

Ma choupinette =Closest meaning is cute

Ma cocotte =My casserole

Ma douce =My sweet

Ma fée = My fairy

Ma lolita = My lolita

Ma loulotte = No translation, similar to the male version of Mon loulou

Ma lutine = My elf, or maybe pixie

Ma pépette = Literally means “dough” as in money but is used to refer to a pretty girl you can say “ma petite pépette” —a tender name for a young child.

Ma petite sirène = My little mermaid

Ma poupée = My little doll

Ma poupette = derived from poupée, my dolly

Ma princesse= My princess

Ma tigresse = My tigress

Mon papillon = My butterfly

Ma Perle = My pearl

Mon bijou= My jewel

Ma belle = My pretty like the Beatles song “Michelle, ma belle”

Ma bohême = My bohemian

Ma râleuse = My grumpy or my complainer

Ma bibiche = derived from biche

Mon bonheur = My happiness

Mon désir = My desire

Mon destin = My destiny

Mon Essentiel = My essential

Mon Exception = My exception

Ma biche = My doe, as in do a dear

Ma bichette = derived from doe as in dear.

Ma coccinelles = My ladybug

Louloute= Derived from the word loup (wolf)

Ma colombe= My dove

Mon ciel étoilé = My starry sky

L’amour de ma vie = Love of my life

Ma foi = My faith… a more common nickname for someone if you’re a bit older generation. 

Ma force = My strength

Ma moitié = My half, which really is a pet name for someone being called your “better half”. 

Ma passion = My passion

Ma perfection = My perfection

Ma raison d’être = My reason for being. Used in a lot of different cases throughout French literature. 

Mon Amour = My love (this extremely popular)

Mon Amoureux = My lover

Mon avenir = My future

Mon idéal = My ideal

Mon indispensable = My essential or indispensable one

Mon préféré = My preferred one

Mon rayon de soleil = My ray of sunshine

Mon rêve = My dream

Mon souffle = My breath

Mon prince = My prince

Mon roméo = My Romeo

Mon superman = My Superman… a nickname that really sucks up to the other person. 

Mon étoile = My star. 

Ma raison de vivre = My reason for living

Ma grande (for woman) mon grand (for man) = My big/biggest. Doesn’t seem to mean fat, at least the way it’s said 🙂

How to use this list of French pet name

Maybe you just started learning French, or have spent much longer practicing the language. Either way, this is a fun list that’s meant to be light-hearted and useful as something you can use to talk to a family member, son or daughter, sibling, or loved one. We hope you enjoy the list, for whatever your purpose is, and put it to good use.

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  • Andy
    May 27, 2020 at 12:08 am

    Loved reading all of these! French is really the language of love, back when I was learning in HS, I remember thinking how pretty it sounds. Just imagine being in France and getting called some of those. Gives me the butterflies 🙂