“Bae” ran its course throughout the internet and popular culture in 2014 and 2015. Since then, it has significantly decreased in popularity, and today can be considered a very uncommon “pet name” between couples.
Pet names are a unique facet to any relationship. Many romantic partners call each other common terms of endearment like “babe,” “honey,” or “hun.” But when we consider an anomaly like “bae,” something else comes to light.
We’ve all been around friends or loved ones who can’t seem to stop fawning over their significant other in our presence. They might be constantly touching, or they might accidentally let a cutesy, cringey pet name slip. Maybe something like “honey bunches” or “sweet sunshine pudding pop.” And you think to yourself, do people really call each other these things?
Well, as it turns out, they do, according to this survey. Here are the most uncommon couple pet names we’ve ever heard of.
Love
Love is one of the best words in the English language, we think, but it’s simply much more common to use the word as a verb or as a noun to describe an emotion. Only 1% of men and 0.6% of women reported using this pet name with their significant other most often. Using “love” as a nickname is in fact much more popular in the United Kingdom than the United States.
Sweetie
Is it just us, or does this nickname sound like something your grandma might call you? Perhaps that’s the reason why this pet name isn’t as popular with couples these days. Only 0.5% of women report using some form of the word as their primary nickname for their partner. Other variations including “sweetie pie” or “sweetheart.”
Surprisingly, though, according to the above survey, “sweetie” is much more popular as a pet name between romantic partners with Millennials than it was for Gen X or for Baby Boomers. Maybe because those folks reserve the term for their children (or grandchildren) instead!
Bae
And finally, of course, the dated term “bae” is increasingly becoming an uncommon nickname. In the vast majority of states where data was collected, less than 8% of couples are still calling each other “bae” on a regular basis. Who are these couples? We’re certainly interested in what they’re like. This pet name is likely to be a thing of the past quite soon, along with other old-fashioned pet names like “doll” and, literally, “pet.”
What’s the weirdest couples’ nickname you’ve ever heard?
